The American Express® Business Gold Card features a welcome offer of 1 year free of G Suite Basic for 3 users. Plus, cardholders can get up to 1 year free of ZipRecruiter Standard (via statement credits for card purchases) in your first 12 months of Card membership. This is a total potential value of more than $3,000.
Once approved, you have the opportunity to earn 35,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $5,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
Perfect for small businesses, it features a generous rewards program that favors popular business spending categories. Cardholders earn 4 Membership Rewards points per $1 spent 2 select categories where you spend the most each month, up to $150,000 spent.
It has a $295 annual fee that is not waived the first year. (See Rates & Fees)
The American Express® Business Gold Card is a charge card, meaning it doesn’t incur regular interest charges. However, you must pay your balance in full by each statement cycle’s due date. If you fail to do so for 2 or more consecutive cycles, it may result in the closure of your account. If you’re interested in what this card can offer you, read on to find out more in our review.
Editor’s Note: If you have a side business such as selling on eBay, Craigslist, or do freelance work, then your business is called “sole proprietorship.” Simply use your name as business ID and Social Security number as tax ID.
American Express Business Gold Card Summary
The American Express® Business Gold Card offers 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. You'll earn more rewards: Get 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 select categories where your business spent the most each month** (**4X points apply to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year.*). In addition, you'll get an airline bonus; 25% points back after you use points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with Amex Travel, up to 250,000 points back per calendar year.* This card does carry a $295 annual fee, but no foreign transaction fees. (See Rates & Fees) Terms Apply. |
Earning Membership Rewards Points
The Amex Business Gold card earns 4 Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on the first $150,000 in combined annual purchases made in 2 of the following categories:
- Airfare purchased directly from airlines
- U.S. advertising, U.S. gas stations (including fuel and non-fuel)
- U.S. restaurants, U.S. shipping (including UPS and FedEx)
- Computer technology (including hardware, software, and cloud computing services)
The $150,000 is a very high spending cap, so cardholders shouldn’t have much trouble earning a large number of Membership Rewards points at a high rate.
All other purchases earn an unlimited 1 point per $1 spent, including purchases in the 2 bonus categories after meeting the $150,000 annual spending cap.
Your points don’t expire as long as your account is open. In addition, there are no limits to the amount of points you earn.
Redeeming Membership Rewards Points
Accumulated Membership Rewards points can be redeemed for general merchandise, travel, transportation (including Uber rides), gift cards, and statement credits.
Redemption minimums start at 1,000 and vary by redemption method. Membership Rewards points are generally worth 1 cent apiece when redeemed for merchandise. When redeeming for statement credits, they’re worth way less than that. You can also transfer points to one of American Express’s 16 partner airlines.
I highly recommend redeeming your points for travel. As an Amex Business Gold card member, you earn a 25% bonus when you redeem points for eligible travel purchases, including airfare, through the American Express Travel portal. Therefore, your points earned with the Amex Business Gold card are worth 1.25 cents apiece when redeemed for airfare. This makes them much more valuable than the average rewards card value.
American Express Business Gold Card Benefits
The Amex Business Gold card comes with standard travel and purchase protections. These include 24/7 global assistance, 24/7 roadside assistance, baggage insurance for stolen or damaged luggage, and extended warranties on all purchased items with original warranties of five years or less. Some other benefits you should know about are:
Up to 1 year free of G Suite Basic. Get video conferencing, cloud storage, file sharing and more with G Suite by Google Cloud. Get up to 1 year free of G Suite Basic for up to 3 users in the form of statement credits for purchases on the Card in your first 12 months of Card Membership. New Card Members can take advantage of this exclusive offer simply by subscribing at gsuite.google.com and using their Card as the primary form of payment.
Up to 1 year free of ZipRecruiter Standard. Find the right candidates easily. Get access to powerful tools to help you find top talent. Distribute job postings easily to over 100 job boards with just one click. Get up to 1 year free of ZipRecruiter Standard in the form of statement credits for purchases on the Card in your first 12 months of Card Membership. New Card Members can take advantage of this exclusive offer simply by subscribing at ziprecruiter.com and using their Card as the primary form of payment.
No Foreign Transaction Fee. The Amex Business Gold doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee (See Rates & Fees), a nice perk for cardmembers who travel outside the U.S. often. Many competing business credit cards has a foreign transaction fee of 2% to 3%.
No Charge for Roadside Assistance. Many cards offer roadside assistance benefits. However, more often than not, it’s just a marketing trick, since you are responsible for whatever charges you might incur. The Amex Business Gold card actually pays for services rendered, up to four times in a calendar year. This includes towing (up to 10 miles), a jump-start, and tire changes.
Pay Over Time. Because the Business Gold Card is a charge card, cardholders are usually required to pay their balance in full at the end of each billing period. Those who fail to do so risk account closure after two consecutive periods of non-full payment. However, American Express’s Pay Over Time feature allows longstanding cardmembers to avoid this requirement on purchases over $100. Pay Over Time allows cardholders to carry balances indefinitely, with interest, from month to month. Like carried balances on regular credit cards, Pay Over Time balances accumulate interest charges at variable rates, depending on prevailing interest rates.
Bottom Line
Although the American Express® Business Gold Card comes with a high annual fee of $295 (See Rates & Fees), it offers great benefits for small business owners. Users can take advantage of the 1 year free of G Suite Basic and ZipRecruiter Standard, for they hold a total potential value of more than $3,000.
For those who tend to put lots of their business spending in the highlighted spending categories, the 4x Membership Rewards points earned in 2 select categories, up to up to $150,000 spent can be very beneficial. Plus, users can take advantage of the generous 25% redemption bonus for travel awards. If you use a lot of what the Amex Business Gold card offers, the benefits can highly outweigh the annual fee.
If this card doesn’t seem to be the right one for you, check out our full listing of the best business credit cards. In addition, check out our reviews of other credit card promotions, here on HustlerMoneyBlog.com.
While American Express is an advertising partner of HustlerMoneyBlog, the opinions and beliefs in this article are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the American Express Business Gold Card, please click here