U.S. credit
for non-U.S. business owners.
An ITIN, real U.S. credit cards, an Amex, and the business charge cards that turn your ad spend, inventory and software into points, flights and interest-free float. Built for founders who do not live in the United States.
- ITIN, filed from abroad
- 9–12 wks
- needed at any step
- No SSN
- effective back on spend
- 2–10%
Business credit
- Points earned
- 428,900
- Interest paid
- $0
Illustration with fictional demo figures.
What you get
The whole stack, not one card.
A single approval is a novelty. What changes how a business runs is an identity the U.S. system recognises, a file that seasons, and a ladder of cards planned in the right order.
ITIN
Your U.S. taxpayer identification number, filed through a Certifying Acceptance Agent so your passport never leaves your hands. It is the slowest step and most of the rest waits on it.
Your first U.S. card
The first real credit line in your own name, applied for the week your identity clears and delivered to your U.S. address. Everything else ladders off this one account.
Amex Global Transfer
If you already hold an American Express card at home, your history transfers to a U.S. Amex with no SSN and no ITIN — identity verified with your passport. It is the fastest route in where it is available.
Business charge cards
Balance-underwritten cards for the company — Mercury and Ramp style — once your entity is registered with the business bureaus. Spending power that does not wait on a credit score.
Business credit cards
Amex Business and Capital One Spark, personally guaranteed, once the personal file exists. Real limits, welcome bonuses, and the company's spend kept off your personal cards.
Points and flights
Membership Rewards and transferable currencies moved into airline programmes, where the same points are worth several times their cashback value in business and first class.
Interest-free float
A statement period and a grace period hold roughly 45 days of purchases at no cost. On real spend that is working capital you were previously paying for.
The card ladder
Clean history opens the next approval, which opens the one after it. We plan the order — personal and business, issuer by issuer — rather than applying everywhere at once.
Your plan in 60 seconds
See how fast you can start — and what it is worth.
Six answers, no email, no account. You get the setup timeline for your situation and an estimate of what the stack is worth over one and two years.
Advertising, inventory, software, travel, subscriptions — everything.
Why here
Credit is downstream of the company.
Every business card underwrites an entity, and every entity needs a filing, a number and an address before a bureau will look at it. If we already run that side, the credit side stops being a second project.
The entity is already here
Business cards underwrite the company, and the company needs an LLC, an EIN and a U.S. address before a bureau will recognise it. If Founders 8 formed it, that part is done and the file is already in one place.
One address, one set of documents
Cards ship to a U.S. address and issuers ask for the same formation papers your compliance calendar already holds. Nothing is re-collected and nothing is chased across six providers.
The personal side is tracked too
The ITIN, the score and the renewal dates sit alongside your residency and travel records rather than in an inbox — which is the whole point of a Personal OS.
FAQ
What founders ask before they start.
The short version: no SSN is needed at any point, the ITIN is the slow part, and nobody can promise you an approval.
Founders 8 is not a bank, a lender or a credit repair organisation. Every approval, limit and welcome offer is the issuer's decision, and rewards figures shown anywhere on this page are estimates rather than a promise of what you will earn.
Can I get a U.S. credit card without a Social Security number?
Yes. An ITIN works in place of an SSN with most issuers, and Amex Global Transfer does not need either — it verifies you with your passport against the Amex history you already have at home. Chase is the notable exception: Ink cards require an SSN, so they are off the table for non-residents.
What is an ITIN, and do I actually need one?
An ITIN is a taxpayer identification number the IRS issues to people who are not eligible for an SSN. You can start without one if you hold a transferable foreign Amex, but the file you are trying to build — a score, a ladder, business cards on real limits — is keyed to it. In practice everyone ends up with one.
How long does the ITIN take?
Nine to twelve weeks filed from abroad through a Certifying Acceptance Agent, and longer between mid-January and the end of April when the IRS is processing returns. Using a CAA means your passport stays with you rather than being mailed to Austin, which is the part most people care about.
Do I need a U.S. company first?
For personal cards, no. For business charge cards and business credit cards, yes — those underwrite the company, and a company needs an LLC, an EIN and a U.S. address before a business bureau will recognise it. If Founders 8 already formed your company, that part is done.
Do I have to travel to the United States?
No. The ITIN, the applications and the cards can all be handled remotely. Travelling does open a few doors — walk-in bank accounts and a U.S. state ID among them — so if you can go, we plan the trip around the appointments that need you in the room.
Are the rewards figures a guarantee?
No, and be careful with anyone who says otherwise. The estimate is arithmetic on the spend you enter, at published earn rates and published welcome offers, valued at premium-cabin transfer rates. Offers change, approvals are the issuer's decision, and points are only worth that much if you redeem them well.
Will this affect my credit at home?
U.S. bureaus and the bureaus in your own country do not share files, so a U.S. credit history is built from zero and stays separate. The one exception is Global Transfer, which reads your existing Amex relationship to open the U.S. one.
What does it cost?
It is scoped per situation and priced separately from your Founders 8 subscription, because the work is completely different for someone who already holds an ITIN and an Amex than for someone starting from nothing. Government fees are passed through at cost. We quote before anything is filed.
Your spend is
already going somewhere.
Tell us what you hold today and where you are based. We will tell you the shortest route in, what it costs, and whether it is worth it at your level of spend — before anything is filed.