While I personally like to earn travel rewards for my credit card spending (particularly transferable points currencies), I know many people prefer to earn cash back. After all, cash is king, and unlike with travel rewards, there’s not really a learning curve to redeeming cash rewards.
In this post, I’d like to look at what I consider to be the best Amex business cash back credit card, and one of the all around best business credit cards, at least for a certain type of consumer.
Link: Learn more about The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card
Amex Blue Business Cash Card basics for June 2026
The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card is a credit card that has no annual fee and that offers a solid cash back rewards structure. For someone looking for a cash back Amex business card, this is as good as it gets. Let’s take a closer look at the details of this useful card.
Before I get too deep into this review, let me mention that personally I hold The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, because I have a strong preference for transferable Membership Rewards points over flat cash back.
That said, the Blue Business Cash is the right call for plenty of readers — specifically anyone who prefers the simplicity of cash back over the learning curve of points and transfer partners. So let’s talk about how the card works, and when it makes sense.
Amex Blue Business Cash at a glance
- Annual fee: None (Rates & Fees)
- Welcome offer: $250 statement credit after $3,000 in purchases within the first three months
- Earn rate: 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on the first $50,000 each calendar year, 1% cash back thereafter
- Foreign transaction fee: 2.7% (Rates & Fees)
- Intro APR: 0% on purchases for the first 12 months, then a variable rate currently in the range of 16.74% - 28.49% (Rates & Fees)
- Best for: Business owners who prefer straightforward cash back over transferable points, and who want a no annual fee card with simple statement credit redemption
Amex Blue Business Cash $250 welcome offer
The Amex Blue Business Cash has a welcome offer where you can earn a $250 statement credit after you make $3,000 on purchases within the first three months.
That’s a really straightforward welcome offer, as that gets you $250 off your statement, and there’s no points conversion math required. It’s a modest welcome offer compared to the offers on premium Amex business cards, but it’s a real-dollar return on $3,000 of spending you’d likely have done anyway, with no annual fee against it.
Amex Blue Business Cash 2% cash back
The Amex Blue Business Cash offers 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on the first $50,000 of purchases each calendar year, and 1% cash back thereafter. The cash back you earn is automatically credited to your statement with every billing cycle.
To put that into concrete numbers: max out the $50,000 calendar year 2% cash back category, and you earn $1,000 in cash back. That’s $1,000 in statement credits earned on spending you’d have done anyway, with no annual fee against it, and no need to think about points valuations or transfer partners.
Amex Blue Business Cash no annual fee
The Amex Blue Business Cash has no annual fee (Rates & Fees), so this is a card that you can keep long term to maximize your rewards. You can also add authorized users to your account at no extra cost.
Amex Blue Business Cash 0% intro APR
The Amex Blue Business Cash offers 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months. After that, your APR will be a variable rate (currently in the range of 16.74% - 28.49%) (Rates & Fees).
I know that this is something that some businesses don’t care at all about, while others value this perk immensely. If you do take advantage of this, just make sure that you can pay back the full amount within 12 months, so you’re not subjected to the higher interest rates.
Amex Blue Business Cash foreign transaction fees
I wouldn’t recommend using the Amex Blue Business Cash for purchases outside of the United States, as the card does carry foreign transaction fees of 2.7%. This applies on transactions that are converted to US dollars, and will eat up all of your rewards, and then some (Rates & Fees). Fortunately there are lots of other great cards with no foreign transaction fees.
Spend above your credit limit
In general, American Express business credit cards let you spend above your credit limit. While you do have a credit limit, you can often exceed that, which isn’t common with other issuers. You can access this feature through your online account, where you can be pre-approved for a higher purchase amount. This can prove valuable in situations where you have a big expense coming up.
Access to Amex Offers program
The Amex Offers program is available through most American Express cards that are issued in the United States. With this, you can register for targeted offers and save money on purchases with dozens of retailers.
Personally, the Amex Offers program saves me hundreds of dollars per year. This is especially valuable on a no annual fee card, since it means that you can basically make money by having a card.
Are you eligible for the Amex Blue Business Cash?
Generally speaking, I find Amex business cards are fairly easy to be approved for, assuming you’re aware of the credit card application restrictions with each card issuer.
With American Express, the key things to know are that you can be approved for at most two Amex credit cards in a 90 day period, and you can have at most five Amex credit cards at any point, not including charge cards or hybrid cards. Note that you’re eligible for the welcome offer on this card even if you’ve earned the bonus on other Amex cards.
Amex also has a “once in a lifetime” rule, so you can typically only earn the welcome offer on a card once. Fortunately there’s typically a pop-up warning in the event you’re not eligible for the welcome offer on a card. Eligibility for the welcome offer on this card is considered independently from all other Amex cards.
One of the other cool things to keep in mind is that applying for an Amex business card doesn’t count as a further card toward Chase’s 5/24 limit, so you can pick up this card without it impacting your ability to be approved for Chase cards in the future.
Is the Amex Blue Business Cash worth it?
If you have a small business and are looking for a no annual fee, straightforward business credit card that earns cash back, then the Amex Blue Business Cash is pretty tough to beat, at least for the first $50,000 spent.
That includes quite a few caveats, though — some may find that they’re better off earning points, some may find that it’s worth paying an annual fee for a more rewarding card, and some may find that they could use a personal card for their business spending, and then have the business reimburse them for those expenses.
Specifically, the Amex Blue Business Cash is the right card for someone who:
- Has a business (or business spending channel) eligible for an Amex business card
- Prefers the simplicity of cash back over the learning curve of transferable points and airline transfer partners
- Wants statement credits to apply automatically each billing cycle, rather than managing a points balance
- Has business spending up to roughly $50,000 per year (the 1% cash back earn rate above the cap becomes uncompetitive)
The card is less compelling if you’re comfortable using transferable Membership Rewards points (the Blue Business Plus offers a materially better effective return), spend significantly more than $50,000 on business cards annually, or do significant spending outside the United States, where the 2.7% foreign transaction fee would erode your rewards.
If you are considering the Amex Blue Business Cash, below are some other things to keep in mind.
Blue Business Cash vs. Blue Business Plus: which is right for you?
If the “Blue Business” branding sounds familiar, it’s because Amex also has the Blue Business Plus Card (learn more), which is one of my favorite business credit cards.
That card offers a hard-to-beat 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (1x points after that), making it one of the best cards for earning Amex points. That card is fantastic, in my opinion, since I value Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so that’s like a 3.4% return to me.
While the cards have very similar structures — the names are similar, the annual fees are the same, the perks are the same, etc. — the difference is that the Amex Blue Business Cash earns 2% cash back, while the Amex Blue Business Plus earns 2x Membership Rewards points. I value the latter a lot more.
Here’s how the two cards stack up on the same $50,000 of spending:
- Blue Business Cash: $1,000 in cash back, applied automatically as statement credits — an effective 2% return
- Blue Business Plus: 100,000 Membership Rewards points, worth $1,700 at my valuation of 1.7 cents per point — an effective 3.4% return if you can use the points for travel transfers
The Blue Business Plus produces a materially better return — but only if you’ll actually use the points by transferring them to airline and hotel partners. If you’re not comfortable with transferable points and would just want to redeem your rewards as cash, the Blue Business Plus’ theoretical advantage disappears, and becomes a disadvantage. Membership Rewards points can be redeemed at fixed rates that approximate cash back, but at much worse effective rates than 1.7 cents per point. For someone who wants cash and only cash, the Blue Business Cash earns more.
The decision really comes down to one question: are you willing to learn about Amex transfer partners and use Membership Rewards points for travel redemptions? If yes, the Blue Business Plus is the better card. If no — if you’d rather not deal with points strategy at all and just want statement credits to show up automatically — the Blue Business Cash is the right pick.
Read more: Which version of the Blue Business is worth it?
Other great cash back credit cards
Cash back cards earning the equivalent of 2% are much more common for personal cards than business cards. While you can put business purchases on personal cards, that involves having your business reimburse you, which complicates things.
If you are looking for a straightforward cash back card that’s as rewarding as possible, consider the no annual fee Citi Double Cash® Card (learn more). The card offers 1% cash back when you make a purchase, and an additional 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase. The cash back is in the form of ThankYou points, but can be redeemed for statement credits.
Bottom line
The Amex Blue Business Cash is a small business card that’s worth being aware of. Earning 2% cash back with a no annual fee card is potentially a great option.
However, I’d note that the Amex Blue Business Plus offers 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 spent annually, which I’d consider to be a better option for those wanting to earn travel rewards. That’s a card that I’ve had for years and love.
If you want to learn more about the Amex Blue Business Cash Card, follow this link.
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card (Rates & Fees).