The American Express^® Business Gold Card is a standout card for small business owners whose spending categories fluctuate from month to month. The card has a unique rewards structure that automatically identifies your top two spending categories each month.

It does come with a $295 annual fee, however, so the American Express^® Business Gold Card is only worth it for businesses that spend east least $7,375 each year in categories that earn 4X points. When valuing each point at 1 cent, that’s enough spending to recoup the amount of the annual fee in rewards.

To see rates & fees for the American Express^® Business Gold Card please click here.

• Earn 4X points on your top spending categories

  When you use the American Express^® Business Gold Card, you’ll get 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 select categories where your business spent the most each month*. If your spending fluctuates among different categories from month to month, this rewards program could be ideal for your business. Categories the card selects from include:

  • Airfare (when purchased directly from airlines)
  • Advertising on TV, radio, and online
  • Computer hardware, software, and cloud systems (from select technology providers)
  • Gas station purchases
  • Restaurants (including takeout and delivery)
  • Shipping

  Note that except for airfare, all categories are limited to U.S. purchases for the 4X rate. Also be aware that the 4X rate applies to the first $150,000 spent in boosted categories per calendar year, after which your earnings will drop to 1 point per $1 spent for the rest of the year.

• Generous welcome offer

  Earn 70,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.* If you get a redemption value of 1 cent per point, that’s a $700 value.

• No foreign transaction fee

  Doing business outside the United States? Take this card abroad with you and don’t worry about paying a foreign transaction fee each time you use it, because there is none.

  To see rates & fees for the American Express^® Business Gold Card please click here.

• Benefits to help you while traveling

  When you have a American Express^® Business Gold Card and you book a flight through American Express Travel using Membership Rewards® Pay with Points, American Express offers 25% of your points back — up to a maximum of 250,000 points per calendar year.

  Plus, enjoy the following travel benefits:

  • Global Assist® Hotline when traveling more than 100 miles from home.
  • Baggage insurance plan.
  • Trip delay insurance.
  • Car rental loss and damage insurance.
  • Statement credit of up to $100 for qualifying dining, spa and resort activities when you book a participating property in The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel and stay at least two consecutive nights.

  Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

• No preset spending limit

  Unlike most credit cards, which have a set credit limit you have to keep your spending within, the American Express^® Business Gold Card has no preset spending limit. Now, that doesn’t mean you can spend an unlimited amount with this card. Rather, the limit is flexible, and adapts based on factors such as your credit history and your purchase and payment history.

• This card charges an expensive annual fee

  With an annual fee of $295, the American Express^® Business Gold Card is not cheap to carry. If you value each point that you earn as worth 1 cent, you’d have to spend at least $7,375 each year in 4X categories to recoup the amount of the annual fee.

  By contrast, there are business credit cards available that charge annual fees in the vicinity of $95 a year, as well as ones with no annual fee at all. If your business doesn’t spend enough to recoup the American Express^® Business Gold Card‘s annual fee — for example, if you just occasionally sell handcrafts online and need a business card to buy small amounts of crafting materials — consider a different card instead.

  To see rates & fees for the American Express^® Business Gold Card please click here.

• You have to spend a lot to earn the welcome offer

  Earn 70,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.* For some businesses, meeting that $10,000 spend requirement might not be feasible.

  To get there, you’d need to spend just over $3,334 a month for three months. If you’re purchasing materials in large quantity each month, or you need to finance a big one-time purchase, that might not be a problem. But if your business operates on a smaller scale, you might wish to consider a card offering a welcome offer or sign-up bonus you don’t have to spend so much to earn.

• Rewards categories might not work well for everyone

  If your spending fits well within the six categories the American Express^® Business Gold Card selects from each billing cycle, this card might be a great choice for your wallet. But if you spend more in other categories — for example, if you buy a lot of groceries, or handcrafting supplies, or lumber — a card that earns a flat rate on every purchase might serve you better.

Compare it to the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card

 

If the 4X categories the American Express^® Business Gold Card rewards you for don’t match well with your spending, a flat-rate card such as the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card might fit better. Cardholders earn 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1%.

Plus, if you need to finance a big purchase, this card’s introductory APR on purchases of 0% on purchases for 12 months from date of account opening will help. After, a 17.99% - 25.99% variable APR will apply.

Finally, the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card charges no annual fee, in contrast to the $295 annual fee charged by the American Express^® Business Gold Card.

To see rates & fees for the American Express^® Business Gold Card please click here.
To see rates & fees for the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card please click here.

Business owners who spend thousands of dollars each year and like the categories the American Express^® Business Gold Card can earn 4X in (remember that the card selects your top two categories each billing cycle for the boosted rewards rate) are likely to benefit from this card, even with its $295 annual fee.

However, business owners who spend less than that, or whose spending doesn’t fit the American Express^® Business Gold Card‘s categories very well should consider a different card — such as the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, which charges no annual fee.

The information related to the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card has been independently collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

To see rates & fees for the American Express^® Business Gold Card please click here.
To see rates & fees for the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card please click here.