The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from Amex benefits guide

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is a small-business card with a very attractive earning proposition for ongoing spend – 2 Membership Rewards points for every dollar spent on up to $50,000 in purchases each year (1 point per dollar thereafter). This makes it a great go-to rewards card. And since the Blue Business Plus card has no annual fee, it can be a great way to keep your Membership Rewards account active if you cancel another American Express credit card.

The Blue Business Plus card benefits at a glance

The Amex Blue Business Plus card has fairly straightforward benefits. Since the Blue Business Plus has no annual fee, it’s not surprising that it lacks the benefits associated with premium cards. This is a small-business card that allows the primary user to add employee cards and connect directly to QuickBooks for easy bookkeeping. The Blue Business Plus card earns American Express Membership Rewards points and offers a 0% introductory APR on purchases for 12 months (followed by a variable APR of 14.74% to 22.74%).

Regular rewards and welcome offer

Unlike other credit cards offering a different amount of rewards depending on where you make purchases, the American Express Blue Business Plus card has a flat earning structure. You’ll earn 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar on all purchases (up to $50,000 in purchases per year, then 1 point per dollar). We value Membership Rewards points at roughly 1.19 cents per point, which can make this card a better option than a straight 2% cash back card. In fact, the Blue Business Plus is one of the best small-business cards for ongoing spending.

Currently, the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card has a modest welcome bonus of 15,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $3,000 in your first three months. We value that welcome bonus at around $178, which is comparable to welcome bonuses offered by other no-annual-fee credit cards.

If you have other American Express credit cards, you can combine the Membership Rewards points you earn on the Blue Business Plus card with those earned on other Amex cards. You have many options for redeeming Membership Rewards points, and there’s no denying you can get outstanding value. One of the best ways to use your Membership Rewards is by transferring them to hotel and airline transfer partners.

Business perks

As a small-business credit card, the American Express Blue Business Plus card comes with specific perks targeted toward business owners. You can add employee cards for no additional fee. While you’ll still be responsible for purchases made with employee cards, you can set up spending limits for individual cards. You can also use the American Express Business App to manage your business receipts.

Another feature useful to many businesses is the ability to automatically tag transactions with custom QuickBooks categories and import them into your QuickBooks account. If you want to pay bills from your Blue Business Card, you can use your card to pay vendors via Bill.com.

Travel benefits

The Blue Business Plus card doesn’t come with specific travel benefits, but many travel benefits come with being part of the Membership Rewards ecosystem, especially when you have other cards that earn Membership Rewards. Combining points earned with the Blue Business Plus and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is one way to get increased travel rewards.

You can also use Membership Rewards to book travel directly through the Amex travel portal. There are no blackout dates for travel when you do that. If you decide you’re ready for a business card that offers more travel benefits as well as Membership Rewards points, you can always upgrade your American Express business card.

How to maximize The Blue Business Plus card benefits

The best benefit of the Blue Business Plus card is that you can earn 2 Membership Rewards points for every dollar you spend (up to $50,000 per year). The best way to maximize the card is to hit the $50,000 maximum each year. Because of the great value of earning 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar, the Blue Business Plus card is a great card to use when you don’t have a minimum spending requirement to meet or a category bonus on another card.

If you have a small business that spends less than $50,000 each year, you may want to just use the Blue Business Plus card for all of your spending. With free employee cards, QuickBooks integration and receipt management help via the mobile app, it can be a great way for businesses to keep track of all their expenses. Having one place to manage all your business expenses can be a great way to maximize your benefits.

The Membership Rewards points you earn never expire as long as you have at least one card that earns Membership Rewards. That can make the Blue Business Plus card a great backup if you close other Membership Rewards-earning cards. For instance, if you only have The Platinum Card® from American Express and close your card, you may lose all your Membership Rewards points. But if you also have the Blue Business Plus card, you can cancel your Platinum Card and still keep your Membership Rewards.

Bottom line

The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express is a small-business card that earns Membership Rewards points and comes with no annual fee. While it doesn’t come with a huge welcome bonus, its bonus is comparable to that of other no-annual-fee cards.

It’s also a great option for people who like earning travel rewards but don’t want to deal with having multiple spending categories. That’s because the American Express Blue Business Plus card has a simple earning structure in which it earns 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar on all purchases (up to $50,000 in purchases per year, then 1 point per dollar).