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3. American Express® Business Gold Card review: For big-spending businesses

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19

reviews

2.9

Rating: 2.9 out of 5.

Great for big-spending businesses

Annual Fee: $375

This content is curated by Intuit Credit Karma’s Editorial team using data from members who were approved for this card or similar cards, or who self-matched this card or similar cards. Intuit Credit Karma receives compensation from third-party advertisers, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our third-party advertisers don’t review, approve or endorse this content. Information about financial products not offered on Credit Karma is collected independently. Our content is accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted.

Here’s the average credit limit of members who matched their American Express® Business Gold Card or similar cards.

% of members by credit limit range

The average credit limit for members who have matched with this card or similar cards is $7,640, with $1,000 being the most common.

Here’s the average credit score of members who matched their American Express® Business Gold Card or similar cards.

% of members by credit score range

The average credit score for members who have matched with this card or similar cards is 668, with 748 being the most common. Note this is just one of the deciding factors when it comes to getting approved.

Member stats

Updated daily

30.1%

Average credit utilization (or what percent of the card’s credit limit is being used) of members who matched with this card or similar cards.

43 years

Average age of members who matched this card or similar cards.

$94,320

Average annual income of members who matched this card or similar cards. Note: Income may be estimated for some members by Credit Karma and may differ from members’ actual incomes.

Pros and cons

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Up to 4x Membership Rewards® points per $1 spent on purchases

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No foreign transaction fee

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$375 annual fee

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Billing structure means you can only carry a balance for certain charges

What you need to know about the American Express® Business Gold Card

If you’re thinking about applying for the American Express® Business Gold Card, here are some of the card’s top features to consider.

Earn 4x Membership Rewards points in top spending categories

This unique feature allows you to earn a total of four Membership Rewards points per $1 spent in your top two eligible spending categories each month. You’ll earn extra points in two of the categories from the following list:

• U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
• U.S. purchases made directly from electronic goods retailers or software and cloud system providers, including computer hardware, software and cloud solutions
• U.S. purchases at gas stations
• U.S. purchases at restaurants
• Transit purchases, such as trains, taxis, rideshare services, ferries, parking and subways
• Monthly wireless phone service charges made directly from a U.S. wireless phone service provider

Unfortunately, you’re limited to earning bonus category points only up to your first $150,000 spent on combined eligible purchases each calendar year. After that, you’ll earn only one point per $1 spent.

You’ll also earn three points per $1 spent on flights and prepaid hotels booked at amextravel.com and one point per $1 spent on other eligible purchases outside of the bonus categories.

Interestingly, you don’t get to pick your bonus-points categories, which can help simplify your life. At the end of each billing cycle, American Express analyzes your purchases in the categories listed above. It then awards the four extra points for every $1 spent in the two categories where you spent the most.

Reward redemption can be complex

Redeeming your points can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. The redemption method to get the most value out of your points can be complicated.

You can redeem points in the following ways:

• Pay at checkout at certain stores
• Redeem for gift cards
• Cover your credit card charges as statement credits
• Book or upgrade travel
• Transfer points to frequent traveler programs where you’re enrolled (which may incur a fee)
• Shop with select merchant partners

The highest fixed-value options for redeeming points are booking or upgrading flights as well as some gift cards.

We calculated your points are worth 1 cent each when redeemed through American Express Membership Rewards. But you might get a better value if you redeem through an American Express Membership Rewards® transfer partner. Depending on how you redeem, your points could be worth an estimated 1.27 cents each, based on Credit Karma’s standard point valuations.

Transferring points to frequent traveler programs may allow you to get a better value per point — but you’ll have to pay a fee of $0.0006 per point, with a maximum fee of $99, to transfer the points.

High annual fee

This card charges a hefty $375 annual fee for the primary cardholder. But you may be able to offset this annual fee if you earn enough rewards in the highest points-earning categories.

Add employee cards

The American Express® Business Gold Card allows you to add employee cards to your account with an additional annual fee of $95 for the first five cards, then $95 for each additional card (up to 99 cards). You can set up spending limits, alerts and view summary reports for each employee card.

Personal guarantee required

As with many business credit cards, American Express requires the person applying for the card to personally guarantee the account. This means that if your business can’t pay the credit card balance due, you’re responsible for paying the balance.

While it isn’t ideal to have a credit card for your business where you’re also responsible for the payments, it’s a fairly common practice.

Other factors to consider

The American Express® Business Gold Card has some other features your business may want to consider before you decide whether to apply for this card.

• This card has no foreign transaction fees, so spending overseas isn’t a problem.
• The American Express® Business Gold Card doesn’t have a traditional purchase APR structure, which means that you’ll be expected to pay off your balance in full every month.
• You’ll have no preset credit limit, but the actual amount you can spend on the card may change based on factors like your purchase, payment and credit history.
• The card’s Pay Over Time feature effectively turns it into a credit card with no preset spending limit, because it allows you to carry a balance on qualifying purchases, with 0% interest for 6 months from the date of account opening on eligible purchases, and then at a variable APR of 18.49% - 29.24%.
• You only earn one point per $1 spent on all other purchases that aren’t in your monthly bonus categories, which is lackluster as far as credit card rewards go.
• This card offers extra perks that add value, but only if you use them. They include car rental loss and damage insurance, extended warranty and purchase protection.

Who is the American Express® Business Gold Card good for?

The American Express® Business Gold Card is good for businesses that spend a significant amount of money each month in the bonus points-earning categories.

Additionally, businesses will need to be cautious about how they redeem their rewards. If you get this card, you’ll want to make sure the redemption value you receive more than offsets the annual fee. For this reason, this card is probably best for business owners that plan to redeem their points for travel, either through booking flights or transferring points to a frequent traveler program.

If your business doesn’t spend much on a monthly basis or you want to earn straight cash back for your business’ spending, this card may not be the best fit.

Not sure this is the card for you? Consider these alternatives.

The American Express® Business Gold Card isn’t a good fit for every business. Here are some alternatives to consider if it doesn’t meet your business needs.

• The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card:
This card is good for companies that want cash back without an annual fee.
• Capital One Spark Cash Plus:
This card is ideal for big-spending businesses that want to earn unlimited cash back on all purchases.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card:
Businesses with lots of travel and online advertising purchases should look into this card.