Learn more about the Amex Blue Business Cash Card
Terms apply / Rates & fees
*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.
American Express Blue Business Cash card rewards
The Amex Blue Business Cash card has a straightforward rewards structure, making it easy to earn cash back on your eligible purchases.
Welcome bonus
Amex Blue Business Cash members have two opportunities to earn a welcome bonus. If you spend $5,000 on your card within six months of opening it, you’ll earn a $250 statement credit.
If you spend an additional $10,000 or more within your first year of membership, you’ll earn another statement credit worth $250.
When all is said and done, you have the potential to earn $500 in welcome bonuses if you spend $15,000 or more within one year of opening your account.
Earn Blue Business Cash card rewards
The simple Amex Blue Business Cash rewards structure is one of the best features of this cash-back credit card. You get 2% back on up to $50,000 in eligible business purchases per calendar year and 1% back on everything else.
Note that cash back isn’t available for gift cards, person-to-person transactions or cash-equivalent purchases. For example, if you use your card to load funds on a prepaid debit card, you won’t earn cash back on the transaction.
Redeem Blue Business Cash card rewards
The main drawback of the Amex Blue Business Cash card is that you can’t redeem your cash back for miles, travel perks or anything other than statement credits. American Express automatically applies these credits to your account. Each statement credit reduces your balance, but it doesn’t eliminate your minimum monthly payment.
For example, if you have a balance of $5,000 with a $150 minimum monthly payment, a statement credit of $200 would reduce your balance to $4,800. However, you’d still have to make your $150 payment as scheduled.
American Express Blue Business Cash card benefits
The American Express Blue Business Cash Card offers several benefits for business owners. It also comes with some of the standard card benefits offered by American Express.
Business benefits
American Express offers several benefits designed to make things easier for business owners, including:
-
Expanded buying power. The Amex Blue Business Cash card outperforms several other business credit cards because it gives you access to Expanded Buying Power. This feature lets you spend more than your limit, ensuring you can take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. Amex adds the overage to your minimum monthly payment, so you must pay it back by the end of your billing cycle.
-
Employee cards. American Express allows you to issue Employee Blue Business Cash cards, making it easier to track expenses by department or role. Employees can use their cards to cover business dinners, conference fees and other expenses. As the account holder, you get summary reports and spending alerts to make expense management even easier.
-
Account managers. With the Blue Business Cash card, it’s possible to add trusted individuals to your account. Each account manager can make payments, access summary reports and perform other activities if you’re on the road or busy handling other tasks.
-
Vendor Pay by Bill.com. When you enroll your card in Vendor Pay, you can use it to pay your company’s bills. There’s no fee for the first user, making this an easy way to stop on top of your expenses.
-
Connect to QuickBooks®. If you use QuickBooks to manage your bookkeeping, you can connect your Amex Blue Business Cash card to your QuickBooks account. Connecting the two accounts makes it possible to automatically tag your business charges with your QuickBooks categories.
Other benefits
Blue Business Cash cardholders also have access to some of the general credit card benefits offered by American Express.
-
Extended warranty protection: American Express gives you extra peace of mind with extended warranty protection, which extends the original manufacturer’s warranty by one year. This feature is available for warranties of five years or less on eligible purchases made in the United States or one of its territories/possessions.
-
Purchase protection: If you use your card to pay for a covered purchase, you’ll receive 90 days of purchase protection. This benefit reimburses you for up to $1,000 per occurrence if a covered item is stolen or accidentally damaged. Note that purchase protection has a coverage limit of $50,000 per year.
-
Car rental loss and damage insurance: If you use your card to cover the cost of a rental vehicle, American Express provides car rental loss and damage insurance. You must rent the vehicle in a covered territory and use your Amex Blue Business Cash card to pay the full rental fee. This insurance coverage is secondary, which means it only applies after you’ve exhausted your personal auto insurance benefits.
-
Global Assist Hotline: If you need help when you’re more than 100 miles from home, your Blue Business Cash card entitles you to use the Global Assist Hotline. Trained agents are available to help you with missing luggage, medical emergencies, lost passports and other problems. Agents can also refer you to medical and legal services as needed.
-
American Express mobile app: The American Express mobile app makes it easy to manage your account on the go. You can use it to check your balance, make payments, review your account benefits and complete other account-related tasks.
Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.
American Express Blue Business Cash card fees, rates & limit
Before you open an American Express Blue Business Cash account, note the rates, fees and credit limit associated with the card (see rates and fees).
Blue Business Cash card fees
The Blue Business Cash card comes with the following fees:
-
Annual fee: $0
-
Balance transfer fee: $5 or 3% of the transfer amount, whichever is greater
-
Late payment: Up to $39
-
Returned payment: $39
-
Foreign transactions: 2.7% of the transaction amount after it’s converted to U.S. dollars
-
Cash advances: N/A (Blue Business Cash doesn’t allow cash advances)
Amex Blue Business Cash card interest rates
American Express charges the following rates to Blue Business Cash cardholders:
-
Regular APR: 18.49% to 26.49% variable
-
Purchase intro APR: 0% interest for 12 months from the date of account opening
-
Cash advance APR: N/A
-
Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
American Express Blue Business card credit limit
The American Express Blue card limit depends on your income, debt load and other factors. If you have an excellent credit score, you may qualify for as much as $20,000. If you have a limited credit history, limits may start out as low as $1,000 or $2,000.
Note that American Express may occasionally offer credit limit increases based on your account usage. For example, if your credit score increases significantly within two years of opening your account, you may qualify for a higher limit.
How the American Express Blue Business Cash card compares
The main advantage of getting the American Express Blue Business Cash card is that it has a simple rewards structure. You don’t have to keep track of ever-changing bonus categories or pull out a calculator every time you make a transaction.
Compared to other business credit cards, the Amex Blue Business Cash card offers more features for expense management. You can give employees their own cards, download summary spending reports, review spending alerts and even designate an account manager to monitor your account when you’re busy doing other things.
If you use QuickBooks for bookkeeping, the Blue Business Cash card is a no-brainer, as it integrates with QuickBooks for auto-expense categorization.
Where the Amex Blue Business Cash card falls a bit short is the limited number of cash-back redemption options available. Other cards let you use your rewards for travel perks, flights, gift cards, retail purchases and more. In contrast, the Blue Business Cash card automatically applies your rewards to your account in the form of a statement credit. This makes it less flexible than other credit products aimed at business owners.
The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card vs. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
The Blue Business Cash card outperforms The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express because its rewards scheme is simpler. With Blue Business Cash, you get either 1% or 2% cash back. The Blue Business Plus card gives you points, so you have to keep track of how much you spend and then figure out how much your points are worth (see rates and fees).
Read our full Amex Blue Business Plus card review
The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card vs. American Express® Business Gold Card
Compared to the American Express® Business Gold Card, the Amex Blue Business Cash card is a bit underwhelming. Amex Business Gold gives you a much bigger welcome bonus and more rewards on your spending. For example, Gold cardholders receive 4X back on their top two spending categories and 3X on prepaid flights and hotels (see rates and fees).
Read our full Amex Business Gold card review
The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card vs. Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card from Chase also outperforms the Amex Blue Business Cash card. Cardholders qualify for 5% cash back on the first $25,000 in combined spending on office supplies, internet service, cable service and telephone services. The Ink Business Cash card also offers 2% cash back on the first $25,000 in combined spending at restaurants and gas stations.
Additionally, Ink Business Cash gives you way more redemption methods than the Amex Blue Business Cash card. You can buy gift cards, book travel through Chase Travel or request statement credits.
Read our full review of Chase business cards
Is the Amex Blue Business Cash card right for me?
The Amex Blue Business Cash card is right for you if you want a no-frills rewards card with no annual fee. It’s also ideal for business owners who want to get a better handle on their spending.
Amex Blue Business Cash may not be the best fit if you’re looking for a rewards program with multiple rewards redemption options.
If you’re not convinced this is the right card for you, consider these other Amex business cards to see if you find a better fit.
You can also check out Chase business cards or Capital One Spark business cards to learn more about your options with other card issuers.
How do I get the Amex Blue Business Cash card?
You can learn more about The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card and apply online from the comfort of your own home.
American Express doesn’t publish minimum approval requirements for the Blue Business Cash card. We recommend waiting until your FICO® scores are in the high 600s before you apply. Note that you may have to pay a higher interest rate if your scores are at the lower end of the approval range.