If you’re a business owner, you likely have a business credit card of some kind to cover work-related expenses. Utilizing a business card is a great way to earn rewards on heavy expenditures, as well as separate personal and professional expenses. There are lots of great business credit card options available from various issuers, but today, we are going to focus on the American Express (AMEX) Business Gold card, a simple yet effective solution for many small business owners to earn valuable Membership Rewards (MR) points.

Sign-up Bonus Multipliers: Worth Up to $1,400
Annual Fee & Benefits
Summary

AMEX recently revamped the AMEX Business Gold card. Does it still deserve a spot in your wallet?

Sign-Up Bonus Multipliers: Worth Up To $1,400

The AMEX Business Gold card is currently offering a signup bonus of 70,000 MR points after spending $10,000 in the first three months of account opening. I personally value MR points at 2 cents per point, valuing the sign-up bonus at $1,400. However, if you use a referral link or search for the offer using Chrome Incognito Mode, you may be able to find an elevated offer of 125,000 MR points after the same spending threshold, elevating the value to $2,500.

Don’t settle for a lower sign-up offer. Click **HERE** to access my referral link. Photo by AMEX.

The AMEX Business Gold card earns 4X back on the two categories with the highest business expenditures per each billing cycle. Currently, AMEX offers six available categories:

U.S. purchases at gas stations
U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
Purchases at U.S. media providers for advertising in select media—online, TV, and radio
U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
Transit purchases, including trains, taxi rides, rideshare services like Uber and Lyft, ferries, tolls, parking, and public transportation like buses and subways

AMEX automatically calculates on which category you earned the most MR points every billing cycle. Photo by AMEX.

Cardholders can earn 4X back on their top two categories for up to $150,000 spend per calendar year and 1X afterward and for all other purchases. AMEX will automatically calculate which categories you spent the most per billing cycle to award your 4X MR points. You might have noticed that AMEX has excluded U.S. purchases for shipping and airfare bought directly from airlines from their list of multipliers. Instead, now the AMEX Business Gold card earns 3X MR points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AMEXTravel.com. The impact of the change, whether positive or negative, depends on your business spending pattern, but for me, this is a negative change since the card is no longer a strong travel card.

If you’d like to apply for the AMEX Business Gold card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! Click HERE to access my referral link!

Annual Fee & Benefits

The AMEX Business Gold Card is not a cheap card to have. It has an annual fee of $295 that is not waived during the first year. Recently, AMEX raised the annual fee to $375, which will be applied if an application is received on or after 2/1/24. As the annual fee increase approaches, AMEX has extensively redesigned the card's perks to give cardholders more value and reasons to support the annual fee.

$240 Flexible Business Credit

Cardholders can earn up to $20 in monthly statement credits when using the AMEX Business Gold card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and office supply stores. Since there is no multiplier for transactions related to shipping, if your business utilizes Fedex for shipping goods, you will be able to recoup more than half of the card’s annual fee. If that doesn’t apply to your business, you can always get your lunch delivered and use the monthly $20 credit towards food. Make sure you enroll in the benefit before swiping your card.

a fedex delivery trucked parked outside of a modern building with a christmas tree in the lobby — The $240 credit towards FedEx, Grubhub, and office supply stores account for more than half of the new $375 annual fee. Photo by Bannon Morrissy on Unsplash.

$155 Walmart+ Membership Credit

You can now enjoy a monthly Walmart+ membership with the AMEX Business Gold card. Simply subscribe to the service using the AMEX Business Gold card, and the monthly credit from the card will cover the entire subscription fee. Although I typically don't frequent Walmart, a Walmart+ membership offers the benefit of free shipping, eliminating the need for a minimum order. Moreover, the membership provides the convenience of arranging hassle-free returns, allowing you to easily return unwanted items without ever leaving the comfort of your home. Again, enrollment is required to receive the benefit.

an empty grocery isle with colorful food supplies neatly stocked on shelves — With a Walmart+ membership, you can get your groceries delivered to your doorstep. Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash.

Cell Phone Protection

As long as you pay your cell phone bill with your AMEX Business Gold card, you may receive reimbursement for the lower of either the repair or replacement costs of your damaged or stolen cell phone, with a maximum limit of $800 per claim. The coverage applies to a maximum of 2 approved claims within a 12-month period when your cell phone line appears on a wireless bill and the preceding month's bill was paid by an eligible card account. Please note that a $50 deductible will be applicable to each approved claim.

Pay Over Time

Though I don’t recommend using this feature, life happens (see COVID-19) and businesses may find themselves in an unideal cash flow situation that requires them to draw out their payments. The Pay Over Time feature, also found in personal cards, allows cardholders to carry a balance on charges over $100. Because the AMEX Business Gold is a charge card and there is no spending limit, the Pay Over Time feature can allow for business owners to configure their own payment plans. Again, I highly recommend against relying on this benefit since the interest rate is incredibly high, but it’s there if things are looking bleak.

one hundred dollar bills spread out on a table — The Pay Over Time feature can be helpful during times of financial hardship, but it can also drown you in hefty interest fees if abused. Photo by Mackenzie Marco on Unsplash.

Up to 99 Employee Cards

Operating a business can be strenuous and time-consuming, which is why having an account manager or bookkeeper to oversee the company finances is critical for scaling growth. With the AMEX Business Gold card, business owners can pay a flat $50 per year, waive the first year, add up to 99 employee cards, and even designate an employee as the account manager. This assigned individual can make payments and track expenses on the company’s behalf. On top of that, the AMEX Business Gold card can sync with QuickBooks to access a full suite of accounting and bookkeeping tools and seamlessly track expenses.

tax documents and a cell phone with a calculator screen on a table — Being able to designate an account manager to handle expenditures can alleviate some of your responsibilities as a business owner. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.

In addition to these benefits, each employee cardholder will enjoy secondary auto rental coverage, purchase protection, extended warranty, return protection, travel and baggage insurance, and marginal multipliers when booking travel through the AMEX Hotel Collection, which will earn 2X MR points per dollar.

Summary

The AMEX Business Gold card targets a specific audience, primarily in the SMB space. Since AMEX automatically calculates and determines in which category cardholders earn 4X back per billing cycle, the card maximizes your spending based on everchanging business needs and expenses. The biggest downside is the removal of shipping and airfare multipliers; however, the sign-up bonus is solid, and the card earns versatile MR points in decent spending categories in such a flexible manner to recoup this sunk cost. Overall, I recommend the AMEX Business Gold card to those looking to have a simple one-card solution to apply toward their growing business needs.

If you’d like to apply for the AMEX Business Gold card, please consider using my referral link. It will continue to help fund my blog operations and help visitors make informed decisions to maximize their rewards. Thank you! Click HERE to access my referral link!

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