American Express Business Charge Card

Pauline Hatch

Pauline is a personal finance expert at CreditCard.com.au, with 8 years in money, budgeting and property reporting under her belt Ask Pauline a Question about this card.

With the American Express Business Charge Card, you can earn rewards on your business spending, while enjoying a number of other handy features, including travel cover and business tools. You will earn Membership Rewards on your business spend, and as an Ascent Member, you’ll have the option to redeem those points for travel, for gift cards, or against your purchases with Select + Pay.

What we love...

When you have the American Express Business Charge Card in your wallet, you can get something back on your business spending. And while it may not have any bonus offers on points at the moment, it does offer a nice everyday earn rate. When you join the Membership Rewards program, you will earn:

• Earn 1.5 points per $1 spent excluding government spend in Australia where you’ll earn 1 point per $1 spent

You can earn rewards faster by adding up to 99 supplementary cards to the account (fees apply per cardholder). As a cardholder, you can also benefit from no points expiry, so as long as your card remains current, so do your points. This can make it easier to save up points for larger rewards such as flights.

In terms of points redemption, you have a number of options open to you as an Ascent member. You can transfer your Membership Rewards points to partner airline programs KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines) or Skywards (Emirates), or to hotel rewards programs. Other direct travel redemption options include Helloworld Travel, Webjet and American Express Travel Online.

The Membership Rewards program also allows you to use your points to pay for purchases or to purchase credit, with Select + Pay and Points for Credit. Alternatively, if you want to treat yourself or perhaps a member of staff, you can choose from a range of gift cards.

Another interesting extra for spending using this card is earning more points. You must save the Shop Small offer to your card and spend at participating Shop Small businesses to receive 3 extra points per $1 spent, up to 40,000 extra points. Offer runs until 31 March 2022.

What’s not so great...

The annual fee for additional employee cards is quite high at $79 per card. This card’s rewards and perks come with an $80 Membership Rewards annual fee. You need to join the Membership Rewards program to earn the points but with the membership perks that await, this is a pretty good option.

Why should you choose this card?

This is a charge card, not a credit card. It is designed to extend your cash flow, giving you up to 51 days to pay for purchases. With this card, you are not given a pre-set spending limit, but of course, this does not mean unlimited spending. Your purchases will be approved according to a variety of factors, such as your spending patterns, payment history, credit records, and financial resources.

When deciding whether the American Express Business Charge Card is right for you, take into account its annual fee – and the annual fee for additional cardholders if you want to add any to the account. Also, be aware of the fee you have to pay to enrol if you want to be an Ascent member.

Aside from rewards, the card has plenty else to offer, including travel accident insurance and business trip completion cover. As for business tools, the card allows you to save time with MYOB, as transactions made on your card will be transferred via an automatic feed for quick and easy reconciliation.

This is backed by American Express’s well-regarded service and support. As a cardholder, you will have access to emergency card replacement anywhere in the world, as well as online fraud protection to reduce your liability for any unauthorised online transactions.

To apply, you must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident aged 18 or over. You must have a good credit history and no payment defaults, and you must have an annual business revenue of $75,000 or more. Your business must have a valid ABN registered for GST.

Overall Rating

The American Express Business Charge Card is a charge card that offers reward points earning on business spending, with a few nice features thrown in, including travel cover and business tools.