A Relay Visa® Credit Card application typically gets denied for one of three reasons: eligibility rules not met, credit or payment history issues, or business financials below the underwriting threshold.
What are the most common reasons for a Relay Visa® Credit Card denial?
Denials generally fall into three buckets: your business structure or age falls outside the eligibility rules, your credit history shows recent missed payments or public-record issues, or your business financials fall below the revenue, cash reserve, or margin thresholds. Each bucket has its own check-and-fix path below.
How to tell if your business didn't meet the eligibility rules
Look at your business entity type, incorporation country, and time in business first, because these are hard gates that are checked before any credit review runs. The Relay Visa® Credit Card requires:
U.S.-incorporated business, registered in a U.S. state
Entity type of LLC, General Partnership, or Corporation (Sole Proprietorships are not eligible)
U.S.-based beneficial owners
One of the following revenue and tenure combinations:
$50,000+ in average monthly revenue over the last three months, and at least 12 months in business, OR
$20,000+ in average monthly revenue over the last three months, at least six months in business, and a minimum balance of $25,000 held in Relay
If any of those don't apply to your business, the application was denied at the eligibility screen before any credit review took place.
How to tell if your credit or payment history caused the denial
Check your business and personal credit reports for recent missed payments, late payments reported to credit bureaus, tax liens, or bankruptcy filings. These are the most common credit-history triggers that Relay's underwriting flags:
Recent missed payments on existing credit lines
Late payment history reported to business or personal credit bureaus
Open tax liens against the business or beneficial owners
Recent bankruptcy filings
Insufficient credit history to score the business at all
Credit-history denials can improve over time as older negatives age off your report and current accounts stay in good standing.
How to tell if your business financials fell short
Check your recent bank statements against the underwriting factors Relay evaluates, especially cash on hand and consistent revenue. The underwriting bar tightens when:
Debt-to-income ratios are high relative to revenue
Cash reserves are low compared to monthly operating costs
Profit margins are thin or negative on recent months
Revenue is highly seasonal or trending down
These factors move with the business, so a denial today doesn't lock you out permanently. Three to six months of stronger financials often changes the outcome on a reapplication.
What happens after your application is denied?
You will receive two emails from Relay following the denial decision. The first confirms that a decision has been made, and the second contains the reason for denial along with details about your right to request a copy of the underwriting report.
Both emails go to the address on file for the applicant.
When can you reapply for the Relay Visa® Credit Card?
Wait at least three months before reapplying, so the underwriting decision reflects newer financials and any credit-history changes have time to post. If the denial was tied to a specific issue (a missed payment that has since caught up, a lien that was released, or a cash reserve that has grown), the wait gives the underlying data time to update.
Does a denied application affect your credit score?
No. A denied Relay Visa® Credit Card application does not impact your personal or business credit score.
Relay's application review uses a soft inquiry, which is not reported to credit bureaus.
Still need help?
If you believe your application was denied due to an error, or you want clarification on your specific denial reason, our Customer Experience team can walk you through the decision.
Related articles
Talk to our Customer Experience team
If this article did not fully answer your question, our Customer Experience team is here to help.