William Lipovsky
Rental car companies commonly use credit checks to determine creditworthiness when you book without using a major credit card.
If you have a credit card, it means that you have credit history, so rental companies do not need to run a credit check to confirm this. If you don’t have a credit card, though, companies can view renting to you as a risk.
Fortunately, some companies have changed their rental policies to help those who lack credit. Below, we’ve compiled the list of national car rental companies that don’t do credit checks, as well as those that do.
Note that we’ve only included car rental companies with clear policies regarding credit checks. There are many ride-sharing and franchised/independently owned car rental companies, but the credit check policies for these establishments tend to vary from one location to the next.
What We Recommend
For car rental companies that don’t do credit checks, that accept a wide range of payment methods, and that allow young renters, consider renting with National or Enterprise.
Dollar also does not conduct a credit check, and it accepts debit cards at many locations, though policies may vary.
Finally, Alamo does not conduct credit checks, but when you choose to pay with something other than a credit card, you cannot add additional drivers to your rental.
The List
The following car rental companies do not require a credit check, even if you choose a form of payment other than a credit card, such as a debit card.
There are also several companies that will allow you to reserve a rental car with a prepaid credit card, and some that will let you pay cash for your rental.
We’ve ordered the list below starting with the best overall options.
1. National Car Rental
- Payment types accepted besides credit cards: Debit cards with the Visa, Mastercard, or Discover logo with proof of round-trip travel. Without proof of round-trip travel, a debit card can only be used as a form of payment at the time of return. Cash is accepted at some locations.[1]
- Other requirements: You must be at least 21 years old to rent with National; a “Youthful Surcharge” may be applied for drivers 21 to 24.[2]
- Book online
2. Enterprise Rent-A-Car
- Payment types accepted besides credit cards: Debit cards are accepted with proof of round-trip travel at the time of rental; an additional security deposit may be required. Cash is not accepted at the time of pick-up, but some locations will accept it as payment when you return your rental.[3]
- Other requirements: An additional security deposit may be required, depending on the location and method of payment. You must be at least 21 years of age to rent a car through Enterprise, and a young renter’s fee may be applied to the cost of your rental if you are between the ages of 21 and 24. U.S. government employees can rent if they are at least 18 years of age, provided that they show the renting office their official orders.[4][3]
- Book online
3. Dollar Car Rental
- Payment types accepted besides credit cards: At most locations, you may use a debit card. You may also pay up-front with a cash deposit if you have obtained a Cash Deposit Identification Card.[5]
- Other requirements: You must be at least 20 years old to rent at most Dollar locations. There is also a Young Renter Fee for drivers under 25.[6][7]
- Book online
4. Alamo Rent a Car
- Payment types accepted besides credit cards: Debit cards bearing the Visa, Mastercard, or Discover logo are accepted with proof of return or outbound trip.[8]
- Other requirements: When paying with a debit card, you may not add additional drivers to your rental other than your spouse or domestic partner.[8]
- Book online
5. Turo
- Payment types accepted besides credit cards: Debit cards with the Visa or Mastercard logo; Apple Pay and Google Pay[9]
- Other requirements: The name on the card must match the name on your Turo account.[9] Renters aged 20 and younger aren’t able to rent a car with a market value of more than $20,000 and will be charged a minimum underage fee of $50 per day.[10]
- Book online
You may also want to see our list of car rental companies that accept debit cards.
Car Rental Companies That Do Perform Credit Checks
In the course of our research, we found that the following car rental companies require a major credit card or conduct a credit check when you use a debit card or other form of payment.
Note that car rental companies may do a soft or hard pull when checking your credit. A hard pull shows up on your credit report and typically drops your score by a few points, while a soft credit pull does not affect your score.
It is always best to ask the agent when renting a car if they will conduct a hard or soft pull.
Hi Lisa,
I’m sorry to hear you had bad luck with Avis. Most car companies do require that you use credit cards, which can cause problems when you want to use a debit card — even when it has more than enough money on it. Hope you have better luck next time when you try Enterprise!
Hertz does check your credit.
Hi there!
You’re right — when using a debit card, Hertz will likely check your credit. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We have updated the article to reflect this information.
Hertz policy states that if you use a debit card, you are subject to a credit check.
” Use of a debit card to rent a vehicle is subject to a credit check to determine credit worthiness at the time of rental”
Don’t ever rent or rely on avis..I have descent credit. I get loans all the time. I reserved a car days before I even needed it. All was fine. I landed went to the Avis office. I had already given them all my info and everything was fine. Till I got to the counter.. The lady was nice until she said oh we do a soft credit check. I was like ok, other than my student loans my credit is good. Well lets just say it wasn’t good enough for them. The girl went from nice to extremely rude in seconds… I am a passive nice person and wasn’t rude at all. So Here I am stranded 4 hours from home. I had to have someone come and get me. Sat in a park while a friend drove the four hours to come get me. Needless to say I will never use Avis again and recommend going to any other company.. Which I use and have used since with no problems what so ever.
Budget Car Rental at the Denver performs a credit check if you rent with a debit card.
Hi Jenncie,
Thanks for the information. We always appreciate it when our readers can help keep our articles accurate and up to date. We will research this and update the article, if necessary.