The Best Amex Card for Business

Editor’s Note: American Express is a partner of Fundera.

In general, every small business owner can benefit from using a business credit card. Business credit cards are a great way to manage your company’s expenses and earn valuable rewards—no matter the type of business you run.

But when you’re wondering what’s the best Amex card for business out there, you have to get a little more specific. Depending on the type of business you run—and what you want to get out of your business credit card—the best Amex card for business will vary from company to company.

If you want the best Amex card for rewards, we’ve found it for you. If you’re looking for the best Amex card for travelers, we’ve found that one for you, too.

In fact, we’re going to break down the best Amex card based on any category a business owner might want to consider.

Let’s get to it.

The Best Amex Card for Business If You’re In It For The Benefits

One of the best parts about using a business credit card is taking advantage of the many benefits it can offer.

And when it comes to American Express’s benefits, you can either earn cash back or Membership Rewards points.

If you’re interested in earning cash back on your business credit card purchases, Amex’s SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card is your best bet.

Best Amex Card for Cash Back: SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card

With the SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card, the name says it all: you’ll earn significant cash back savings when you use this card.

Here’s why this is the best Amex card for cash back:

• You’ll get 5% cash back on purchases made at office supply stores and wireless phone service providers, up to $50,000 spent per year. After that, you’ll get 1% back on these purchases.

• You’ll get 3% cash back on one purchase category of your choice—up to $50,000 spent per year. After that, you’ll earn 1% cash back on whichever category you chose. Here are your cash back categories:

• Airfare (when you purchase directly from airlines)
• Car rentals (from eligible agencies)
• Hotel stays (when you book through the hotel directly)
• Restaurants
• Gas stations
• Shipping
• Advertising

• You’ll get 1% cash back on everything else.

When it comes to the best Amex card for cash back, it’s pretty clear why the SimplyCash Plus reigns supreme. When you add all those cash back rewards up, you’ll see significant savings for your business.

We love the SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card because of its flexibility. The 3% cash back on the category of your choice is a huge perk of this business credit card.

Your rewards earnings are completely customizable—as they should be. As the owner of your small business, only you know what you spend on the most. The SimplyCash Plus Business Credit Card lets you take advantage of that.

Best Amex Card for Membership Rewards Points: The Business Gold Rewards Card

If you’d prefer to bring in the benefits in the form of Membership Rewards points, then the Business Gold Rewards Card is the best Amex card for you.

Here’s why:

• First off, get a sign-up bonus: earn 50,000 Membership Rewards points once you’ve spent $5,000 in purchases on the card (within the first 3 months of being a cardmember).

• Earn 3 Membership Rewards points per $1 spent in one of these categories:

• Airfare purchased directly from airlines
• Shipping purchases in the U.S.
• Gas purchases in the U.S.
• Advertising purchases in the U.S.
• Computer purchases in the U.S.

• Earn 2 Membership Rewards points per $1 spent in the four remaining categories that you didn’t choose (up to $100,000 in purchases).

• Earn 1 Membership Rewards point per $1 spent on everything else (up to $100,000 in purchases).

We’re willing to bet that, as a small business owner, you probably spend a lot in at least one of those rewards categories. And whatever you spend the most on, you can earn the most on.

And don’t worry—you’ll earn Membership Rewards points on the rest of the categories (and everything else), too.

When you redeem all these Membership Rewards points, you can spend them on a variety of categories: airlines, hotels, vendors, and services.

The Best Amex Card for Business If You’re a Frequent Traveller

American Express is known for their generous travel benefits. But when it comes to the best Amex card for frequent travelers, there’s a clear winner: the Enhanced Business Platinum Card.

The Enhanced Business Platinum Card

Depending on the business you own, you might have to travel a lot for your company. If this is you, then you should be enjoying the many travel perks of the Enhanced Business Platinum Card.

Here’s the deal:

• You’ll be a part of the Airport Lounge Access Program, which grants you access to over 700 airport lounges worldwide.

• You’ll get a $200 statement credit every calendar year for airline incidental fees.

• You’ll get a $100 credit or a $85 credit towards your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application.

• Get complimentary Wi-Fi access at Boingo hotspots and 10 Gogo inflight internet passes annually.

• Enjoy a 50% Airline Bonus: When you use Membership Rewards Pay with Points for all or part of a flight with a qualifying airline, you can get 50% of the points back.

• No foreign transaction fees.

That’s a pretty long list, we know. But the Enhanced Business Platinum Card has a lot to offer frequent travelers. If you’re constantly spending on airfare and travel expenses, then this business credit card is a must-have.

Plus, you can’t forget the Business Platinum Card’s sign-up bonus: you’ll get 50,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $10,000 in purchases on the card, and an additional 25,000 points once you’ve spent an extra $10,000—within the first 3 months of being a cardmember. Your Membership Rewards earning is this: In a new offer, earn 5 Membership Rewards points for each dollar spent on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com. After that, you’ll earn 1.5 points per dollar spent on purchases of more than $5,000 (up to 1 million points). 

You can redeem these Membership Rewards points on a variety of airfare and airline expenses—allowing you to maximize your travel rewards.

The Best Amex Card for Business If You Don’t Want an Annual Fee

If you don’t want to pay an annual fee on your credit card, there are a lot of options available for you. We think that the Blue for Business Card is your best choice, though.

The Blue for Business Card

Usually when you see a credit card offer with a great rewards system, you’ll find a steep annual fee attached to the card, too. But with the Blue for Business Card, this isn’t the case.

The Blue for Business Card has no annual fee—allowing you to take advantage of its generous Membership Rewards point system without paying extra in the end.

What rewards can you expect to earn? In general, you’ll get a straightforward, 1 point for every dollar spent on eligible purchases.

But here’s what’s great:

You’ll also get a 30% Membership Rewards points bonus each year, which won’t be cut into by an annual fee. When you add those earnings on top of the substantial sign-up bonus (think 10,000 Membership Rewards points after making your first purchase on your card within 3 months of membership), you’ll be bringing in the benefits without dishing anything out in annual fees.

Plus, you’ll get an introductory APR of 0% for 9 months, with a variable APR of 11.99% to 19.99% thereafter.

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So there you have it.

For each consideration a business owner might have in mind—whether that’s rewards, travel benefits, or annual fees—these are the best Amex cards available.

Ready to take the next step?

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