Amazon Business Prime American Express Card Review

HOW DO THE REWARDS WORK WITH THE CardName?

Since the CardName is an Amazon credit card, when you spend money, you'll benefit the most on Amazon-related purchases. You have two options, in fact, for how this card can earn you rewards. You can either receive cash back on purchases, or enjoy a 90-day interest-free window on eligible U.S. purchases at Amazon Business, Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market. American Express is a CardRatings advertiser.

If you go the cash back route, you will get…

• 5% cash back on U.S. purchases at Amazon Business, Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market (on up to $120,000 in purchases each calendar year, 1% back thereafter)
• 2% cash back at U.S. restaurants and U.S. gas stations, and on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers
• 1% cash back on everything else you spend money on

We should mention here that the cash back actually will come to you in the form of Amazon rewards points - which can then be applied to purchases on your card statement or toward purchases at the Amazon.com checkout.

Also worth noting, if you aren't an Amazon Prime member and want this card without being an Amazon Prime member and paying the membership fee, you can get the CardName discontinued (that is, no "Prime" in the title), but instead of getting 5% back, you'll receive a choice of 3% cash back or a 60-day interest-free window on eligible U.S. purchases at Amazon Business, Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market.

FEATURED CARD

 

Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

• Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
• Buy Now, Pay Later: Enjoy $0 intro plan fees when you use Plan It® to split up large purchases into monthly installments. Pay $0 intro plan fees on plans created during the first 12 months from the date of account opening. Plans created after that will have a monthly plan fee up to 1.33% of each eligible purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase, and other factors.
• Low Intro APR: 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening. After that, your APR will be a variable APR of 19.24% - 29.99%. Variable APRs will not exceed 29.99%.
• 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).
• 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
• 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations.
• 3% Cash Back on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more).
• 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
• Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit.
• Get up to $120 in statement credits annually when you pay for an auto-renewing subscription to Equinox+ at equinoxplus.com with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card. That's $10 in statement credits each month. Enrollment required.
• Thinking about getting the Disney Bundle which can include Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+? Your decision made easy with $7/month back in the form of a statement credit after you spend $9.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription (subject to auto renewal) with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card. Enrollment required.
• Terms Apply.

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Terms and Limitations Apply

Credit Needed:

Good, Excellent

CardName BENEFITS

Amazon advertises a number of Amazon Business related perks including exclusive pricing and quantity discounts, employee purchase control, and enhanced data views on Amazon Business purchases. Add the CardName to your wallet and you can look forward to even more, including:

• A generous welcome offer. Once you're approved for the card you'll get a $125 Amazon gift card. That should easily pay for your Amazon Prime membership, unless you have a Business Prime membership with numerous users (when you have up to 10 card users, the fee can be as high as $499; if you have one user with Business Prime, it's $69). This is a great perk considering the fact that most welcome bonuses require you to spend a certain amount of money within a specific time frame before you're eligible for the bonus.
• Cash back or cash flow? As noted earlier, with the CardName, you'll either get a lot of cash back (5% for purchases on Amazon sites up to $120,000 in purchases each calendar year; 2% at U.S. restaurants and gas stations; 1% on everything else) - or you can choose a 90-day interest-free window on eligible U.S. purchases at Amazon Business, Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market. This interest-free window is for the life of the card, and so it isn't a one-time deal. If you make an eligible purchase, and you select the Payment Terms option, or if your default selection for Payment Terms applies, payment will be due no less than 90 days from the date of purchase. So it really comes down to what you value more. Cash back every time you buy stuff - or the ability to have some breathing room to pay things off before you're charged interest?
• No foreign transaction fees which means it's cheaper to travel internationally.
• Business benefits you would expect, such as purchase protection, extended warranty protection and travel protection (i.e., car rental loss and damage insurance). In other words, the good stuff that a lot of business credit cards have.

Additionally, there are a number of expense management tools that cardholders can look forward to. These include:

• Employee cards. Sure, you would expect that with a business credit card, but, still, it's helpful.
• Connection to QuickBooks. You can enroll in QuickBooks and have all of your business card transactions automatically tagged with your QuickBooks categories.
• Manage receipts. The American Express Business App makes it very easy for you and your employees to manage your business credit card receipts.
• Vendor Pay by Bill.com. You can improve your cash flow when you use your card to pay bills with Vendor Pay by Bill.com. It basically automates your bill paying and invoice sending. With the basic plan, there's no monthly fee for the first user. If you have more users or get plan beyond basic, fees may apply.

IS THERE AN ANNUAL FEE WITH THE CardName?

The CardName does not have an annual fee, but Amazon Prime membership is required to take full advantage of the card. See Rates and Fees. The CardName doesn't require prime membership, but remember, as mentioned above, the rewards offered with this version aren't quite as lucrative as the Amazon Business Prime card.

For a personal Amazon prime membership, you'll pay $119 a year, or you can pay $12.99 a month (but that comes to $155.88 a year, so you'll want to try and avoid that). As you probably know, there are a slew of benefits to being an Amazon Prime member. You get access to free shipping and streaming access to Prime Video and Amazon Music Prime - and much more.

You also can be a member of Business Prime and get a lot of Amazon business benefits, such as business-only pricing and fulfillment solutions. The cost for Business Prime varies, ranging from $69 for one user to $499 if you have 10 users.

So, depending on whether or not you mind paying for an Amazon Prime membership, this could be a disadvantage of the card, but if you're using Prime already then this is a moot point.

CREDIT SCORE NEEDED FOR THE CardName

As you probably can guess, the higher your credit score, the better your odds of being approved. The CardName requires good to excellent credit. According to the FICO score model, a good credit score is anything above 670, but keep in mind that there are other factors that American Express might take into consideration when deciding approval for this card.

CardName CARDHOLDER SCORES

CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results:

*Scores above reflect the results of surveys with actual cardholders. Full methodology below.

HOW THE CardName COMPARES TO OTHER BUSINESS CREDIT CARDS

CardName vs. CardName

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The CardName and CardName are pretty evenly matched with cash back rewards - at least when it comes to small business spending categories. They each offer 5% cash back up to a cap. Granted, with Amazon.com, your 5% cash back reach goes a little further, since you can get 5% cash back with purchases from Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market on up to $120,000 spent in a calendar year. With the CardName, cardholders earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year; 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each year; and 1% back on all other purchases.

One edge that the CardName has is a 0% intro APR period. This card offers 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months (then RegAPR). Meanwhile, with the Amazon Business Prime card, if you choose the interest-free window route instead of cash-back rewards, you'll get 90 days 0% APR on purchases, ongoing. This means that for the life of the card you get 90 days to pay off your purchases before interest kicks in.

Lastly, there's no doubt that the CardName has a better welcome bonus, at least at first glance— $900 cash back after you spend $6,000 in the first three months. Amazon Business Prime Card offers you only $125, in the form of an Amazon gift card - but without spending a cent.

The CardName has no annual fee.

CardName vs. CardName

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See Rates and Fees

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CardName offers 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year, and then 1%. While there's more rewards-earning potential with the Amazon Business Prime card, CardName could be a better fit for business owners who have expenses all over the place, and not just in specific categories.

There's also no annual fee, and you may like the "expanding buying power" feature, which lets your business spend beyond its credit limit. You also may like the 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months (then RegAPR) offer. The CardName does have a 0% APR for 90 days on eligible purchases, and it's a permanent and not an introductory feature, but to get it, you have to be willing to give up getting cash back. With CardName, for that first year, you can have a 0% APR - and earn cash back.

CardName vs. CardName

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The CardName card earns unlimited 2% cash back on every purchases, everywhere, with no limits or category restrictions. There is a AnnualFees annual fee, but some of the card's perks are quite lucrative. For starters, new cardholders can earn a one-time cash bonus of $1,200 once you spend $30,000 in the first three months. If your business has some big purchases on the horizon, this bonus could be in easy reach. Additionally, you can get your AnnualFees annual fee refunded every year you spend at least $150,000 with the card. Another notable feature is that employee cards are free.

What's different about this card though is that there's no APR. That's because your balance is due in full every month. So this is a very different offer than what you get with the Amazon Business Prime card, but for the right cardholder, it could be a viable option.

IS THE CardName A GOOD CARD?

The CardName is a good card - even an excellent one, if you're an avid Amazon shopper. If you're somebody who prefers other retailers, then it's not as good of a fit for you.

But if you like to do business shopping through Amazon, or you like Amazon and are willing to steer your business spending to Amazon, then it's absolutely a good credit card. With 5% cash back in select categories - or the 90 days 0% APR (if cash flow concerns are more your concern), it's a business credit card that could, in theory, make your business stronger and healthier when used responsibly.

Survey Methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September and October 2022 to conduct surveys among 1,554 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2022-Aug. 31, 2022 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents' scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. "Current Scores" reflect scores from the most recent survey (2022); "Past Scores" reflect scores from the 2021 survey.

To see the rates and fees for the American Express cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: CardName (See Rates and Fees); CardName (See Rates and Fees)