The Amazon Business Prime American Express Credit Card is an excellent choice for business owners with Prime memberships. It gives cardholders access to great prices on business supplies and offers exclusive benefits to Amazon Prime members. In addition to receiving 5 percent cash back on Amazon purchases (up to $120,000, then 1 percent thereafter) and free employee cards, cardholders have access to financial tools to track business spending, as well as insurance and protection on specific services or items.
Rewards: Great rate for Amazon shoppers
This card offers cash back in the form of points. Amazon Business Prime members earn 5 percent back on the first $120,000 spent at Amazon (including Amazon Business and Amazon Web Services) and Whole Foods each year, then 1 percent; 2 percent at U.S. gas stations, restaurants and wireless phone service; and 1 percent on other purchases.
In the card’s 5 percent categories, you’ll earn 500 points or $5 for every $100 you spend — and if you’re earning 1 percent back on non-bonus-category spending, you’ll earn 100 points or $1 for every $100 you spend.
Business owners who spend a lot on Amazon.com, Whole Foods or Amazon Business will get the most value from this card. Earning 5 percent back can add up quickly, and this is especially true if you spend a lot on equipment and supplies each year. With $120,000 in Amazon spending on your card in a calendar year, you can earn $5,000 in cash back in this category alone.
Cardholder perks: Expense management tools
This card gives you access to various employee benefits that can boost your business’ productivity. Through Amazon Business Prime, you gain access to many expense management and tracking tools, including a mobile app for saving receipt snapshots and monitoring employee spending. If you have a QuickBooks account, you can also transfer your transactions there.
You also order free employee cards, which you can use for additional rewards. Employers can track spending, set spending limits, get alerts and pull summary reports on these cards, as well.
The Amazon Business Prime card also includes monthly statements and year-end summary of all purchases. If you find you don’t have time to oversee everything, you can add a team member as an account manager to handle tasks like making payments, reviewing expenses and adding employee cards.
Protections: Shopping and travel protections add to value
The Amazon Business Prime Amex provides rental car insurance coverage of up to $50,000 per rental agreement for the first 30 consecutive days. However, this coverage excludes deliberate damage, manufacture defects, wear and tear, mechanical failures and failure of any other vehicle or property.
As an added benefit for traveling business owners and employees, American Express offers baggage insurance coverage ranging from $500 to $1,250 for carry-on bags, checked luggage and high-risk items — but you can only claim this coverage if youbook your trips with the Amazon Business Prime American Express Card. This baggage insurance excludes perishable items, living plants, animals or pets, credit cards, cash and other travel documents.
Purchase protection coverage is available to cardholders for up to $1,000 per qualified item and up to $50,000 per calendar year (items eligible for protection coverage are those that have been damaged, lost or stolen within 90 days of purchase). The following items are not covered:
- Consumable or perishable items
- Tickets or rare collectables
- Motorized vehicles or vehicle parts and components
- Rented items
- Inventory
You are also protected against purchases you make with your American Express credit card that you can’t return within 90 days (items must be in the original purchase condition and cannot be returned to the original merchant). Return protection coverage is limited to $300 per item and $1,000 per year, excluding shipping and handling expenses. Certain items, however, are not included, including:
- Healthcare items, such as prescriptions or medical aids
- Computer parts or software
- Fine jewelry
