Like many credit card issuers, American Express hasn’t been shy about raising the costs of being a cardholder over the last few years. Most recently, it increased the annual fees for the Platinum Card® and Business Platinum Card® to an eye-watering $895/year (or $75 per month!), in the process completely revamping the lengthy list of coupons provided by each card. We ended up being a fan of the Platinum changes. The Business Platinum…less so.
Now, based on a survey sent out a couple of weeks ago and first reported by Doctor of Credit, it looks like Amex is turning its attention to another of its Membership Rewards-earning cards: the Business Gold® card.
In this particular example, Amex is floating the following changes to the Business Gold:
- Annual Fee: $495 (up from $375)
- $300 annual ChatGPT credit, $250 LegalZoom credit, $20/month Xero credit, $20/month Notion credit
- $100 annual Resy credit ($50/6 months)
- Earn an extra 1 point per dollar when paying your bill with an Amex Business Checking account (maximum of 50,000 points/year)
- Earn 5x on flights and hotels booked through Amex Travel (currently 3x)
Quick Thoughts
It’s worth noting that Amex will send these sorts of things around all the time, and a lot of the proposals never see the light of day. That said, it’s almost always an indication that they’re fixin’ to do some tinkering.
It’s a little crazy to me that they’re already playing around with the Business Gold, since Amex just “refreshed it” in late 2023, in the process raising the annual fee from $295 to $375. If they raised it to $495, Amex would be increasing the cost of the Business Gold by nearly 70% in less than three years.
Regarding the additional coupons mentioned, for most people, the $100 Resy credit (like what’s already on the consumer Gold®) and the $300 ChatGPT credit are likely the most interesting…although I wonder how many ChatGPT users are paying for it as opposed to just using the free version. ChatGPT’s “Pro” plan is $20 a month, which would be completely covered by the $300 credit.
The feature I find the most interesting, and one that I would love for Amex to add to its current cards post-haste, is the ability to earn extra points by paying your bill from an Amex checking account. A 50k/year limit would mean that all the cards’ 4x categories become 5x for up to $50k in spend. That would easily be worth the minor hassle of transferring money into an Amex account before paying the bill, especially given the generous bonuses we often see for opening up a new Business Checking account.
Outside of that, there’s nothing here that’s terribly exciting to me…especially at nearly $500 per year. Amex has an impressive commitment to making its card portfolio the most extensive (and expensive) series of metal coupon books in the world. I’m fairly certain it won’t break stride now to explore what it could do with “less is more,” but it might be a good idea.
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Notion is an underrated credit, and a great way for Churners to manage their life and their churning…
I already pay for GPT so removing $240 (12*20) would more than offset the fee increase.
One question though… for those of us that had to use some creativity to call our hobbies businesses for the purposes of opening business cards, is there any more risk to opening a business checking account (either from amex requiring more docs or scrutinizing activity?or government?) Maybe I’m overthinking it.
You’re overthinking it.
Small business credit cards have nothing to do with the government or taxes. What you claim and report on your taxes is what you claim and report, regardless of what financial instrument you used for the spend. And AmEx had demonstrated that they don’t care either. They are still getting their swipe fee, and so they are happy to let any open a small biz card as easily as a personal card.
Really, you as the individual are the one with the potential to lose on your end, as “small business” credit cards are not subject to the same consumer protections as “personal” cards. That is the only real difference. All non-corporate cards (which is a separate category of credit cards) are essentially personal cards, as they are all tied back to a single individual who takes on personal liability for any debts incurred on that card, irrespective of what “business” a small biz card may have been opened under. The consumer protections are the only real difference. Hope that all makes sense.
I think you misunderstood my question. I already have 7 biz cards through Amex all while claiming minimal revenue. I’m fine taking a new SUB that I’m offered every three months or so.
My question was about the checking accounts specifically, since I understand banking regulations are a little more strict (AML/KYC) in comparison to credit cards.
I just opened an AMEX business checking account to get a 70K offer. I thought the process went really smoothly and didn’t have any hiccups. I used the remote check deposit and one of the checks I deposited took like six or seven days to finalize which I thought was a little long though. I would think, especially if you’re already a (multiple) card holder, it shouldn’t be a problem for you.
Bad for churning of course. But as an actual business owner this would be an upgrade for me
If Amex really wanted this card to be highly desirable they should add some sort of lounge options. I’d love to see some more competition in this area so we have more choices.
Some business owners love the 4X categories. And, there will be some business owners who will use the new credits. And, so, good for them. For the rest of us, we’ll find where opportunity resides.
All the platinum card gushing ,… what did we expect ? 😀
That was personal platinum… biz platinum not so much.
Was planning to cancel and this wouldn’t change that. Too much effort to harvest value and significant overlap with other, cheaper cards
Hopefully it’ll at least come with big SUBs!
I really like the card as it is and these changes are definitely a negative for me. I can use the Resy credits but don’t value them much. I have no interest in chatgpt. So increasing by $120 and the only benefit I get is Resy, which if worth $50 to me
Check the Resy credit: ($50/month).
PT Barnum was right.