The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express review: A sturdy middle ground for small businesses and startups

The American Express Blue Business Plus card has a rewards structure and features that allow for flexible budgets and timelines, giving cardholders a grace period that’s rare among no-annual-fee business cards. If you plan ahead, you could get the upper hand in balancing your venture's finances while growing for the future. 

Perks: Expanded Buying Power lives up its name

The Blue Business Plus has decent perks for a no-annual-fee card, including staples like free employee cards and a few helpful benefits for business travel like secondary car rental loss and damage insurance, Global Assist Hotline and translation services and emergency legal and medical referrals if you’re more than 100 miles from your home.

However, the Expanded Buying Power feature is the stand-out perk if you need to make a large purchase worth more than your credit limit in a pinch. Based on your creditworthiness, American Express may allow you to go over your credit limit to cover business expenses like equipment and inventory, but it’s not unlimited. This flexibility can be especially handy for business owners who may worry that their credit limit sometimes won’t completely cover everything they need to purchase with the card in a month. However, be aware that you must pay off the over-limit portion at the end of each billing period as part of your minimum payment.

You can find out how much you may exceed your credit limit by using the “Check Spending Power” tool in your American Express account. Overall, this benefit can be especially handy with a flat-rate rewards card like this, especially if your small business runs into any unexpected startup costs or the like.

Rates and fees: Solid rewards value for no annual fee

Thanks to the Blue Business Plus card, small-business owners and side-hustlers who don’t spend enough to justify an annual fee can still enjoy an impressive flat rewards rate that can rank up plenty of points toward travel. Few no-annual-fee cards allow you to redeem rewards through travel transfer partners to begin with, let alone with a top-tier rewards rate on general spending.

However, it’s best to avoid using this card abroad if you’re on a business trip since the 2.7 percent foreign transaction fee could more than eat through any rewards value you’d earn from the purchase.

Intro APR: A rare intro APR offer for business cards

This is a standout feature on the Blue Business Plus because several popular business cards don’t have intro APR offers. Only a few business cards provide intro APRs, and this card is one of the best in this small club if you want to earn travel rewards. Granted, there isn’t an intro APR for balance transfers, but these offers are extremely rare on the business card market.

The 0 percent intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months, enabling you to finance large business expenses for one year without paying interest, is especially worthwhile if you’re trying to handle startup costs — or just want a back-up plan for any unexpected expense — and want a little breathing room to finance large purchases without dealing with a short-term loan.

After the intro period, your regular APR will be 16.99% - 26.99% Variable, depending on your creditworthiness. If you spend over your limit, the Expanded Buying Power feature means you won’t face an over-limit fee but be aware that other fees and rates could apply to your balance. You won’t want to use this feature as a safety net for accidental overspending, though, since you’ll need the money to pay back the surplus spending — not to mention that the extra spending allowance is only provided on a case-by-case basis.

While this card is a great choice for startups, freelancers, and contractors, it may not be the best for larger, more established companies. Between drawbacks like low redemption value for points and spending caps that limit rewards earnings, those with more expensive business needs won’t see this card’s worth.

Rewards redemption: Low value outside of travel 

Each reward point could be worth between 0.5 and 2.0 cents, depending on your redemption option. But, unlike Chase Ultimate Rewards points or Citi ThankYou points that can be redeemed at a full 1 cent each for cash back, Amex only gives you 0.6 cents per point toward statement credits. Amex doesn’t even provide 1 cent back on all issuer travel bookings either, which could easily make rival cards better options for flexible rewards travel. In fact, the only redemption methods that give 1 cent per point through the issuer are:

• Airfare bookings
• Fine Hotels & Resorts bookings
• Pay with Points at checkout with NYC Taxi rides
• Gift cards for select merchants

If you’re in a pinch and need to use points, you can reserve prepaid hotel rooms, cars, cruises and planned vacations — but at the cost of only netting 0.7 cents per point.

If you want to get a competitive point value, you’ll want to plot out your travel plans ahead of time since Bankrate’s latest valuation estimates that redeeming through the right American Express transfer partner can bump each point to around 2.0 cents on average.

Rewards rate: Spending cap only suits small businesses

This card can offer solid value to small-business owners because it is one of the few cards with no annual fee that offers such a generous flat rewards rate. Plus, the unlimited 2X points on prepaid rental cars booked through the American Express Travel portal could sprinkle in some extra rewards value if your business sometimes takes you on the road.

However, companies with higher budgets or with a preference for higher rewards rates may find this card restricting. If your company’s annual budget goes over $50,000, the rewards on this card can be limited. This spending threshold is certainly worth considering since it’s easily within the realm of possibility for average small business owners.

Welcome offer: Potentially low value

Unless you can redeem the 15,000-point welcome offer (obtainable after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first three months of cardmembership) through a high-value transfer partner, the rewards value can be pitiful compared to other no-annual-fee business cards’ offers. The potential $300 value is solid if you can get the 2 cents per point we estimate with the right transfer partner, but a $150 value toward American Express Travel portal airfare (1 cent per point) or just $90 for a statement credit (0.6 cents per point) can be quite low — even compared to no-annual-fee personal cards’ offers.

Here’s how Bankrate credit cards writer Ryan Flanigan uses the Blue Business Plus to keep his Membership Rewards points from expiring.

The best pairing partners for the Blue Business Plus will depend on your unique business needs. The best way to take advantage of the card’s flat rewards rate is to pair it with another card that matches your spending in specific categories. This could be another business card or even a personal travel card that can pool rewards with the Amex Blue Business Plus.

The Blue Business Plus credit card is ideal for small business owners looking for a card with a simple rewards structure, no annual fee and an intro APR period. This card would not be a good fit for business owners operating large companies or those that rarely travel — at least not as a primary business card.