Amazon Business Amex Offers Your Choice of Cash Back or an Interest-Free Financing Period
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Amazon and Amex are launching the new, no-annual-fee Amazon Business American Express Card today, and it has a unique approach to rewards and perks. For purchases at four different Amazon properties (including Whole Foods), you'll be able to choose between earning cash back and getting an interest-free financing period — and you can make the decision on a purchase-by-purchase basis.
Unlike with the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card, you don't need to be an Amazon Prime member to sign up for the Amazon Business Amex. However, you do get better perks, and a higher welcome bonus, if you pay the $119 annual fee to become a member.
For US purchases at Amazon.com, Amazon Business, Amazon Web Services and Whole Foods Market, card holders who are Prime members will get either 5% back or 90-day interest-free financing. At the same four Amazon properties, non-Prime members can choose to earn either 3% back or 60-day interest-fee payment terms. Upon approval for the card, Amazon Prime members will get a $125 Amazon.com gift card, and those who don't have Prime will receive a $100 Amazon.com gift card.
The unique aspect here is the ability to choose cash back or an interest-free financing period each time you make a purchase, via a radio button on the checkout page. So if your small business needs to make a lot of upfront purchases early on, the interest-free financing could come in handy, while down the line when your company's flush with cash you'd want to earn 5% or 3% back on your spending instead.
In addition to the cash-back/interest-free financing options for qualifying purchases, the Amazon Business Amex earns 2% back at US restaurants and US gas stations, as well as on wireless telephone services purchased directly from US service providers, and 1% back on everything else. The card earns rewards in the form of points, and you can either redeem them to pay for Amazon purchases or as a statement credit. In either case, you'll get 1 cent per point.
You get access to line-item details on purchases made at Amazon Business, so you can see info such as cost per item and individual items purchased. Other benefits include access to the Connect to Quickbooks and Spend Manager programs, and no-fee employee credit cards.
Bottom Line
The first cobranded Amazon business credit card has some interesting features, and it's a solid choice for maximizing your return on Amazon purchases, equaling the personal Amazon Prime Visa Signature's 5% at Amazon. It's not the most competitive business card out there in terms of welcome bonus or perks, but if your small business spends a lot at Amazon and could utilize the option to choose between interest-free payment terms and cash back, this no-fee card is worth a look.
Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images.
