Earn 30,000 Membership Rewards with new Amex Business Checking account

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.

Direct Link to Offer

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.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.