Best American Express Business credit cards of April 2024

American Express is one of the largest credit card issuers and constantly ranks as one of the best in the world when accounting for perks, accessibility and its No. 1 spot in J.D. Power’s 2023 credit card satisfaction study. American Express offers lucrative rewards, expense tracking and premium travel perks such as airport lounge access for established businesses.

Established business owners, new entrepreneurs and startup owners will find unique financing options and money-saving features with an Amex business card. Whether it’s a general rewards Amex card, luxury travel card or co-branded card, you can find a card that meets your business needs. 

According to Bankrate’s unique data, American Express approved a majority of business card applications in 2023 (about 58 percent approval overall). And though the chances of approval were better if you had excellent credit, plenty of applicants with good, fair and even bad credit were approved for Amex business cards.

For example, the American Express Business Gold card is popular among users with excellent credit scores, but users with good credit, fair credit and even bad credit also got approved. Although good credit and lower users were less likely to be approved, their scores didn’t immediately disqualify them, with over 40 percent of approved applications coming from people with fair or bad credit.

Bankrate’s data also indicates that March and August had the lowest business card approval rates in 2023, with approval rates hovering around 40 percent. If you’re wary of Amex denying your application, our data suggests your approval odds could be better if you apply between April and June, or in November, when approval rates hovered close to 60 percent. However, there’s no way to be sure how much of an impact applying at different times makes in getting approved.

American Express has some of the best business cards on the market. However, that doesn’t mean that these cards are the best fit for everyone. The right Amex business card for you depends on the type of business you have, your spending habits and your creditworthiness. The best business card will reward you for purchases you already make and won’t encourage you to overspend in other areas. Here are some tips for choosing:

Still unsure if a travel credit card is right for you? Check out our Credit Card Spender Type Tool where you can get personalized credit card recommendations based on your credit score, spending habits and daily needs.

Bankrate writer Ryan Flanigan shared his experience with American Express business cards:

American Express business cards have been a great way for me to earn a lot of Membership Rewards points while covering most bonus categories. I also get so much value from all the perks and credits, especially when traveling. No other issuer comes close to offering what Amex does. The Amex business trifecta of the Blue Business Plus, Business Gold and Business Platinum beats any other combination of cards.

— Ryan Flanigan, Writer, Credit Cards

Holding a trifecta of cards like Flanigan recommends can make it easier to maximize your rewards and squeeze more value out of your points. Common trifectas are the Amex trifecta, the Chase trifecta and the Citi trifecta. These card combinations offer maximum value for personal and business expenses by taking advantage of the range of benefits each issuer offers.

It isn’t enough to simply hold an American Express card. If you want the card to be a worthwhile part of your business card stack, you need to be strategic with how you use the card and earn and redeem rewards. Here are a few things to keep in mind that can help you maximize your Amex business card:

Explore Corporate Membership Rewards®

American Express offers access to its renowned Membership Rewards® program on its consumer and business credit cards. It also allows businesses to take advantage of Corporate Membership Rewards. This program lets business owners redeem points for business trips, gift cards, office supplies and more. Some cards in the Corporate Membership Rewards program have an annual fee, but members can redeem points for a credit on their company’s card statement and earn points that don’t expire.

On top of that, members can earn up to 1.25 Corporate Membership Rewards points for every dollar charged to their Amex corporate card for business expenses, such as travel accommodations and utility bills. Plus, they can earn 2 Corporate Membership Rewards points for each dollar spent on foreign currency transactions, computer hardware, software and cloud services and online advertising. Interested business owners and employees can enroll by logging into American Express @Work or contacting their Amex representative.

Use Pay Over Time for large purchases

While we don’t recommend carrying a balance, sometimes it's necessary. With Pay Over Time, you have time to pay off eligible purchases over a set period with interest, instead of paying the entire balance. On the surface, the feature may not have much appeal but when you’re in a tight spot with an unexpected expense, it can be a useful tool.

Make the most of travel credits

Some American Express business cards offer travel credits that can benefit most travelers. Perks include a CLEAR Plus membership credit, hotel credits, airport lounge access and an airline bonus when you pay with points. If your business requires you to travel frequently, you might consider choosing an Amex card with valuable travel perks that can add convenience to your airport experience and help dampen the blow to your travel budget.

Use your Membership Rewards wisely

American Express has one of the highest credit card point values on the market. Bankrate currently values American Express Membership Rewards at 1 cent per point when booking through the issuer and around 2.0 cents per point when transferred to a high-value airline or hotel partner. This means that 50,000 Membership Rewards points could net you an estimated $1,000 in travel value.

Other redemption methods have redemption values worth only 0.5 to 0.7 cents, a downside for business owners who don’t travel often. Although Amex points can be useful for the occasional non-travel redemption, your points are best used for strategic travel transfers.

What you need to apply for an Amex business credit card

Applying for an American Express business credit card is nearly the same as applying for a personal Amex credit card. You’ll navigate a few additional steps if it's your first time applying, but existing Amex cardmembers can sign into their account to expedite the process.

Along with filling out some basic personal information, you’ll also provide details like your company structure, business address, number of employees, federal tax ID and your role at the company. You’ll also disclose your billing address and total annual income, which includes any income you can use to pay your bills and any profits you’ve taken from your business thus far. You can also opt to include your non-taxable annual income, which is optional but may be helpful if you receive any income exempt from federal income tax, like Social Security and disability benefits.

This year hasn’t been the kindest for small businesses with spikes in bankruptcy, often due to a lack of funding. On the flip side, there’s been an increase of minority-owned businesses during the last few years that will be looking for additional funding in the near future.

There are many options available for business owners, but a short-term solution could be a business credit card for situations such as last-minute purchases or if you’re having difficulty finding funding through other means. There also may be credits for products that could be helpful to your business, taking pressure off the budget. With some cards, American Express offers its Amex Pay Over Time feature and credits for Adobe and Dell products.

When evaluating the best business cards, we consider a mix of factors, including how cards score in our proprietary card rating system and whether cards offer features that fit the priorities of a diverse group of small-business owners, from earning rewards in popular business spending categories to getting payment flexibility or high-value perks. Whenever possible, we also feature cards that are available at various credit levels and price points. 

We analyzed over 50 of the most popular business credit cards and scored each based on its rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more to determine whether it belonged in this month’s roundup.

Here are some of the key factors that we considered:

Have more questions for our credit card editors? Feel free to send us an email, find us on Facebook, or Tweet us @Bankrate.