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American Express has been running offers for the last couple of years giving bonus Membership Rewards when opening a Business Checking account. They have new offers giving up to 70,000 points which I believe is an all-time high, but those are only available on a targeted basis.
The Deal
- American Express is offering targeted bonuses when opening Business Checking accounts:
- Earn 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards when depositing at least $7,500 within 30 days of opening account, then maintaining average balance of $7,500 for 60 days & making 5 qualifying transactions within 60 days of opening account
- Earn 70,000 bonus Membership Rewards when depositing at least $15,000 within 30 days of opening account, then maintaining average balance of $15,000 for 60 days & making 5 qualifying transactions within 60 days of opening account
Key Terms
- Apply for this Welcome Offer by 11:59:59PM ET on 07/31/24.
- This Welcome Offer is only available to select businesses who were solicited directly by American Express and who must apply with their existing credentials through the link provided. Offer cannot be forwarded, transferred, or used more than once.
Quick Thoughts
If you’re targeted for one of these offers – particularly the highest 70k offer – it’s definitely worth considering. Even if you only value Membership Rewards at a penny per point, that makes the bonus worth $700. That’s a very good return if you have $15,000 available to deposit seeing as you only have to maintain that balance in the account for 60 days. The Business Checking account only earns 1.3% APY and so it wouldn’t be worth keeping the money in there beyond that, but 1.3% APY plus 70,000 Membership Rewards is a much more worthwhile return.
If you do take advantage of this offer, be sure to note the additional requirement that you make five qualifying transactions within 60 days of opening the account. Qualifying transactions are listed as:
Mobile deposits, check deposits by mail, and electronic/online transactions including ACH, Wire, and Bill Payments. Business Debit Card transactions and deposits using our Redeem for Deposits feature are not qualifying transactions.
For those with an Amex Business Platinum credit card, the Business Checking account allows you to cash out up to 1 million Membership Rewards points per year on a 1cpp (cent per point) basis. That’s not as good as the Schwab Platinum’s 1.1cpp cashout rate, nor is it as good as the value you can get when transferring Membership Rewards to travel partners, but if you’re Membership Rewards-rich then it might make sense. Having said that, if you’re in that position there’s a good chance that you’d be better off paying the additional $695 annual fee for a Schwab Platinum card in order to get the 1.1cpp rate as the higher cashout earnings would more than offset the card’s annual fee.
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I just received an offer for 75k points and am considering it. I know that some people with Chase Bank accounts have been completely shutdown (including credit cards) due to their banking activity; are there any DPs of similar risk with Amex? Or is this a no brainer?
How can you tell if you’re targeted? I click the link and it just shows the advertisement that there is an offer, then when I click sign in, there is nothing there?
Down below it says open account, but I don’t want to open if I don’t get the targeted offer?
I opened one and it does not show any tracker (with progress bar/status) showing how much deposit was made or how many qualifying transactions were completed – is that normal/expected?
Received 70k offer in physical mail, only AMEX business card I have is Hilton Business. My P2 has the same, but only received 30k offer in the mail the same day
Tried the 50k link but no luck completing the app.
Sweet I was targeted. Thanks for the heads up on this!
Would the initial deposits you make of $15,000 count as any of the necessary 5 transactions?
I’d assume so
Tried both links – when I got through the application process, I was approved for 30K MR for $5K over 60 days instead of 50K/70K offer. I didn’t see any indication that 30K was the offer until I was approved.
If I transfer funds from Capital One Checking to this account upon opening will it qualify?
Yes
Can p1 AND P2 open 2 separate biz checking accounts, for the same business?
It doesn’t sound like it – the detailed terms state the following:
“You are not eligible to earn a Welcome Bonus for any accounts opened for a business that currently has or has had an American Express Business Checking account.”
Damn it, just opened an account 4 days. Missed out on 20k MR A.
I’ve had and closed the business checking account before, but through a mistake on my part did not earn the welcome bonus. The opening was 2 years ago and the closing about 6 months ago. Can I try again to open a new acct. and get the welcome bonus?
The detailed terms mention it needing to be your first Amex Business Checking account, so I’d assume not. However, perhaps these targeted offers are like No Lifetime Language credit card offers where you can get the bonus more than once – I’m not sure.