The SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card from American Express gives businesses access to credit in exchange for annual fees and interest payments. Other benefits include:
- Automated cash back applied to statements
- An excellent set of introductory offers
- A choice of bonus categories
- Free employee cards (up to 99)
- Overspend the credit limit if necessary
- Reporting to credit bureaus can help build up a credit score
Is there an annual fee?
The card comes with no annual fee, unlike similar cards which often charge close to $100 per annum.
What’s the APR?
This card comes with a 14.49% – 21.49%% variable APR, depending on factors like credit score.
Check out our roundup of the Best Small Business Credit Cards
Who is the SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card right for?
This card is ideal for small businesses with conventional purchasing needs, like office supplies, internet services, gas, and shipping, as these are spending categories businesses can choose.
For example, a small US business shipping products directly to customers from online sales could benefit from the extra cash back on:
- Their computer equipment
- Stationary and office supplies
- Their internet connection
- Shipping costs.
Since shipping products to customers is a part of many small businesses’ regular operations, this benefit can really add up.
Businesses should double-check any small-print to make make sure their spending plans match the card’s incentives before applying.
A comparison of popular business credit cards can be found here.
Are there introductory rates and rewards?
For the first nine months, cardholders receive an introductory 0% APR.
That’s among the more generous introductory periods, with only The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express offering longer at zero APR (fifteen months).
This can be a big advantage for small businesses just getting started to avoid interest payments on purchases until they’ve started bringing in revenue and can afford the extra expense.
After the first nine months, APR goes up to a variable rate of 14.49%, 19.49%, or 21.49% depending on the applicant’s credit score and other factors at the time the account is opened.
These rates are comparable to most other cards focusing on cash back.
However, the lack of an annual fee – even after the introductory period – is a meaningful advantage compared to other cards. For businesses that can avoid accruing interest month-to-month, the card will be essentially free.
How many points do I get?
The SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card doesn’t operate a points system. Instead, cardholders gain cash back at different rates depending on the spending category.
How many travel miles does my money buy?
Small businesses after travel miles should look elsewhere. Here’s a comparison piece that outlines and compares the best business credit cards for travel available.
However, this card gives access to the following features useful for travel:
- Car rental loss and damage insurance
- A roadside assistance hotline
- A baggage insurance plan
- The Global Assist® hotline
- Travel accident insurance
What are the cash back terms like?
The SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card gives different levels of cash back across three purchase categories, the third of which can be chosen from eight available options:
- 5% cash back on goods and services from US office supply stores
- 5% cash back from US “wireless telephone services.”
- 3% cash back on an optional third category. If none is selected, it defaults to paying for gas from US stations
- 1% on other areas of spending
The eight choices of category for 3% cash back are:
- Airfare bought directly from airlines
- Hotel rooms purchased directly from hotels
- Car rentals from selected companies
- US gas stations
- US restaurants
- Selected US media advertising
- US shipping purchases
- US computer technology purchases, included cloud services, software, and hardware (only from selected providers).
What other benefits come with this card?
Cardholders can also receive the following features:
- A designated Account Manager system to allow employees to handle the account
- The Spend Manager system to add notes and receipts to recorded transactions via web browser or mobile device
- Integration with Quickbooks
- Account alerts to protect against fraud
- A year-end summary for an overview of past spending, helping future planning
- Online statements for better security, convenience, and waste reduction
- The Amex® App to make managing the card easier
Most of these features are fairly standard, but the Account Manager and Spend Manager systems are hard to find outside of American Express, and not every provider has an app.
