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

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express can be an ideal card for small business owners with an annual budget in this range. It has good features like no annual fee and a decent rewards rate on up to $50,000 in purchases per year. However, it may also stand out as a great choice for startup owners who don’t have predictable budgets yet.

The American Express Blue Business Plus card has 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. 

Credit limit: Expanded Buying Power lives by its name 

If you need to make a large purchase worth more than your credit limit, you can do it with Expanded Buying Power. 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.

Instead, it adjusts with your card use, payment history, credit record, financial resources known to American Express and more to accommodate the purchase. This flexibility can be especially handy for business owners who may worry that their credit limit 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. 

Rates and fees: 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. The Amex Blue Business Plus has a combination that will appeal to many business owners, especially those just starting out: No annual fee and a 0 percent intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months, enabling you to finance large business expenses for one year without paying interest. This intro offer is especially worthwhile for new cardholders who need to finance large purchases in their first year with the card. 

After the intro period, your regular APR will be 18.49 percent to 26.49 percent (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.

Perks: Decent for a no-annual-fee card

Like many business credit cards, the Blue Business Cash lets you request free employee cards, which come with alerts and spending summaries so you can track their purchases with the company cards. If you travel somewhat regularly, you’ll be happy to know this card comes with secondary car rental loss and damage insurance and a Global Assist Hotline. The hotline can help you if you need a solution for emergencies such as a lost passport or missing luggage. Amex also offers translation services and emergency legal and medical referrals if you travel more than 100 miles from your home.

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 rate: Low redemption value outside of travel 

Each reward point could be worth between 0.5 and 2.1 cents, depending on your redemption option.  

Paying with points and redeeming them for merchandise, gift cards (value varies by merchant, but up to a 1:1 value), or statement credits are the worst ways to use your points since you’ll only get 0.5 cents to 0.7 cents per point in most cases. If you’re in a pinch and need to use points, you can reserve prepaid hotel rooms, cars, cruises and planned vacations. However, this will only net 0.7 cents per point.

If you want a fair value for your points, you should redeem them for air travel through the Amex Travel portal. The best way to maximize your points is to use them for travel, especially for transfers to a partner airline or hotel. Bankrate’s latest valuation estimates that finding the right American Express transfer partner can bump each point to up to 2.1 cents apiece. You’ll want to plan your redemption with your chosen transfer partner ahead of time since it is the best way to squeeze more value out of your credit card rewards.

Rewards: Spending cap only suits small businesses 

The Blue Business Plus Credit Card by American Express earns points on eligible everyday purchases with the flexible American Express Membership Rewards program. You’ll earn 2X points on up to $50,000 in purchases each year and 1X points after that as well as unlimited 2X points on prepaid rental cars booked through the American Express Travel portal.

This card can offer solid value to small-business owners because it is one of the few cards with no annual fee that offers rewards at a generous flat rate. 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 is especially true when considering the most you can earn is 2 points per dollar, and the highest redemptions are for travel.

Welcome offer: Recent update removes bonus

The Blue Business Plus credit card's had a previous welcome offer of 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $3,000 in eligible purchases on the card within your first three months of card membership. However, American Express' recent update to the card removed the welcome offer and didn't replace it.

Welcome offers are common on many business credit cards, so this change is disappointing, even if the previous offer was a bit underwhelming. If a welcome offer is an essential feature for you, you can check out other Amex Business cards for better offers.