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The Plum Card® from American Express is a simple cash-back business card that offers incentives for making timely payments and gives cardholders extra time to pay charges. If you're looking to open a business card and want no set spending limit plus flexibility in payments, you may want to consider this card.
However, the Amex Plum is pretty light on perks and might not be the best fit for small business owners focused on earning travel rewards or maximizing their rewards potential.
Is the Amex Plum Card right for you? Here's a closer look.
- Paying early pays off: earn an unlimited 1.5% Early Pay Discount on eligible charges paid within 10 days of your statement closing date and see the discount applied to your next statement when you pay at the least the Minimum Payment Due by the Payment Due Date.
- Take up to 60 days to pay with no interest‡, when you pay your minimum due by the Payment Due Date.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.‡
- Terms Apply. Learn More.
- Rates & Fees
- Get a 1.5% discount when you pay early, with no cap on what you can earn back.
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Amex Plum Card Pros
- Unlimited 1.5% cash back on eligible charges when you pay within 10 days of your statement closing date.
- An extra 60 days to pay, with no accrued interest.
- No preset spending limit (limitations apply).*
Amex Plum Card Cons
- $250 annual fee (Rates & Fees).
- Only earns cash back under certain circumstances.
- No welcome bonus.
*No Preset Spending Limit means the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history.
Amex Plum Card Welcome Offer
The lack of a welcome bonus is one of the bigger drawbacks of the Amex Plum. When opening a business card with an annual fee, you expect to be rewarded with a chunk of points or extra cashback up front. For example, all of Chase's no-annual-fee Ink business cards offer welcome bonuses.
Despite not having a welcome bonus, the Amex Plum‘s unique benefits may serve your business needs, so it may be worth opening an account.
Related: The Best Small-Business Credit Card Offers for This Month
Amex Plum Card Benefits
1.5% early pay discount
Earn a 1.5% discount when you pay early, with no cap on what you can earn back. This applies so long as you make the minimum payment, which is typically 10% of new charges. Cashback will appear as a credit on the next statement. If your business can make large, early payments, this discount should quickly offset the $250 annual fee.
60 days to pay
This card doesn’t allow you to carry a balance with interest (see the next section), but as long as you make the minimum payment each month, you’ll have up to 60 days to pay off the rest of your charges. For small businesses with unpredictable cash flow, this extra flexibility can be helpful for managing expenses. However, if the balance isn’t paid within 60 days, a late fee will apply: 1.5% then 2.99% of the past due amount (minimum: $39) (Rates & Fees).
No preset spending limit
While many credit cards set a specific line of credit, Amex offers flexibility based on a business's purchase, payment, and credit history. While Amex doesn't offer unlimited spending power here, it also doesn’t impose a fixed credit limit on the card. To gauge whether a large purchase will be approved, consult the card's Check Spending Power tool. If a business periodically needs to make large purchases — and keeps its account in good standing — the lack of a preset spending limit comes in handy.
Travel benefits
Besides offering no foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees), the Amex Plum Card offers the following travel benefits:
- Global Assist Hotline with 24/7 assistance: This hotline assists you before or during a trip at least 100 miles from home. Emergency assistance and coordination services include medical or legal referrals, wiring cash, and help locating missing luggage. The assistance service is free, but cardholders pay for any services they use.
- Car rental loss and damage insurance up to $50,000: Charge a rental car to the card and decline the rental company's collision coverage. This benefit provides secondary car rental loss and damage insurance up to $50,000 per claim.
Related: Rewards Credit Cards Offering Primary Rental Car Insurance
Shopping benefits
- Returned protection: If a seller won't accept your return for something purchased on the card, return eligible U.S. purchases to American Express within 90 days, up to $300 per item and $1,000 per year.
- Purchase protection: If an item is damaged, stolen, or lost within 90 days of purchase, you can be covered up to $1,000 per item and up to $50,000 annually.
- Extended warranty: Extend an eligible purchase's manufacturer's warranty by up to one additional year, up to $10,000 per purchase and $50,000 per card annually.
- Amex Offers: Activate targeted offers for bonus points or cash back with specified vendors.
- American Express access and early access: Purchase tickets for select seats at events, available to cardholders before the general public.
- American Express Experiences: Purchase tickets to select exclusive experiences for cardholders.
Other benefits
- Connect to Quickbooks: Once enrolled, Amex sends all card transactions to Quickbooks.
- Vendor pay: Sign up for Vendor pay by Bill.com and enjoy a basic plan for free. Add a secondary user for free for the first six months.
- Employee cards: Add up to 99 employee cards to the Amex Plum and manage their spending limits and categories. There's no annual fee for employee cards (Rates & Fees).
Amex Plum Card Earning Rates
The only way to earn cashback on this card is through the early pay discount. With this benefit, you'll earn a 1.5% discount when you pay early, with no cap on what you can earn back.
If you'll be charging a lot to the card and making some large, quick payments, it may be a decent perk. If you're not making large payments within the early pay window, however, you're not earning anything on the rest of the balance. Considering many other business cards offer rewards — via points or cash back — on every dollar spent, consider how much you'll earn from the early pay discount against rewards you might earn from other cards.
Related: The Best Small Business Credit Card Offers
Application Restrictions and Strategy
Applicants must be 18 years old and have a U.S. mailing address and social security number.
Generally, American Express allows individuals to hold five personal credit cards and 10 cards with no preset spending limit at a time. Keep in mind that Amex generally limits individuals to opening two cards every 90 days.
Related: Understanding Rewards Cards Application Rules and Restrictions
Keep in mind that while you may assume that you don't qualify for a business credit card, understand that side hustles, freelance work, online reselling, and other types of income outside your 9-to-5 can qualify.
Cards That Compete With the Amex Plum Card
(Terms apply)
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
(Terms Apply)
- Earn 2X 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 and limitations apply.
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business
- If you want a card with better earning power plus a welcome offer, the American Express® Business Gold Card is one to consider. The annual fee may appear steep, but you can earn nearly $400 in annual statement credits and will still enjoy no preset spending limit. You'll also earn 4X Membership Rewards points in the two categories you spend the most in every month, automatically (on the first $150,000 in combined purchases annually, then 1X), as well as 3x booking through Amex Travel. Points can be redeemed for cash back, gift cards, or transferring to 21 airline and hotel partners for travel. Learn more in our full Amex Business Gold review. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
- If you want an Amex card with rewards and no annual fee, The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is a favorite of many for earning rewards without an annual fee (Rates & Fees). The simple earning structure provides 2x Amex points on all purchases, up to $50,000 per year (then 1x). Points can be redeemed like cash or transferred to American Express' airline and hotel partners. Our Blue Business Plus review has additional details.
- If you want a business card with no annual fee and 1.5% cash back, look into the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card. You'll have a credit limit and pay foreign transaction fees, but you'll also enjoy the power to earn unlimited 1.5% on everyday spending. And if you have other Chase credit cards, you can combine rewards to access additional redemption options. Our review of the Chase Ink Unlimited can tell you more.
Related: The Best Credit Cards for Everyday Purchases
Bottom Line
The Amex Plum caters to a specific type of business owner: one who may need the flexibility of 60 days to pay due to inconsistent cash flow. However, this card is likely only worthwhile if you can take full advantage of the 1.5% early pay discount to offset the annual fee. Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine whether this card’s rewards structure provides enough value to make it a better choice than other business cards.
- Paying early pays off: earn an unlimited 1.5% Early Pay Discount on eligible charges paid within 10 days of your statement closing date and see the discount applied to your next statement when you pay at the least the Minimum Payment Due by the Payment Due Date.
- Take up to 60 days to pay with no interest‡, when you pay your minimum due by the Payment Due Date.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.‡
- Terms Apply. Learn More.
- Rates & Fees
- Get a 1.5% discount when you pay early, with no cap on what you can earn back.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Plum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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