Business Green Rewards Card from American Express Review: A Mediocre Card

The Business Green Rewards Card from American Express offers minimal value for small business owners, but whether it’s a good fit depends on your spending habits and travel needs. With a $95 annual fee, the card includes a modest welcome offer that lets you earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Business Green Rewards Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.

However, its rewards rate is relatively low: you can earn one Membership Rewards® point for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases, which is less than competing cards with similar or no annual fees. The card offers business-friendly tools, including QuickBooks® integration and employee cards, as well as travel protections such as car rental insurance and baggage coverage (terms apply).

Its appeal is limited by the foreign transaction fee and low point redemption values. Additionally, you need to pay the full balance monthly, unless using the Pay Over Time feature, which comes with a high APR (see rates & fees).

Overall, the card could be a decent entry-level business option for Amex loyalists, but most business owners may find better value with alternatives, including the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card or The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express.

Annual fee: $95

Welcome offer: Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Business Green Rewards Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership

Rewards: Earn one Membership Rewards® point for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases

APR on purchases: 18.49% - 29.24% Variable (see rates & fees)

Other benefits:

• Pay Over Time option
• Business tools
• Car rental insurance
• Extended warranty coverage
• Purchase protection
• Terms apply

Foreign exchange fee: 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to US dollars

Recommended credit: Good / Excellent

• Earns rewards

  You can earn one Membership Rewards® point for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases. This low rewards rate makes the card slightly better than a non-rewards business credit card.

  With the card’s no annual fee sibling, The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express (see rates & fees), you can earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply. While these points are earned as statement credits rather than transferable Membership Rewards® points, The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express is the better choice if you’re looking to earn rewards to offset spending on everyday items for your business.

• Welcome offer

  As a new cardholder, you can earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Business Green Rewards Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. We value Membership Rewards® to be between $0.006 and $0.02 each, that makes this welcome offer worth approximately $90 to $300* — this could be less than the average credit card welcome offer.

  → See the best credit card welcome offers.

  *Based on LendingTree’s value methodology

• Transfer partners

  The Business Green Rewards Card from American Express earns Membership Rewards® points, which is the rewards currency used with some American Express credit cards. American Express has 20 hotel and airline partners.

  Redeeming points for statement credits is one of the least valuable redemption methods, as we estimate them to be worth less than 1 cent per point. Transferred strategically, the value can increase to as much as 2 cents per point.

• Business tools

  With the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express, you get a variety of useful business tools, including:

  • Free employee cards so you can earn rewards on all business
  • Integration with QuickBooks® to auto-expense your transactions once you enroll your card.
  • Vendor Pay by Bill.com, which helps you enhance cash flow and manage your bills.
  • Account manager, which allows you to let trusted individuals access and manage your card account.
  • Year-end summary, which gives you an interactive view of your annual spending, organized by category.

• No preset spending limit

  Your Business Green Rewards Card from American Express doesn’t have a preset spending limit, meaning your spending limit is flexible and depends on factors such as your purchase, payment and credit history. While the card is designed to be paid off in full after each billing cycle, you can use Pay Over Time with eligible charges.

  You can customize your Pay Over Time settings and carry an interest-accruing balance when needed. If you choose to use this feature, all eligible purchases will be added to Pay Over Time, up to the limit set for this feature.

• The Business Green Rewards Card from American Express offers a few protections when you use it to pay for corresponding purchases related to travel.

  • Car rental loss and damage insurance offers secondary coverage for damage or theft of a rental vehicle in a covered territory.
  • Baggage insurance plan covers lost, damaged or stolen baggage up to $1,200 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage on eligible fares.
  • Extended warranty protection adds one extra year to warranties of five years or less on covered purchases.
  • Purchase protection reimburses up to $1,000 per covered purchase on items that are stolen or accidentally damaged within 90 days of purchase.
  • Global Assist Hotline offers 24/7 emergency assistance when you travel more than 100 miles from home.
  • Terms apply.

• Annual fee

  As far as annual fees are concerned, this card’s $95 fee isn’t worth it for the minimal perks it offers. The extended warranty protection and purchase protection, car rental insurance and baggage insurance may be useful, but it’s possible to go years without needing to file a claim (terms apply). For the same $95 annual fee, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card offers similar benefits and a slightly better earning potential.

  → Find more business credit cards

• Low welcome offer

  The Business Green Rewards Card from American Express welcome offer lets you earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Business Green Rewards Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. We value Membership Rewards® points to be worth between $0.006 and $0.02 each, which makes this welcome offer worth approximately $90 to $300*.

  *Based on LendingTree’s value methodology

• Must pay balance in full each month

  Like many American Express cards, the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express requires that you pay off your card balance in full each month. This keeps you from paying interest, which is good for your bottom line. However, being required to pay off your entire balance could cause stress when you need some financial flexibility.

  The card does offer cardholders the option to use Pay Over Time on eligible purchases. This allows you to spread out your payments and can be turned on in your account settings. Note that if you choose to only pay a portion of the balance, the remainder will be subject to an APR of 18.49% - 29.24% Variable.

• Don’t plan to use your Business Green Rewards Card from American Express when you’re abroad, as it charges a foreign transaction fee of 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to US dollars. While this is slightly less than the more common 3% foreign transaction fee, note that American Express is not as widely accepted outside of the United States.

  If a lot of your business spending happens overseas, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card could be a great option. It’s a Visa Signature card with a foreign transaction fee of $0.

  → See the best credit cards for international travel

Business Green Rewards Card from American Express vs. American Express^® Business Gold Card

The American Express^® Business Gold Card is a step above the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express, with more rewards, benefits, protections and business credits. It comes with a hefty $375 annual fee (see rates & fees), but if you can use them, the flexible business credit (up to $240 annually, terms apply) and the Walmart+ Monthly Membership credit can help offset that charge (terms apply).

The card has a solid welcome offer: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.* However, if your business doesn’t spend that much, or you can’t take advantage of the elevated rewards, another card might be more suitable for your needs.

You get business benefits similar to those you receive with the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express, including employee cards (though they come with a fee), QuickBooks® integration and Vendor Pay by Bill.com. Additionally, there’s no preset spending limit (meaning your spending limit is flexible and depends on factors such as your purchase, payment and credit history), and some cardholders may be eligible to use Pay Over Time — although this means they will also accrue interest.

Additional benefits that add to the value of this card are extended warranty¹ and purchase protection¹, trip delay insurance² and no foreign transaction fees. (see rates & fees).

Business Green Rewards Card from American Express vs. The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express

For someone wanting an American Express business credit card that comes with no annual fee, The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express is a good choice. The card also earns rewards and has an intro APR of 0% on purchases for 12 months from date of account opening and then a 17.49% - 27.49% Variable APR (see rates & fees).

This card features a simple rewards structure that lets you earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply. The annual cap is a drawback if your expenses exceed that amount.

Business Green Rewards Card from American Express vs. Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card is our top pick for business credit cards, since it earns valuable Ultimate Rewards points and comes with excellent travel and purchase protections. It has the same $95 annual fee as the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express, but with a higher rewards rate on purchases.

Cardholders can earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases-with no limit to the amount you can earn. You can redeem points for statement credits or transfer them to Chase’s partner airline and hotel loyalty programs, which may increase the value of each point.

While the card includes a plethora of valuable purchase protections, note that it doesn’t come with travel statement credits or lounge access, which can be found on more premium credit cards.

With a low ongoing rewards rate and an annual fee, the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express is not the best business card option for most people. If you prefer banking with American Express and none of their other business cards are right for you, this one is worth considering.

However, if you don’t mind paying the annual fee, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card offers better rewards and benefits.

We use calculations to estimate the value of each card for the average cardholder, based on LendingTree and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

• Average value over two years (80% of rating): We calculate the value of rewards and perks for the average cardholder using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and an annual spend of $20,000, minus the annual fee. This value includes the card’s sign-up bonus, annual bonus (including free night certificates) and travel perks like lounge access and travel credits. We look at the average rewards earned over two years to balance out a card’s ongoing value with its first-year value.
• Flexibility of rewards (15% of rating): We consider how easy the rewards are to use, looking at factors like expiration dates, minimum thresholds to redeem, blackout dates and the availability of flexible redemption options like travel statement credits and cash back.
• Other features (5% of rating): We also compare a card’s benefits, such as purchase protections, travel protections and elite status benefits against benefits from other cards.