American Express® Business Gold Card review
This card was designed with high-spending businesses in mind. Earn Membership Rewards points on the two eligible categories where your business spends the most each billing cycle from six eligible categories.
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Key Features
descriptionEditor Analysis:
- This card has high spending caps in each of the bonus categories, so businesses with higher spending needs can enjoy more rewards from the outset.
- Membership Rewards points are highly valued in the rewards credit card world and can be redeemed for everything from travel to gift cards to dinners out and more.
- Earn 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards points after spending $15,000 in the first three months.
- While not sky-high, the annual fee only makes sense if your business spends enough annually to more than offset it with the rewards you earn.
card_name benefits
The CardName is specifically designed to fit the needs of a small business owner. It features a rewards program that is lucrative, flexible and, perhaps most importantly, low-maintenance. American Express is a CardRatings advertiser.
New cardholders can earn a welcome offer bonus of 100,000 Membership Rewards points after making $15,000 in eligible purchases within three months from account opening.
From Day 1, you earn 4X Membership Rewards points on the two eligible categories where your business spends the most (each billing cycle) from six eligible categories. While your top two categories may change, you will earn 4X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Only the top two categories each billing cycle will count towards the $150,000 cap. Additionally, earn 3X Membership Rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold card.
Categories include:
- Purchases at U.S. media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
Remember, the 4X points applies to the first $150,000 spent in the bonus categories each calendar year after which you earn one point per $1 spent on those purchases. You earn one point per $1 on all your other purchases.
CardRatings Tip
You have myriad options when it comes to redeeming your Membership Rewards points, which are some of the most sought-after rewards currency out there. While you can redeem for dining out, entertainment, travel and gift cards from more than 500 brands, perhaps the most obvious and popular use of these rewards is for travel. You can redeem points directly for travel through the American Express travel portal or transfer them to one of multiple airline and hotel loyalty partners. If you want a fuller picture of Membership Rewards, check out our guide to American Express Membership Rewards.
One specific reward redemption option to keep in mind: if you book your flight through amextravel.com and pay with points, you can get 25% of those points back to use on a future redemption (up to 250,000 points back per calendar year). To take advantage of this offer, book any first or business class flight or any class ticket with your pre-selected airline.
card_name spending limit
The CardName has no preset spending limit like a traditional card. Instead, the amount you can spend depends on factors such as your spending history, credit history, payment history and more. Even so, this feature could be very helpful with your business’ cash flow, potentially giving you spending power even in months when revenue may be delayed.
When it comes to paying your balance, the Business Gold Card offers you payment options. Of course, you can always pay your balance in full each month, but you can also choose the "Pay Over Time" option on eligible purchases. The interest rate on those purchases comes in at RegAPR, depending on credit worthiness. (See Rates and Fees)
card_name fees
First, the good news: the CardName charges no foreign transaction fees, which can save real money if you travel overseas frequently for business or if your business requires purchases of products or services in foreign currency (See Rates and Fees)
Now for the bad news: there is a AnnualFees annual fee to consider. You want to be sure the perks and rewards of the card will more than offset that fee before your decide to take it on. There are certainly business cards out there with lower annual fees (we’ll discuss a few in the compare section below), so make sure this is definitely the card for you before deciding to apply. (See Rates and Fees)
Ready for more good news? Employee cards are available without an additional annual fee and all rewards earned on those employee cards accumulate in the primary cardholder’s account.
How do cardholders rate the card_name?
CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results for the CardName:
| Current Scores | Past Scores | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79.9 | 80.7 |
| Features Satisfaction | 7.9 | 8 |
| Customer Service | 7.9 | 8.2 |
| Website/App Usability | 8.3 | 8 |
| Likelihood of Continuing to Use | 8.1 | 8.2 |
| Recommend to a Friend/Colleague | 8.1 | 8 |
How the card_name compares to other cards
card_name vs. CardName
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While these cards have different strengths, both are excellent options for small business owners interested in racking up some rewards on those everyday business purchases.
CardName has a significantly lower annual fee of AnnualFees. Neither card charges foreign transaction fees and both offer healthy welcome offer opportunities, though Ink probably wins out on that front if you have the spending opportunity to earn it.
Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $900 cash back or $1,125 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠ (or even more if you transfer points strategically to one of multiple travel partners). Obviously, the points earn is higher with the Chase card, but so is that spending requirement.
On an ongoing basis, CardName offers three points per $1 spent (up to $150,000 spent annually) on travel; shipping; internet, cable, and phone services; and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines. Earn one point per $1 on other eligible purchases.
This decision may come down to whether you prefer the Ultimate Rewards or Membership Rewards program as well as whether you can justify the higher annual fee of the Amex card.
card_name vs. CardName
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The CardName card’s cash-back program isn’t as generous as that of the American Express card, but it also doesn’t have spending caps and it’s simpler to wrap your mind around. Cardholders earn unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase, everywhere-with no limits or category restrictions, so you get the same amount no matter what you buy or how much of it. It isn’t the 4X points you can earn on some purchases with the Business Gold Card, but it also doesn’t limit your categories or cap when you’ll earn that top cash back.
The CardName card’s AnnualFees annual fee is obviously more affordable than that of the American Express card, but the fee becomes irrelevant, of course, if you more than offset it with your rewards.
The Spark card has a welcome offer where cardholders can earn a one-time cash bonus of $2,000 once you spend $30,000 in the first three months, plus earn an additional $2,000 cash bonus for every $500,000 spent during the first year.
Neither card charges foreign transaction fees.
Is the card_name a good card?
At the end of the day, as with most cards, a small business owner will need to decide how much they will use the CardName if they are approved for membership. If it is your go-to card for business expenses, the annual fee could be easily worth it when you consider the perks, features and rewards-earning opportunities.
On the other hand, if you only plan to use your card for certain expenses, there are less expensive alternatives with strong rewards programs, like those listed above.
Frequently asked questions
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Our methodology
Survey methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September 2023 to conduct surveys among 1,869 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2023 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 (2023); "Past Scores" reflect scores from the 2022 survey.
Disclaimer:The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
This content is not provided by any company mentioned in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed here are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any such company. CardRatings.com does not review every company or every offer available on the market.
For rates and fees of the American Express cards mentioned in this article, please see the following links: CardName (See Rates and Fees)
