What we like about the cards

The rewards. Both cards offer generous rewards. How generous depends on which card you choose. The Amazon Business American Express Card offers 3% Back or 90 Day Terms on U.S. purchases at a designated Amazon property when the % Back rewards option applies. 2% Back at U.S gas stations, U.S. restaurants, and wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers. 1% Back on other purchases. The Amazon Business Prime American Express Card comes with 5% Back or 90 Day Terms on eligible purchases made at a designated Amazon property when the % Back rewards option applies. 2% Back at U.S gas stations, U.S. restaurants, and wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers. 1% Back on other eligible purchases. If you’re a business owner looking for a solid rewards card or an alternative to expensive financing options, they’re certainly among the best options out there.

Financing flexibility. Both cards give you the option to either earn rewards or get an interest-free loan when spending. The term for the Amazon Business American Express Card is 60 days and for the Amazon Business Prime American Express Card it’s 90 days on U.S. purchases at Amazon Business, AWS, Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market. Terms apply. It’s good that small business owners have this option for short-term financing as an alternative to accumulating costly credit card debt or taking out high-interest loans. Some short-term business loans can carry triple-digit APRs.

Prime membership not necessarily required. An annual prime membership starts at $119, but you don’t have to shell out that kind of cash to get the Amazon Business American Express Card. It requires no Prime membership, but you will earn lower rewards on your spending compared with the Amazon Business Prime American Express Card and have access to shorter interest-free financing periods.

The welcome offer. The Amazon Business Prime American Express Card comes with a $125 Amazon.com Gift Card upon approval with an eligible Prime membership. for those with an Amazon Business Prime or regular Prime account. If you choose the Amazon Business American Express Card, you’ll Get a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card upon approval for the Card. Eligible Prime members get a $125 Amazon.com Gift Card upon approval for the Card. The gift card can be used to help pay for your Business Prime or Prime yearly membership fee, or to spend at Amazon.com or Amazon Business. It’s more generous than the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa^® Signature Card’s sign-up bonus where you Get a $70 Amazon.com Gift Card instantly upon credit card approval. It’s also better than the Amazon Rewards Visa^® Signature Card‘s chance to Get a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card instantly upon credit card approval.

No annual fee. There’s no annual fee on either card. Enough said.

Support for your business. Both cards have tools to keep track of your purchases and employee cards. Businesses can set up multiuser accounts, use shared payment methods, manage approval workflows, connect to Quickbooks, appoint an account manager, receive a year-end summary and monitor spending limits. Cardmembers also get special business-only prices on more than 5 million products.

The perks. These cards come with the benefits you’d expect from an American Express card, including car rental loss and damage insurance; travel accident insurance; Global Assist® Hotline; baggage insurance plan; roadside assistance; and a lowest hotel price guarantee. It also comes with return protection, extended warranty, purchase protection and a first crack at tickets to entertainment events when you use the cards.

Business Prime time. The Amazon Business Prime American Express Card comes with a free year of Business Prime Essentials, which starts at $179 a year. Cardholders are set up with a membership within 30 days of card approval. Business Prime comes with free two-day, one-day and same-day shipping, along with discounted expedited shipping, consolidated shipping and free delivery on special items.

What could be better

Pick a reward. With both cards, you must choose between earning cash back or taking the short-term, interest-free loan with each purchase. You can’t take both at once. On the plus side, however, you get to decide with each purchase which option you want, so you’re not locked down with one or the other.

Limited redemption options. Points earned on both cards can only be used at Amazon.com, Amazon Business or as a statement credit. Unlike other American Express cards, you can’t redeem rewards for travel, gift cards and merchandise. And they can’t be transferred to airline or hotel loyalty programs.

Lower rewards in other categories. While the rewards for both cards are good for Amazon-related purchases, you can do better with other cards on the market in categories like gas, restaurants and wireless telephone services. Plus you only get higher rewards for spending at U.S. locations.

Who the cards are best for

It all comes down to what’s most important for your business. If you spend regularly at Amazon, can take advantage of its higher points per dollar spent on its sites or the short-term loan for purchases and you don’t mind plowing your rewards back into the company, then the Amazon Business American Express Card and Amazon Business Prime American Express Card should be considered.

If you want an American Express-branded card that gives you fewer points per dollar spent in most categories but offers much more flexibility in redeeming them, along with some nice perks — all at a $0 annual fee — then The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express is your best bet.

For businesses that don’t mind shelling out a $95 annual fee, then Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card is the one you want. It comes with a robust sign-up bonus to earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, better points per dollar spent in the broadest categories and perks that are appealing to businesses.

Other great small business credit cards

While the rewards and perks for both Amazon cards aren’t bad by any means, you may want to earn more points per $1 spent in categories like travel, dining, gas and supermarkets. Or maybe having more ways to use your points outside of Amazon is important to you. We’ll compare the Amazon offerings with two other business credit cards — one from American Express card and one from Chase.

The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express

This card has some similarities with the Amazon credit cards, including tools that help companies manage their businesses, basic travel and purchase perks and the backing of American Express. One difference with The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express is it doesn’t come with a welcome offer to tempt you like the Amazon cards.

It offers 2X Membership Rewards® points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms apply. Where this card shines when compared with the Amazon offerings is that you get much more flexibility when using the Membership Rewards® points you earn on it. They can be transferred to 17 airline and three hotel loyalty programs. Points can also be used for travel, gift cards, online shopping and on websites like Amazon.com, Ticketmaster.com and Walmart.com, along with donations to charities. The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express offers customer support for small businesses from Relationship Care Service.

The card’s flat rewards rate is better for travel, but not for dining, gas and supermarkets. The higher rewards on The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express have a yearly maximum at $50,000, dropping to the lowest points per $1 spent after that. The maximum spend per year covers spending on all cards under the business. If you take this card out of the country, you’ll pay a foreign transaction fee of 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to US dollars..

Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card

The perks that come with the Amazon cards and the are good, but of all the cards reviewed here, the is best by far. True, the card comes with a $95 annual fee, but that is more than covered in the first year, thanks to the card’s sign-up bonus, valued at between $800 and $1,000 (when you redeem it through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal). After that, as long as you spend at least $950 a year, you’ll earn enough points to break even.

Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases—with no limit to the amount you can earn. This beats both Amazon cards and the because the offers more points in categories that are important to businesses like travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone services and advertising on social media sites and search engines.

This card also has the broadest definition of travel, covering airline tickets, hotels, car rentals and cruises. And it comes with a benefit the other cards don’t offer — getting 25% more value for your points when you use them to book travel at Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Like The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express, you can transfer the points you earn 1:1 toward nine airline and four hotel loyalty programs. Or you can redeem your points for cash, gift cards, travel, and products at Amazon.com.

The lets businesses issue cards to employees, set individual spending limits and accumulate points under one account. But once you spend $150,000 on the account during a year, the points per $1 spent drops to the lowest level.

Travel and purchase protections that come with the are more generous than the other cards reviews. They include trip cancellation/trip interruption insurance, roadside dispatch, auto rental collision damage waiver, concierge service, cellphone protection, purchase protection and extended warranty protection.

Our final take

Now that we’ve laid out the pros and cons of the Amazon Business American Express Card and Amazon Business Prime American Express Card and compared them with the competition, ask these questions before making a final decision:

• Does the card have yearly caps for top spending categories?
• Do the categories most important to your business earn the top points per $1 spent?
• How much flexibility do you get when using your points?
• Do you shop and ship enough to get the full benefits of either Amazon card?
• Would having a card with a short-term loan benefit be helpful to your business?
• What tools does the card have to help manage your business?
• If perks are important, which card offers the best ones?

For those who are loyal to Amazon when it comes to business, the Amazon Business American Express Card and Amazon Business Prime American Express Card are no-brainers, especially if you’re an Amazon Prime, Amazon Business or Business Prime member.

Both cards give you either generous points for Amazon spending or the ability to take a short interest-free loan on your purchases, with the option to switch each time you use the card. But you’re tied to Amazon.com and Amazon Business when it comes time to spend your rewards.

While the points per $1 spent on The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express are better for travel than the two Amazon cards, overall, they aren’t as good. This card also has far more flexibility in how you redeem your points than the Amazon Business American Express Card and Amazon Business Prime American Express Card. But the best among the bunch is the because of the 25% more value when your points are spent on travel at Chase Ultimate Rewards®.