Currently, Amex has a 30,000 Membership Rewards welcome offer for opening a new Business Checking account, maintaining a $5,000 balance for 60 days, and completing 10 transactions on the account.
The checking account earns 1.30% APY (on up to $500K in balance), 0.5 MR per dollar on debit transactions, and has fee-free ATM access at any MoneyPass location in the US. In addition, having a business checking account allows Business Platinum cardholders to cash out up to 1,000,000 Membership Rewards points per year at 1 cent each (more on that below).
The Deal
- Earn 30,000 Membership Rewards points when you open a new American Express Business Checking account, deposit $5,000, maintain that balance for sixty days, and complete 5 qualifying transactions (see below) within sixty days.
Terms and Conditions
To be eligible to earn a Welcome Offer of 30,000 Membership Rewards points, you must meet each of the following qualifying criteria:
- Open a new American Express Business Checking account
- Deposit a total of $5,000 or more in “new money” into your account within thirty (30) days of account opening (the new money must also post to your account and appear in your Available Balance within thirty (30) days of account opening). “New money” is defined as deposits that are not deposited from any other American Express® Business Checking account and are not deposited using our Redeem Membership Rewards points for Deposits feature.
- Maintain an average balance in your account of at least $5,000 for sixty (60) days, starting on the date that your deposits of new money are equal to $5,000 or greater;
- Complete 5 qualifying transactions within sixty (60) days of account opening. “Qualifying transactions” are defined as mobile deposits, and electronic/online transactions, including ACH, Wire, and Bill Payments made to or from your account. Business Debit Card transactions and deposits using our Redeem Membership Rewards points for Deposits feature are not qualifying transactions. Transfers between American Express® Business Checking accounts held by the same business are not qualifying transactions.
- After you have completed all the above qualifying criteria, American Express will credit the Membership Rewards points to the Membership Rewards Program Account linked to your American Express® Business Checking account within 8-12 weeks.
Quick Thoughts
We’ve seen targeted welcome offers for Amex’s Business Checking go as high as 70,000 points, so this 30K offer is fairly stodgy by comparison. That said, it seems to always be available for everyone.
The free American Express Business Checking account lets you redeem Membership Rewards points for cash, but there is a bit of a catch. In order to get the best rate of 1 cent per point, you must also hold a Business Platinum card (and the $695 annual fee that comes with it). Also, that improved rate is limited to a maximum of 1,000,000 points per year; otherwise, the standard rate is 0.8 cents per point.
While both Nick and I have each used the Schwab Platinum to convert the rewards from the Amex Points Parade into cash at 1.1 cpp, I can’t imagine a situation where I would do it at 0.8 cpp (the standard rate for business checking account holders). 1 cent per point could potentially be more interesting, but it requires having a Business Platinum card.
So, either way, to get a passable rate of return, it’s necessary to have a Platinum card with at least one year of a $695 annual fee.
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I just got a 70K offer in the mail for 15K hold for 60 days.
I was targeted for the 50K bonus earlier this year and completed that – pretty hassle free to sign up and deposit the funds. AMEX had no problem with a sole-prop business that didn’t have its own EIN, it’s a legit business but I never had to prove that.
What did you use for the document you need to upload? I started to apply then got stumped on that step.
I did not have to upload any documentation. Tax ID was my social and business type was listed as a Sole Prop. It’s possible AMEX changed their underwriting or has different requirements for public offers – mine was targeted through my Business Platinum card, which means they already knew my business information (even though I had to resubmit most of it).
Is the 1mm/yr at 1 cpm on a per bank account basis, per Platinum Business CC basis, or a per business basis? I currently have three people with three business Platinums for the same business.
I just got a targeted 70,000 mile offer this morning. $15K minimum balance for 60 days, and 5 qualifying transactions. Too bad I don’t actually have a business with an EIN
You don’t need an EIN. I did this offer a couple years ago as sole prop.
But you need to upload some kind of supporting doc.
I didn’t. I actually have a sole prop small business with several credit cards though
i have 3 Business cards with Amex and got targeted with 50K points. When I tried to apply for the Business Checking account and chose sol prop, it asked me to upload documentation on the last step. Never had that issue with Business card applications in the past. So I stopped.
I received 50K offer.
How? By email?
When I was targeted it was by email and also showed up as an offer/pop-up when logged in to my AMEX account. It was targeted from my Business Platinum card.
Can you get this bonus if you’ve received it before and still have your Amex business checking account open? Is it a “NLL“ offer?
It is once per EIN. If you have a second business with a different EIN, that second business would be eligible.
Amex biz checking offers are once per lifetime, aren’t they? I notice my closed account still displays (as closed) in my list of accounts so I assume I have no chance.
Can you recieve this bonus for a different business under a different EIN ? and if its only 1 per EIN for a lifetime then may be wait for a better one ?
When they were offering 60k a couple years ago, P2 and I both opened 3 each, but it required 3 different Amex logins. I don’t think I could’ve gotten 3 under the same account with different EINs, otherwise I would’ve done that.