The Best American Express Business Cards Review

If you’re looking for the best credit card for your business, there’s no doubt you’ve come across American Express. After all, American Express offers an expansive variety of business credit cards, including some of the best rewards, travel, and overall cards on the market.

Trying to figure out which of the Amex business cards is right for your business?

We’re here to help. In this review, we’ll break down all of the American Express business cards—discussing features including annual fees, rewards, welcome offers, and more—so that you have all the information you need to decide on the best Amex business card for you.

The Blue Business Plus offers one of the longest intro APR periods on the market—you’ll get 12 months of 0% intro APR on purchases once you sign on for this Amex business credit card.

After that, your Blue Business Plus will have an interest rate that will vary with the market, so see the issuer’s terms and conditions for the latest APR information.

This being said, for sustained rewards, you’ll earn a flat 2x rewards rate for every dollar you spend with your Blue Business Plus.

This rate applies to the first $50,000 you spend annually. After that, you’ll earn a flat rate of 1x rewards for every dollar you spend.

Despite the generous rewards rate and intro APR period, there’s no annual fee attached to this card, which is pretty rare for an Amex business card.

Therefore, although this well-rounded card can be a great choice for many businesses, if you’re looking for the best Amex small business credit card as a startup—with no annual fee, decent ongoing rewards, and a lengthy intro APR period—this is going to be one of your top options.

The next American Express Business card, the Amex Business Gold, gives you flexibility with no set spending limit, plus the option to pay over time with eligible purchases.

Additionally, you can earn 70,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of card membership.

As for sustained rewards rates, you’ll earn 4x rewards for the two expense categories you spend the most in each month—out of a list of six categories. This 4x rate will apply to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from the two categories annually. You’ll earn 1x rewards points for all other purchases.

Moreover, you’ll be able to redeem these points as nearly anything—you’ll be able to access merchandise, gift cards, charitable donations, Amazon.com purchases, among many other things. If you redeem your points for flights booked through Amex’s travel portal, however, you’ll receive 25% points back, up to 250,000 points back per year.

Finally, although the Amex Business Gold has no foreign transaction fees, you will be subject to an annual fee of $295. This being said then, if you can afford a higher annual fee and can take advantage of this rewards structure, you might consider the Business Gold as the best American Express business card for you.

With the Blue Business Cash, you’ll have a 12-month intro period with 0% APR if you need to make any big purchases to pay off gradually. Like the Blue Business Plus, this American Express business credit card offers one of the longest 0% intro APR periods on the market.

After the intro period is up, your Blue Business Cash will have an interest rate that will vary with the market, so you’ll want to see the issuer’s terms and conditions for the latest APR information.

Additionally, this Amex business card earns 2% cash back for every dollar you spend on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year, and then 1% cash back on everything else. All the cash back you earn with the Blue Business Cash card is automatically credited to your statement.

Despite these generous rewards, this card doesn’t come with an annual fee.

Therefore, like the Blue Business Plus, the Blue Business Cash is one of the best American Express business cards for a wide range of business owners, especially those looking for their first business credit card. With a robust rewards program, long 0% intro APR, and no annual fee, this card can help business owners earn while they spend, as well as build business credit.

As long as you make your minimum payment on time and you pay the remaining statement balance within the Plum Card’s 60-day grace period, your spending won’t accumulate any interest.

The Plum Card (like the Business Gold) is a charge card, though, so after those 60 days, you’ll incur hefty late fees that will end up costing you much more than interest rates on a business credit card.

Ultimately, it’s worth remembering if you aren’t sure whether or not you can pay balances in full, you’ll want to stick with the Amex business credit cards, not their charge cards.

This being said, the Plum Card comes with an arguably steep annual fee of $250.

On a long term basis, the Plum Card offers 1.5% cash back on all your spending, as long as you’re paying off your spending within 10 days of your statement closing date every month. If you are paying early, there’s no cap on what you can earn back. Moreover, the Plum Card has no foreign transaction fees.

At the end of the day, the Plum Card is designed for business owners who can handle the structure of a charge card as opposed to a business credit card. With this in mind then, if the charge card structure works for you and you can pay before the 10-day time frame, you can earn notable rewards on this American Express business card.

The next American Express business card on our list is the Amex Business Platinum.

With this card, you have the potential to earn a welcome offer of 120,000 Membership Rewards points. You can unlock this offer by spending $15,000 on qualifying purchases within your first three months with the card.

Moreover, on a day-to-day basis, you’ll earn 1 membership point per dollar you spend. Plus, you’ll also earn 1.5x points on eligible purchases at U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, software and cloud system providers, and shipping providers—as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year.

On top of all of this, if you book flights or hotels through amextravel.com, you’ll earn 5x Membership Rewards points. You also have the opportunity to get 35% of your points back when you use them to pay for part or all of a flight with a qualified airline, up to 500,000 points back per year.

You’ll be able to redeem your Amex business card rewards points for travel, merchandise, gift cards, charitable donations, Amazon.com purchases, among other things.

The Amex Business Platinum card also comes with several perks that aren’t reliant on your spending, including:

• Airport lounge access
• A Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit
• A $400 statement credit for getting up to $200 semi-annually for U.S. purchases with Dell
• Hilton Honors Gold status

For this unparalleled amount of rewards, however, you’ll have to pay a $695 annual fee for this American Express business card.

This being said, however, if you’re a huge traveler and you’re looking for the best luxury business card on the market, you might be willing to pay the flat fee to be a Platinum cardholder.

As the name implies, this American Express small business card is specific to Amazon and is available for business owners who aren’t Amazon Prime members.

With this Amazon Business card, you’ll gain access to either 3% back or 60-day repayment terms on the first $120,000 in purchases each calendar year at Amazon Business, AWS, Amazon.com, and Whole Foods Market. After that, you’ll earn 1%.

Additionally, this Amazon business credit card option also offers 2% back on purchases you make at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, and on wireless phone services from U.S. providers. For all other purchases, you’ll earn 1% back.

As an added bonus, you’ll receive a $100 Amazon gift card if you’re approved as a cardholder.

Finally, this Amazon-specific Amex business card has no annual fee, your rewards don’t expire, you can choose when to redeem them, and you’ll be able to redeem them for millions of items at Amazon.com or Amazon Business, as well as apply them toward a purchase on your statement.

Therefore, if you spend frequently at Amazon and are not a Prime member, this will definitely be one of the best American Express business credit cards for you.

Alternatively, if you have an eligible Prime or Business Prime membership, then you could be qualified for the Amazon Business Prime American Express Credit Card. The annual fee for the Amazon Business Prime card is technically $0, however, it’s worth remembering that Prime membership costs $119 a year, and Business Prime membership starts at $179 a year, so you’ll want to factor these annual fees into the total cost of the card.

This being said though, these costs could very well be worth the rewards you access through the Amazon Business Prime card. Through this Amazon business credit card option, you can either access 5% back or 90-day repayment terms on the first $120,000 in purchases each calendar year at Amazon Business, AWS, Amazon.com, and Whole Foods. After that, you’ll earn 1%.

Like the Amazon Business American Express Card, the Amazon Business Prime version offers 2% back on every dollar you spend at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. gas stations, and on U.S. provider wireless phone services. You’ll also get that 1% back on every other purchase you make with the card. Plus, you’ll earn a $125 Amazon gift card if you become a qualified Amazon Business Prime credit cardholder.

With all of this in mind, if you’re looking for an Amazon-specific credit card and you’re already a Prime member, this Amex business card will definitely be your top option—if you’re not a Prime member, you may decide these business credit card perks are worth signing up.

The next Amex small business credit card on our list, the Delta SkyMiles Gold card, will make your business travel more rewarding. You can earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of card membership. Terms apply.

In addition, as you spend with this American Express business credit card, you’ll get 2 miles for every dollar you spend directly with Delta (and on every dollar spent on eligible U.S. purchases for advertising in select media, on every dollar spent on eligible U.S. shipping purchases, and on every eligible dollar spent on dining at restaurants), plus 1 mile for every other dollar you spend on your card.

Moreover, you’ll earn other travel perks regardless of how or how much you spend, including priority boarding on Delta flights and free checked bags. Plus, there are no foreign transaction fees with the Delta SkyMiles Gold Card.

The one possible downside is that this card comes with a $99 annual fee, however, American Express waives this fee for your first year as a cardholder.

All of this being said, if you’re looking for a well-rounded business airline credit card, this is going to be one of your best Amex business card options.

With this American Express card, no interest rates will apply to your spending. This being said, however, the Amex Green operates under the assumption that you’ll pay your statement balance in full, every single time. So, instead of interest rates, this American Express small business card will come with late fees that will end up costing you a lot more than traditional credit card interest rates.

As a reminder, if you think you’ll need to carry a balance from month-to-month, then you should opt for another option.

With this in mind, you can earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases with the Business Green Rewards Card within the first 3 months of card membership.

Additionally, this American Express business card will come with one of the most straightforward rewards programs of all your options from the card issuer.

For every dollar you spend on travel booked through the American Express Travel website, you’ll earn 2 Membership Rewards points. Otherwise, you’ll earn 1 Membership Rewards points for every dollar you spend. Moreover, you can choose to redeem your rewards from over 500 leading brands in travel, gift cards, merchandise, or entertainment.

In order to access the Business Green Card’s perks, though, you’ll have to pay a $95 annual fee. That said, AMEX will waive the annual fee for your first year with this AMEX business card. Plus, this fee is comparatively smaller than some of the other Amex business cards that require an annual fee—and, this is typically considered one of the easiest American Express business cards to get.

Similar to the Gold Delta SkyMiles card, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card is an Amex business credit card that offers you even more travel rewards.

You can earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of card membership. Terms apply.

Additionally, on a long-term basis, you’ll get 3 miles for every dollar you spend directly with Delta and 1 mile for every other dollar you spend on your card. You can also earn more miles on big purchases with 1.5 miles per dollar on single eligible purchases of $5,000 or more, up to 50,000 additional miles per year. If your purchase qualifies for a category that has a higher mileage accelerator, only the higher accelerator will apply. For example, you would earn 3 miles per dollar on purchases made directly with Delta and Hotel Stays instead of 1.5 miles.

Moreover, no matter how much you spend with this American Express business card, as a cardholder, you’ll gain access to priority boarding on Delta flights, accelerated Delta status, and free checked bags.

The Delta SkyMilesPlatinum card comes with an arguably steep annual fee of $250. This being said, you’ll want to make sure that the perks and rewards rates make this fee worth it—however, if you travel a lot for your business with Delta and have the cash handy, this might be the best Amex business card for you.

If you’re looking for one of the most luxury American Express business cards for airline travel, you might consider the Delta Reserve for Business.

As you may imagine, this card operates similarly to the Delta Gold and Platinum, but with a few more perks, and of course, a higher annual fee.

You can earn 70,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of card membership.

Additionally, you’ll have access to Status Boost™, meaning you can earn MQMs after you meet certain spending thresholds, getting you closer to Medallion Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion Status and are different from the miles you earn toward flights.

On top of these perks, as you spend with this Delta American Express business credit card, you’ll earn sustained rewards similar to its less expensive counterparts:

• 3 miles per dollar on all eligible Delta purchases
• After you spend $150,000 on your Card in a calendar year, you earn 1.5 Miles per dollar (that’s an extra half mile per dollar) on eligible purchases the rest of the year. Eligible purchases after spending $150,000 do not include Delta purchases.

You’ll also have access to priority boarding on Delta flights, free Delta Sky Club access, and pay no transaction fees.

Although the Delta Reserve will offer up more than its money’s worth in travel perks and spending bonuses, you will have to pay a corresponding premium for them—exactly $550 annually.

Therefore, despite the significant welcome bonuses you can earn with this card, the sustained rewards are similar to the Delta Gold and Platinum—so, if you’re looking for lucrative sustained rewards, then you might want to look beyond the Delta Reserve.

For an Amex small business credit card that boasts hotel-specific travel rewards, you might consider the Marriott Bonvoy card.

With this card, you have the opportunity to earn 75,000 bonus points after you use your new card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first three months.

In addition, the long-term rewards program for this Amex business credit card will be fairly simple—especially when compared to some of its more complicated counterparts.

For every dollar you spend at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels, you’ll earn 6 points.

You’ll earn 4 points for every dollar you spend:

• at restaurants worldwide
• at U.S. gas stations
• on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers
• on U.S. purchases for shipping

For every dollar you spend elsewhere with the card, you’ll earn 2 points.

Also, although there is a $125 annual fee with this American Express business card, you’ll be able to enjoy complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status with your card.

Not to mention, you’ll also earn one free night at a Marriot Bonvoy hotel for every year you have the card. And—you’ll earn an additional free night after you spend $60,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year.

Therefore, if you can benefit from a tiered rewards structure focused on hotel purchases and paying for typical business expenses with your credit card, the Marriott Bonvoy card might be the best American Express business card for you.

On the other hand, if you stay at the Hilton as opposed to the Marriott, then the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card might be right for you.

This Amex business credit card will provide you with the opportunity to earn 150,000 Hilton Honors bonus points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $4,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business Card within your first three months of card membership. Offer ends 7/19/23. Terms apply.

Additionally, if you spend $15,000 in purchases within the year, you’ll earn a Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors. If you spend an additional $45,000 in purchases within the same year, you’ll earn another Free Night Reward.

Moreover, as you spend with your Hilton Honors Amex business credit card, you’ll earn travel rewards at the following rates. Terms apply.

• 12x points when you spend at Hilton portfolio hotels and resorts
• 6x points when you spend:
  • At U.S. gas stations
  • On U.S. wireless phone services
  • On U.S. shipping purchases
  • At U.S. restaurants
  • On flights
  • On rental cars
• 3x when you spend everywhere else

Plus, this American Express small business credit card will grant you complimentary Gold Status.

All of this being said, however, in order to access all of the perks and rewards that the Hilton Honors business credit card has to offer, you’ll have to pay an annual fee of $95.

Finally, with the last American Express business card—the Lowe’s Business Rewards Card—you’ll earn 5% cash back on all Lowe’s purchases for the first 6 months and 2% back after that.

Additionally, you’ll earn 2% cash back at restaurants and office supply stores in the U.S., as well as on wireless telephone service purchases from U.S. providers. You’ll also earn 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases.

Moreover, with this Amex business card, you’ll have access to Lowe’s ProServices for discounted delivery, be able to redeem your rewards for gift cards, and more. The Lowe’s Business Rewards card also includes a bonus offer of $100 back in the form of a statement credit upon approval. This is, without a doubt, the easiest welcome offer to earn out of all the Amex business credit cards on our list.

Plus, unlike many of the other cards, this Lowe’s card has no annual fee. However, your APR rate will vary with the market Prime Rate, so you’ll want to be sure to check the issuer’s terms and conditions for the latest APR information.

So, with all these different American Express business cards, is one of them right for you?

At the end of the day, it’s very possible that one of these cards can fulfill your needs, especially if you’re looking for:

• Industry-leading perks like 0% intro APR periods or luxury travel rewards
• Charge card options
• An opportunity to earn a welcome bonus
• A co-branded card with Amazon, Delta, Marriott, Hilton, or Lowe’s

On the other hand, there are some reasons why you might want to continue to explore your business credit cards, including:

• Many of your vendors don’t accept American Express cards.
• You’d like to see more options with no or a low annual fee.
• You’re looking for a co-branded card that Amex doesn’t offer.
• You’re looking to get a business credit card from the same bank where you have a business checking account.
• You want a business credit card but you have fair credit or bad credit.

Ultimately, even if you decide you want an American Express business credit card, as opposed to a card from another issuer, you still have a decision to make. Which is the best Amex business card for you?

At the end of the day, only you can make this determination and it will largely depend on what your business needs in a credit card and what credit card features are most important to you.

With this being said, you’ll want to consider factors such as:

• Annual fee
• Foreign transaction fees
• Rewards program, including structure, categories, potential welcome bonus
• Additional perks
• Intro APR period

Once you’ve established how you value each of these factors, you’ll be able to narrow down your Amex business card options—and finally, choose the one that will serve your business best.

Still have questions about American Express business credit cards? Check out our frequently asked questions below.

Note: All information about the Amex Business Green Card has been collected independently by Fundera. Fundera does not receive a commission for this product.