US CREDIT CARDS FOR INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURS
You have moved abroad. Your business is set up internationally. So why settle for the credit cards your new country of residence happens to offer?
The American credit card market plays in a different league: high credit limits, huge welcome bonuses, valuable points and miles, and some of the most attractive travel benefits in the world.
And you do not even have to live in the US.
We put the prerequisites in place, build an American credit profile with you and guide you personally on your way to first-class US credit cards.
No US residence. No Social Security Number. Wherever you live today.
High credit limits. Valuable points. More travel. More options.
Start building your US credit profileITIN · US bank account · US address · credit building · personal guidance
7 weeks
until your ITIN, without waiting for a tax return
6 months
until your first FICO score
up to 200,000
points welcome bonus, as of October 2026
4×
points in your two strongest categories
1 trip
to the US, for your in-person bank appointment
Your first US credit card will probably not be the one you later use to book first class. But it is where everything begins.
With a secured card you make the first entry in your American credit file. You put down a deposit, use the card responsibly and pay on time. Month after month, your account history is reported to the three major US credit bureaus.
After about six months, this can produce your first FICO score. And with every further well-managed month you get closer to the cards that make this route worthwhile.
Here is our current selection, as of October 2026. Welcome bonuses change all the time.
Card 1 · American Express
4× points in your top two of six categories, such as software and cloud, advertising or restaurants, up to $150,000 a year, then 1×
Currently up to 200,000 points welcome bonus, depending on the offer
Card 2 · Chase
3× points on travel, shipping, internet and phone, and on social media and search engine advertising, up to $150,000 a year
Currently 100,000 points welcome bonus after $8,000 in spending within three months
Card 3 · Chase
8× through Chase Travel, 4× on flights and hotels booked directly, 3× on advertising (from November 15, 2026, up to $1,000,000 a year)
Currently up to 200,000 points welcome bonus, depending on the offer
Card 4 · Capital One
2× miles on every purchase, with no cap. No categories, no second-guessing.
Currently 100,000 miles welcome bonus after $10,000 in spending within three months
$25,000 in spending a month. The same bills as today. Just spread more intelligently across two US cards.
| Category | Card | Spend/month | Multiplier | Points/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software and cloud | Amex Business Gold | $7,000 | 4×up to $150,000/year | 28,000 |
| Advertising | Amex Business Gold | $5,000 | 4×up to $150,000/year | 20,000 |
| Flights and hotels | Chase Ink Business Preferred | $4,000 | 3×up to $150,000/year | 12,000 |
| Shipping, internet and phone | Chase Ink Business Preferred | $2,000 | 3×up to $150,000/year | 6,000 |
| Everything else | Chase Ink Business Preferred | $7,000 | 1× | 7,000 |
| Total | $25,000 | 73,000 |
How often 73,000 points a month would, on paper, cover one of these flights.
Frankfurt → New York
Lufthansa Business
60,000 points one way
about every month
Air Canada Aeroplan
New York → Tokyo
ANA Business
85,000 points one way
about every 5 weeks
Air Canada Aeroplan
New York → Singapore
Singapore Airlines Business
117,000 points one way
about every 7 weeks
Singapore KrisFlyer
New York → Dubai
Emirates First
188,000 miles (235,000 Amex points) one way
about every 5 months, with only the 48,000 Amex points a month
Emirates Skywards
Both cards stay below their annual caps of $150,000 in this example. American Express narrows the advertising category to selected providers from February 17, 2027. The award prices shown are one way for saver seats, as of October 2026, while seats are available. Taxes and fees come on top, often several hundred dollars with Lufthansa and Emirates.
The key point: you do not spend more than today. You simply let spending that happens anyway finally work for you.
What the Credit Builder includes
Normally you only get an ITIN with your first US tax return, often not until the following year. We apply for your ITIN straight away. The IRS takes around 7 weeks to process it. You do not need to travel to the US for this.
Not a mailbox address. You receive a real residential address in the US, plus your own phone line and a utility bill your applications can be based on. Included for 12 months.
You need to travel to the US once. We coordinate your in-person appointment at a US bank, usually Chase, in Austin, Miami or another major US city. There you open your personal account and your LLC's account.
We guide you through your first applications, from the secured card to your first unsecured card. Step by step, your US credit history takes shape. Each application is decided by the card issuer.
We register your LLC with Dun & Bradstreet, set up your Mercury IO corporate card and guide you to a second business card that reports to the business credit bureaus. That way your LLC builds its own credit history in parallel. This strengthens your later applications. What remains decisive is your personal credit history.
5 one-to-one calls over 12 months with your personal contact: from the start through the bank appointment to your first premium card. After each call you get your plan in writing. On top of that, the monthly Credit Call in the New Horizons Club, open to all members.
Your US tax return for the first year is already included. It is part of a well-maintained US infrastructure and also keeps your ITIN active.
12 months of access to our community, with call-in days and webinars. So that after your first application you still have people at your side who think as internationally as you do. Club events, webinars and the newsletter are held in German.
The biggest welcome bonuses and the strongest points categories are often found on business credit cards. That is exactly where it gets interesting for entrepreneurs.
For a business card you need a business, which for our clients is often a US LLC. But the LLC alone is not enough: traditional business cards regularly require a personal guarantee, and the issuers check your personal American credit history.
That is why we build both together: your US company and your own American credit file. Only this combination opens the door, in the long run, to the really interesting business and premium cards.
Software. Advertising. Flights. Hotels. Suppliers. Phone. Cloud services.
Month after month this money leaves your account. Our clients are entrepreneurs, digital nomads and people who have moved abroad. Many of them have exactly these expenses anyway.
The difference starts with the question of what you pay them with. With the right US cards, ordinary business expenses turn into points and miles. And points turn into trips that others pay thousands for.
The seat is the same. The bed is the same. The service is the same. Only the price can be completely different. For award flights you use points instead of thousands of dollars, and you pay the applicable taxes and fees on top.
Today you may mainly want the better credit cards. Tomorrow you may want to invest in Texas, finance a property or live in the US for a few months a year. Then your US score suddenly becomes far more than a points collector: it can open doors to higher limits, loans and leases.
Cards like the Amex Business Gold work without a traditional preset spending limit. Your available room depends on factors such as your spending pattern and how you manage your account, instead of simply stopping at a fixed ceiling.
Premium cards come with travel, hotel and lifestyle credits that can offset a large part of the annual fee, if the benefits fit your life and you actually use them.
ITIN, address, bank appointment, card applications and tax return: you do not have to piece the building blocks together from five different providers. You have one contact who goes the whole way with you.
You decide how to start: for your existing LLC or together with your new US LLC.
If you order the LLC as well, we form your company, apply for the EIN and open your US business account. This part runs entirely remotely.
We apply for your ITIN straight away, without you having to wait for your first US tax return. The IRS states a processing time of about 7 weeks, or 9 to 11 weeks for applications from abroad and from mid-January to the end of April.
Your real US residential address is in place. Your own phone line is in place. Your utility bill is in place. Individual building blocks become a profile American banks can work with.
Now comes the one trip: your appointment at a US bank in Austin, Miami or another major US city. Then come the first card applications, typically a secured card that reports to all three major credit bureaus.
Now discipline counts: pay on time, keep utilisation low and let your credit history grow. After about six months your first FICO score can appear.
With a good credit history you can apply step by step for Amex, Chase Sapphire and Chase Ink. In our experience, expect 12 to 24 months of clean credit management. Then the cards you were after from the start come within reach.
Sebastian moved to the US in 2008 and built Mount Bonnell Advisors in Austin, Texas. Since then we have worked with international clients who want to form a company, invest or live in the US: from the LLC to a complete US financial infrastructure.
We do not explain the American market to you from a distance. We work here.
Then book an hour with Sebastian. We go through your situation together: from the LLC through ITIN, bank account and credit building to the premium cards that may be interesting for you in the long run. The consultation is held in English.
One hour. Your questions. Your personal route.
You have changed your residence. Perhaps your company. Perhaps your whole life.
Now you can make your financial identity more international too. Your American credit history starts here.
The Credit Builder as its own line in your LLC order, in any state. You build your company and your personal US credit history together from the start.
Already have an LLC? Then we build on it: your personal credit history and your LLC's, up to your first premium card.
We earn nothing from your credit line. You pay a fixed price. Each application is decided by the issuer, and we only work with people who can pay off their cards in full every month.
You can pay by credit card, bank transfer or crypto.
Thank you. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
