My Venture X Business Application Experience

Link: Apply now for the Capital One Venture X Business (Rates & Fees)

We recently saw the online launch of the Capital One Venture X Business, which is Capital One’s premium travel business card. When cards are still new, there are a lot of questions about who is eligible for the card, who is eligible for the bonus, etc.

In this post I wanted to take a look at everything you need to know about applying for and getting approved for the card. Let’s start by talking about the basics of why you should consider the card, then we’ll talk about the application restrictions, and then I’ll share my experience applying for the card. I’d appreciate if others who apply could also share their data points.

Why you should apply for the Venture X Business

There are many reasons to apply for the Capital One Venture X Business. The card has a $395 annual fee, but that’s pretty easy to justify when you consider all of the perks of the card:

Premium business cards don’t get much more well rounded than this in terms of the value proposition. Read my full review of the Capital One Venture X Business.

Venture X Business eligibility requirements

For many small business owners, the Capital One Venture X Business may be the first Capital One business card that they apply for. There are some rumors about Capital One application restrictions that aren’t true, so I wanted to cover all of those details in this section.

Who is eligible for the Venture X Business bonus?

When you go to the application page for the Capital One Venture X Business, you’ll see the following restriction listed regarding earning the welcome bonus:

“The bonus may not be available for existing or previous Spark cardholders.”

Admittedly that’s pretty broad. A Capital One spokesperson has clarified to me that this refers specifically to having the Capital One Spark Cash Plus (review) (Rates & Fees). So if you currently have the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, you won’t be eligible for the bonus on the Venture X Business. However, anecdotally (as I’ll share below), it would appear that past Capital One Spark Cash Plus cardmembers are eligible for the Venture X Business, including the bonus.

You absolutely are eligible for the Capital One Venture X Business if you have any other Capital One business card, like the Capital One Spark Miles for Business (review) (Rates & Fees).

Do you earn the bonus if you get approved for the Venture X Business?

If you get approved for the Capital One Venture X Business, does that mean you’re also eligible for the bonus? In my experience, the answer is yes — generally Capital One will decline you for a card if you’re not eligible for the bonus.

For example, when you submit the application, you’ll see the following warning:

“If you don’t qualify, we may consider you for other cards. We’ll only check your credit once, and it won’t affect your Venture X Business application. You’ll be able to accept or decline our offer.”

Part of that offer is the bonus, so in my experience if you get approved for the card, that also means you’re eligible for the bonus.

Can you get the Venture X Business if you have the Venture X?

If you have the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review), which is the personal version of the card, you absolutely are eligible for the Capital One Venture X Business as well, including the bonus. There could be a lot of value to having both of these cards — see my comparison of the two products here.

Does the Venture X Business report to your personal credit?

Having the Capital One Venture X Business will not report to your personal credit report, as long as your account remains in good standing. When you apply for the card there will be of course be an inquiry on your personal credit, but it won’t impact your score beyond that. In other words, applying for this card wouldn’t count as a further card toward Chase’s 5/24 limit.

What are Capital One’s application restrictions?

All card issuers have their own policies when it comes to approving people for cards. Along those lines, Capital One has among the fewest consistent restrictions, in my experience. I’ve found that it’s fine to have multiple Capital One business cards, there’s no strict limit as to how often you can be approved for cards, etc.

What credit score do you need to be approved for the Venture X Business?

There’s not a consistent rule as to what credit score you need to be approved for the Capital One Venture X Business, though I’d recommend having a credit score in the “good” to “excellent” category if you’re going to apply for this card.

Personally, I probably wouldn’t apply if my credit score were under 700, and ideally, I’d hope to have a credit score of 740 or higher. That being said, some people with scores lower than that report being approved, and some people with scores higher than that report being rejected. There are lots of factors that go into approval — your income, your credit history, how much credit Capital One has already extended you, etc. Furthermore, since this is a business card, approval is also largely about your business details.

Does Capital One pull from all three credit bureaus?

Capital One is one of the only card issuers that pulls credit from all three credit bureaus when you apply for a card. That’s still the case, though personally I don’t view this as a big deal at all.

Your score will typically be dinged a few points temporarily when you apply for a card, and it really shouldn’t matter with how many bureaus your credit is pulled. At least that’s my take — this restriction has never really bothered me, though I know others feel differently.

Keep in mind that if you choose to freeze your credit report, you’ll need to unfreeze your credit with all three bureaus prior to applying for this card.

How long does it take to get approved for the Venture X Business?

You can potentially be approved for the Capital One Venture X Business nearly instantly, with an approval within a minute. However, in some cases you may get a pending decision, in which case it could take up to two weeks to get a decision on your card.

What happens if you get denied for the Venture X Business?

If you’re not sure if you’ll be approved for the Capital One Venture X Business, should you be worried about getting denied? Generally speaking, getting denied for a card isn’t a big deal at all. You can always apply again in the future, and it’s not like a denial is reported negatively on your credit report. Rather the inquiry as such will show on your credit report (and could temporarily lower your credit score a few points), but that’s about it.

Venture X Business application & approval experience

In my household we just submitted two applications for the Capital One Venture X Business, so I wanted to report back on that experience. I’d say the results are just about best case scenario. Let’s first take a look at the basic details of the application, and then I’ll share the approval and the (expected) denial we experienced.

Venture X Business application process

The application process for the Capital One Venture X Business is a single page, and is pretty straightforward. It’s made up of three sections. The first section asks for your personal information, including name, contact details, SSN, income, rent or mortgage payment, etc.

The next section asks for the basic details of your business, including the name, address, etc.

Then the third section asks for additional business information, like the business ownership structure, age of business, industry, annual business revenue, EIN, etc.

At that point you’ll be asked to agree to some disclosures and to review your application, and then you can submit your application. Hopefully you get an instant approval!

Venture X Business application approval

Ford applied for the Capital One Venture X Business for his small business. His application was instantly approved. The reason this is noteworthy is because he previously had the the Capital One Spark Cash Plus.

Anecdotally it would appear that while current Spark Cash Plus cardmembers aren’t eligible for the Venture X Business, past cardmembers are. His approval letter also confirmed that he’d receive the bonus upon completing minimum spending.

Venture X Business application denial

I currently have the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, so am not eligible for the Capital One Venture X Business bonus. However, I figured I should take one for the team, to see what would happen if I apply. Would I get rejected? Would I get approved but just not earn the bonus?

Well, I submitted my application, and was informed that I had been denied for the Venture X Business (as expected). Rather than being outright denied, I was actually approved for an alternative card — the no annual fee Spark Miles Select. I was even offered a bonus of 50,000 Capital One miles for that card.

I could then either accept that offer, or reject the offer and exit the application.

While it was tempting to earn a bonus of 50,000 Capital One miles, I ultimately decided to skip the application. Why? Well, I already have two Capital One business cards, and I would like to get the Capital One Venture X Business at some point in the future.

But hopefully my data point shows that if you’re not eligible for the Venture X Business bonus, you’ll just be denied. Furthermore, this shows that previous Spark Cash Plus cardmembers do seem to be eligible for the bonus.

Bottom line

The Capital One Venture X Business is a lucrative business card, in terms of the welcome bonus, the return on spending, and the perks. The card’s benefits should more than offset the annual fee, so if you have an eligible small business, I’d highly recommend applying.

Hopefully the above covers any of the things you may have wondered about the application process. The good news is that there are fairly few restrictions surrounding eligibility for the Venture X Business, so many people should be able to get approved.

More data points would be useful, so if you applied for the Venture X Business, what was your experience like? Did you get an instant approval, denial, or…?