American Express Business Cards

Verdict: the card family most sellers end up with, because supplier payments and ad spend are the two biggest expenses in the business, and on Business Platinum a $5,000-plus supplier invoice earns double points.

This is not financial advice. We are sellers, not advisers; the figures below are from American Express’s own pages as of today, and the right card depends on your spending, your cash flow, and your tolerance for an annual fee.

What it does

Amex business cards put the two largest line items of an FBA business, inventory and advertising, on a card that earns Membership Rewards points, with a billing cycle that adds a few weeks of float between paying a supplier and getting an Amazon payout. The expense tools, employee cards, and year-end summaries are the practical side.

The three cards worth knowing (checked 20 October 2026)

• Business Platinum: $895 annual fee. 2X points on purchases of $5,000 or more and on key business categories (up to $2 million a year), 5X on flights and prepaid hotels through Amex Travel, 1X otherwise, plus a long list of statement credits. The $5,000 threshold is the feature that matters for an importer: a supplier deposit or a freight invoice paid on the card earns double, which at inventory-scale spend is where the points actually come from.
• Business Gold: $375 annual fee. 4X points on your top two eligible spending categories each month, on up to $150,000 of combined purchases a year, then 1X; 3X on flights and prepaid hotels through Amex Travel; a $240 annual flexible business credit. Advertising and shipping are among the eligible categories.
• Blue Business Plus: $0 annual fee. 2X points on the first $50,000 of eligible purchases each calendar year, then 1X. A 0% introductory APR for 12 months, then a variable rate. The default starting card.

Welcome offers change constantly; check the card page the day you apply.

Who it is for

Sellers who pay suppliers and Amazon Ads by card and pay the statement in full. Earning 2X to 4X on six figures of annual spend is meaningful, and the float is a cash-flow tool when inventory lead times are long.

Who should skip it

Anyone who carries a balance; the rewards never beat the interest. Sellers whose suppliers only take wire transfers, where a card earns nothing. And anyone for whom a $375 or $895 annual fee is not clearly covered by the points and credits they will actually use.

Runs our store

Business Platinum is how we collect points on the supplier invoices, freight charges, and ad spend that accept a card. The 2X on large purchases is the reason it beats the cheaper cards for an inventory business; the float and the cleaner month-end are the bonus.

The honest caveats

Annual fees have risen sharply (Business Platinum went from $695 to $895; Business Gold from $295 to $375). Category bonuses have caps and definitions that change. Not every supplier takes Amex, and those that do often add a surcharge that erases the points.

Bottom line

Start with Blue Business Plus, move to Business Platinum once supplier and freight payments on the card regularly clear $5,000 each, and skip Gold unless ads and shipping dominate your spend. We have no affiliate relationship with American Express.

See Amex business cards