American Express Business Credit Cards and Charge Cards
American Express offers a wide variety of small business cards for people with excellent credit. If you’re interested in consumer cards from American Express, read this page.
Some are business credit cards, while others are charge cards. Chances are there’s an American Express business card that will work to earn rewards on the money your business is already spending, whether you want to earn travel rewards or cash back.
Many of these cards earn Membership Rewards points, which can be transferred to partner loyalty programs as airline miles or hotel points. These points can also be redeemed for gift cards or statement credit, but you’ll usually get less value from them that way.
Most of these American Express cards have a introductory bonus, so you can earn bonus points for spending a certain amount within the first few months of card membership.
You can also get free employee cards to earn more rewards and manage employee spending.
Business Charge Cards
There are four Amex business charge cards for small business owners. They’re designed for business travel booked through American Express Travel and earn Membership Rewards points, except for the Plum Card. The Business Green Rewards card is the only one with a foreign transaction fee. Since they have no pre-set spending limit, you can use these to earn rewards on big business expenses.
Card | Annual Fee | Points Per Dollar |
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The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (Review) | $595 |
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American Express® Business Gold Card (Review) | $295 |
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The Plum Card® from American Express OPEN (Review) | $250, $0 first year |
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Business Green Rewards Card from American Express (Review) | $95, $0 first year |
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Business Credit Cards
Amex offers two business credit cards, and the main difference is their rewards programs. Neither has an annual fee, but both have a 2.7% foreign transaction fee.
- The The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express (Review) earns Membership Rewards points
- The SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card from American Express (Review) earns cash back
For Earning Membership Rewards Points
For Earning Cash Back
Co-Branded Credit Cards
American Express offers several co-branded cards in partnership with other brands, including Amazon, Delta, Hilton hotels, Starwood (including Marriott) hotels, and Lowe’s home improvement stores.
Amazon
Amex offers two co-branded Amazon business credit cards — one for regular Amazon customers, and one for Amazon Prime members. The regular card provides 3% cash back for Amazon services and at Whole Foods Markets, while the Prime card provides 5% cash back for those purchases. Each card also has several other 2% cash back bonus categories.
Delta
American Express and Delta offer a wide variety of cards at different annual fees. None has a foreign transaction fee. At the highest end, the Delta Reserve comes with airport lounge access and several other extra benefits. Otherwise, the main differences are how the cards earn rewards and how many bonus miles you can get when you spend on the card within the first few months of card membership.
Card | Annual Fee |
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Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card | $450 |
Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express (Review) | $195 |
Gold Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express | $95, $0 first year |
Hilton Hotels
If you stay at Hilton hotels frequently, this card makes it easy to rack up Hilton Honors points as well as some other perks at Hilton hotels.
Starwood & Marriott Hotels
If you frequently spend and stay at Starwood or Marriott hotels, this card can be quite valuable for earning Starpoints. If you stay exclusively at Marriott hotels, consider the Marriott Rewards Premier Business Card from Chase instead.
Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores
If your business spends at Lowe’s frequently, this no annual fee card could save you lots of money (5% off at Lowe’s) and earn you rewards.
Amex Business Card Features
Benefits
American Express business cards have access to a suite of Amex OPEN business benefits, which include:
- Free employee cards: to help manage spending and maximize rewards
- Account Manager: Designate a trusted account manager to handle your business card account
- Spend Manager: For help managing your card expenses and tracking receipts
- Connect to Quickbooks: Transfer data from your Amex statement directly into Quickbooks
- Year-end Summary: See a complete summary of all your spending for the year, broken down into categories
- Amex OPEN Forum: Talk with other cardmembers about business and using your cards
- 24/7 Business Customer Support: Call to speak with a business specialist, trained to help with your business needs