American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card review: Ideal for new business owners

Although cash back is praised for its convenience and upfront value, a card that earns points as part of a rewards program can hold more value if you use those points strategically.

Even among American Express options, cards that earn Amex Membership Rewards points collect more valuable rewards than the Blue Business Cash card will. 

According to Bankrate’s recent valuations, Membership Rewards points are worth about 2.0 cents cents apiece when you transfer them to a high-value partner, meaning The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express essentially earns around 4 cents per dollar via its 2X rewards rate on your first $50,000 in purchases each year (then 1X points). However, this value only applies to travel redemption with the right transfer partner — you won’t get more than 1 cent per point if you redeem your points for cash back with the Blue Business Plus.

If you pool points with a specific airline or hotel, you could consider the Blue Business Plus as another avenue for accumulating rewards points.

If you’re sure you will exceed the $50,000 spending limit of the Amex Blue Business card, then the Capital One Spark Miles for Business might be worth looking into. First, it has no spending cap and it maintains the same 2X miles rate. It also has a welcome offer of 50,000 miles (after spending $4,500 within the first three months). Plus, if you have to travel for work, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business offers unlimited 5X miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through the issuer’s travel portal.

However, this all comes at a cost — literally. While the Spark Miles for Business has a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, it incurs a $95 annual fee thereafter (See Rates and Fees). It also doesn’t include an intro APR; the interest rate would apply immediately to your purchases. So, while it may be more lucrative for those who spend more than $50,000 on business expenses and travel often, the annual fee and high APR can be a dealbreaker for some business owners.

The Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card can earn 3 percent cash back on one category of six you choose each month, including everyday expenses like gas and EV charging stations, travel and office supply stores. You’ll also earn 2 percent cash back on dining. But be warned that your 3 percent and 2 percent categories also share a $50,000 annual spending limit before dropping to 1 percent back. Use this card as a back-up to the Blue Business Cash when you hit its spending cap to keep earning high rewards rates on your business spending.

If you’re dedicated to your Amex Blue Business Cash card but typically spend beyond its 2 percent rewards cap of $50,000, then getting an unlimited cash back card, like the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card, would allow you to reap more rewards. With no annual fee, you can earn 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases, so if you meet your spending cap with the Blue Business Cash, you can earn a slight bit more with the Ink Business’ consistent flat-rate in comparison. Plus, you have more redemption options to choose from with Chase Ultimate Rewards cards.

If you’re just starting out with your business and don’t have any major routine expenses yet, or you don’t plan to use a credit card heavily and only want to use it toward small, business-related purchases, this card could be a great pick. More than likely you won’t go over the spending cap, and you can focus on growing your business without worrying about if you’re maximizing the card’s full potential.

If you have a local small business, or don’t plan to have many of your employees travel abroad for business purposes, then this card could work out well for you as it doesn’t come with many travel-related perks. Plus, you wouldn’t have to worry much about you or your employees going over the spending cap sooner than necessary due to extra charges abroad.

If you’re looking for a simple, flat-rate business card that doesn’t have an extremely complicated rewards system, then this card could be a great fit for you. As long as you keep up with your spending to ensure you don’t go over the spending cap, you can earn a high rewards rate on any purchases you make toward business expenses. 

The best business cards offer rewards in key business spending categories, so a primary factor in a business card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a business card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average small-business owner’s spending habits. In other words, we assess whether the card earns rewards at a high rate in the most popular business spending categories. 

We researched 10 key business spending categories including dining, gas, office supplies, travel, telecommunications, insurance and more to get a sense of the average small-business owner’s spending habits. We assumed an average annual spend of around $40,000 per year based on Bankrate survey data. 

Using this data, we are able to assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your business purchases — as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value.

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other business cards, factoring in the card’s annual fee.

The better these values, the higher its score will be, making it more worthy of inclusion in our list and increasing its potential ranking.

We also score business cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance.

To start, each business card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other business cards. This is because an intro APR on new purchases or balance transfers can be a lifesaver if you need to pay down debt, finance a large business purchase or free up cash flow. 

While intro APRs are not uncommon on business cards, they aren’t a given, so cards that offer this sort of payment flexibility will score higher in our card rating system.

Even more important to both a card’s score and its inclusion in our list, however, is how its annual fee influences its overall value. We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. 

Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value. However, if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score and a spot in our list even if it carries a high annual fee.

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against those of other cards in the category when you subtract annual fees.

We rate each business card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards.

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on only a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you opt for some redemption options over others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to travel partners.

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. Top-tier perks include benefits like airport lounge access, travel credits, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs.

We give extra weight to perks especially useful or valuable for small-business owners, like being able to qualify with no personal guarantee, digital advertising credits, free employee cards and accounting perks.

Not really. Regarding travel rewards, the Blue Business Cash Card only carries as much rewards value as you earn in cash back. This means there are no bonuses for transferring points to partnering airlines or hotels and you won’t earn elevated rewards for spending on travel. Additionally, American Express isn’t accepted in many places internationally. While ideal for domestic travel, there are travel rewards cards that offer greater flexibility.

The American Express Business Blue Cash Card is a cash back rewards business credit card ideal for small business owners who spend up to or below $50,000 each year. For people looking for a non-business card, having a general flat-rate card will be more beneficial.