A few weeks ago we asked you about business card denials after seeing a wave of reports in the community. The early numbers pointed to something specific: applicants using their SSN were getting denied far more often than applicants using an EIN, even at the same point in their 5/24 count. We said at the time we weren’t ready to call it confirmed, and we asked for more data.

We put out an updated poll, with better questions this time, and 73 of you answered. Here’s what it showed.

The gap held, and it’s bigger than before

Of the 73 responses, 49 people applied using their SSN and 24 applied with an EIN. The final outcomes:

SSN applicants: 25 of 49 denied, a 51% denial rate.
EIN applicants: 6 of 24 denied, a 25% denial rate.

Comparison of business credit card denial rates showing 51% for SSN applicants versus 25% for EIN applicants, based on 73 community poll responses.

That’s a 26-point gap. The first round showed a 25-point gap. Two separate groups of people, two separate months, same direction, nearly identical size. That’s no longer a fluke reading, that’s a real pattern.

Narrowing it to just the 3/24 and 4/24 range, which is where most of you sit when you apply, the gap didn’t shrink. SSN applicants at that range were denied 54.3% of the time. EIN applicants at the same range were denied 18.8% of the time. We want to be honest that the exact EIN number moved around some between our two survey rounds, which tells us that specific slice is still a small sample. But the overall SSN versus EIN story has now shown up twice, in the same direction, which is the part we’re confident in.

Business credit card denial rate comparison at 3/24 or 4/24, showing 54% for SSN applicants versus 19% for EIN applicants.

Something new this round: the card you apply for matters just as much

We didn’t have enough data to look at this in round one. This time, almost everyone told us which card they applied for, and the pattern was sharp. We’re looking specifically at people in that same 3/24 to 4/24 range, and this includes everyone surveyed (both SSN and EIN) so this is an apples-to-apples comparison:

The Chase Ink family and Sapphire Reserve for Business℠: 7 of 32 denied, 21.9%.
United, Southwest, World of Hyatt, and IHG cards combined: 13 of 17 denied, 76.5%.

Business credit card denial rate comparison showing 22% for Ink and Sapphire Reserve applicants versus 77% for co-branded card applicants at the same 5/24 range.

That’s a massive difference, and it’s one of the clearest patterns in either round of this survey. If you’re applying for a co-branded card right now, the data says you’re facing meaningfully steeper odds than someone applying for an Ink card or the Sapphire Reserve for Business, even at the exact same point in your 5/24 count.

We don’t know for certain why, but here’s a theory worth putting out there. Co-branded cards split the cost of your welcome bonus with the airline or hotel partner. It’s possible that shared cost gives the bank more incentive to be selective about who actually gets approved for those specific products. That’s a theory, not a confirmed reason, but it’s consistent with what the numbers are showing.

Two smaller findings worth knowing

If your application gets flagged for manual review instead of an instant decision, that’s closer to a soft denial than a coin flip. In this round, 15 people had their initial decision come back as “under review.” Of those 15 people, 12 of them (80%) were ultimately denied.

Credit card application statistics showing that 80% of applications initially flagged for manual review were eventually denied.

A denial doesn’t always stick, either. In our data, 38.5% of people who followed up after being denied ended up getting approved anyway. If you get denied, it’s worth not giving up right away.

Credit card application statistics showing that 38% of initially denied applicants were approved after following up with the issuer.

What we’re not going to claim

We looked at revenue reported on the application and how long the business had existed. Neither showed a pattern reliable enough to put in front of you. Reporting a higher revenue figure didn’t meaningfully improve approval odds in our data, and we’re not going to repeat advice that isn’t backed by what people actually told us.

Where this leaves us

We’re not running this poll a third time. Two rounds and over 150 combined responses is a solid base, and the two clearest findings, the SSN versus EIN gap and the Ink versus co-branded gap, showed up consistently enough that we think they’re worth knowing before your next application. This was never a scientific study, it’s a community of people comparing notes, and we think that’s exactly where its value is.