At a glance
- Best for: High-spending business owners who value cashback and simplicity
- Annual Fee: $295
- APR: 17.74% - 28.49% Variable
- Reward Rate: 2%-5%
- Recommended Credit: Good to Excellent
Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card
Earn $1,500 Cash Back in the form of Reward Dollars
Offer Details:
Earn $1,500 Cash Back in the form of Reward Dollars after you spend $50,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Reward Dollars can be redeemed as statement credits and at Amazon.com checkout.
Why we like it
The Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card offers a simple way for high-spending businesses to earn a ton of cashback. It’s not flashy and it doesn’t offer any bells and whistles: it simply does what it says on the tin, and for the right person, that’s invaluable.
Reward details
2% cash back on all eligible purchases
5% cash back on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel® Online
Pros & Cons
Pros
No preset spending limit
Pay Over Time flexibility
No foreign transaction fees
Employee card options
Purchase protection, return protection, extended warranty, and car rental loss and damage insurance
Potential to unlock up to $2,400 in One AP statement credits
Cons
$295 annual fee
$50,000 spending requirement for the welcome offer
The 5% travel category is limited to Amex Travel bookings
One AP credit requires $250,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year
Reward Dollars are less flexible than transferable points
Overview
Amex turned a few heads when it announced the arrival of its brand-new business card. Graphite’s an exciting-sounding name, but does the reality of the card swing more towards the feeling of an intense gunmetal, ready for business action? Or is it just…grey?
As a cashback card, it’s setting itself apart from Amex’s better-known lines, featuring the
American Express Platinum Card® and American Express® Gold Card options, and, if you know anything about us, you’ll know it’ll need to be something special for us to give it the thumbs up over a product that can deliver outweighed value on earnings. Unlike Chase and Capital One, you can’t turn that cashback into points either, so you’ll need to be fully committed to your rewards.
With a simple flat-rate earning system, it will be attractive to some business owners, but many will find the fee restrictive, especially when compared to what the card offers. But don’t disappear yet; see if the Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card can slot into your business’ finance strategy.
Who is this card best for:
Business owners set on cashback with either unpredictable spending patterns or no interest in using multiple cards will find the flat-rate earning system attractive, but considering you’ll need to spend around $15,000 just to break even with the card and that other Amex options have the same rate up to $50,000 but for no annual fee, there’s only a small subsect of people that will truly find this card useful.
The Bottom Line:
The Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card can be strong, but it’s positioned in a slightly awkward way. Unlimited 2% cash back is always useful, the welcome offer is valuable (if you can hit it), and the card’s flexible spending setup will appeal to businesses with larger outgoings. But with a $295 annual fee, limited perks, and limited value on the cards, businesses not spending more than around $50,000 every six months will need to do some serious soul-searching before making a call on this one.
Intro Bonus
The Graphite Card currently offers $1,500 cash back in the form of Reward Dollars after you spend $50,000 in purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
That is a big bonus, but it’s also a disproportionately large spending goal. Considering Amex’s own premium points-earning card, the American Express Platinum Card®, offers up to 300,000 points for $20,000 in three months, the Graphite’s offer is not one you should chase without considering your options. Forced spending, panic purchases, or a suspiciously expensive “office chair” are not worth that bonus. You need to know your business can naturally run $50,000 through the card in six months without stretching.
If you can hit it responsibly, fair enough. Spending $50,000 at the base 2% cash-back rate would already earn $1,000 cash back. Add the $1,500 welcome offer, and you are looking at $2,500 in first-year cash back before accounting for the annual fee or any bonus travel spending.
That is a strong first-year return. But again, it only works if the spending threshold matches your real business expenses. If your company needs to contort itself to get there, a smaller bonus with a lower spending requirement will be a much better fit.
Pros & Cons
As always, no card is perfect. The Graphite Card is clean, simple, and useful, but it is also expensive for what it is.
Pros
- No preset spending limit
- Pay Over Time flexibility
- No foreign transaction fees
- Employee card options
- Purchase protection, return protection, extended warranty, and car rental loss and damage insurance
- Potential to unlock up to $2,400 in One AP statement credits
Cons
- $295 annual fee
- $50,000 spending requirement for the welcome offer
- The 5% travel category is limited to Amex Travel bookings
- One AP credit requires $250,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year
- Reward Dollars are less flexible than transferable points
Annual Fee
The Graphite Card has a $295 annual fee. And realistically, that’s the biggest difference between it and Amex’s cheaper business options. It’s setting a rate high enough that you really need some serious outgoings to make it worth it, especially beyond the first year.
If you’re being savvy with it, if you spend more than $50,000 in six months, get the Graphite. Less? Just grab the no-annual-fee cards.
Benefits & Perks
The Graphite Card is not overloaded with luxury perks. With no airport lounge access, no hotel status, no notable statement credits, and no premium travel bells and whistles, it’s not one you open for any experiential reason. And that’s okay. That’s is not really the point of the card. This is a cash-back product built around simple earning and cash-flow flexibility. With that said, it does have some features in there that are worth going over.
The basics
The card comes with basic financial perks like Amex’s Pay Over Time feature, allowing you to put specific eligible purchases on a longer-term payment with specific interest rates; no foreign transaction fees, which speaks for itself; and no spending limit — although you must be careful with that. It doesn’t mean you can spend whatever you like: your limit will fluctuate depending on a multitude of factors. You’ll also have access to Amex’s usual slew of business tools and protections.
Employee cards are a solid, practical feature offered by the card. The annual fee for them is $95 for the first five cards and $95 for each card after that. Employee Business Expense Cards with no annual fee are also available, and you can add up to 99 total employee cards. That gives businesses some flexibility, especially if they want team members making purchases without handing everyone the pricier metal version. All nice, but nothing to write home about.
Up to $2,400 in American Express One AP statement credits
On paper, a credit like this for Amex’s accounts payable automation platform is pretty good. Until you check the small print. You’ll need to spend $250,000 on eligible purchases within a single calendar year to unlock the perk. Again, great if you can naturally get there, but nothing worth chasing in the long run.
Employee cards
Employee cards are another practical feature. The annual fee for Employee Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Cards is $95 for the first five cards and $95 for each card after that. Employee Business Expense Cards with no annual fee are also available, and you can add up to 99 total employee cards. That gives businesses some flexibility, especially if they want team members making purchases without handing everyone the pricier metal version.
Earning Rewards & Redeeming Points
Earning Rewards
Earning rewards is dead simple. You get a flat-rate, unlimited, 2% cashback on all purchases (not including those that fall under the category we’ll mention in a second), allowing you to spend on autopilot, never having to consider spending categories or other quirks. That’s a good proposition for many business owners, and with unlimited spending, it’s the main kicker when deciding whether to go for a cheaper card or not.
In short, big spenders will get more from the Graphite than Amex’s no-annual-fee cards.
The card also earns unlimited 5% cash back on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel® Online. That is a strong return, but it comes with the usual issuer portal caveats. You need to book through Amex Travel to get the 5% rate, and not every traveler wants to book flights or hotels through a portal instead of directly with an airline or hotel. Often the best prices are elsewhere. You’ll need to ensure you’re not losing the value you’re gaining by opting to spend with Amex.
Booking directly can also make it easier to manage changes, handle elite status benefits, or deal with issues when travel goes wrong. The 5% return is attractive, but it should not be the only thing you look at. Compare prices, terms, and flexibility before assuming the portal is automatically the best option.
Redeeming points
Cash back on the Graphite Card is earned as Reward Dollars.
Reward Dollars can be redeemed as statement credits or used at Amazon.com checkout. That keeps things simple, but it also means you’re limited to the value of the cash itself. Membership Rewards Points, Amex’s points currency, can be redeemed for weighted value, often double or quadruple the base value of the point.
What you’d prefer comes down to personal preference. Cashback allows maximum flexibility, but $1,000 is $1,000. Points limit you to travel purchases (mainly), but 100,000 points could be worth $4,000. If you prefer the former and spend enough to rake in some serious cashback, the Graphite could be for you.
Is This Card Right for You?
The Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card is designed with a very specific type of customer in mind. In as simple phrasing as possible: high-spending business owners, with no interest in points. Its high fee and big spending threshold on the bonus deter lower-spending businesses, while its lack of big bonus categories or points-earning opportunities keeps points aficionados well away.
There is value here for those who can spend enough, but for the fee, we should all be looking for a lot more from Amex this time
- Best for: High-spending business owners who value cashback and simplicity
- Annual Fee: $295
- APR: 17.74% - 28.49% Variable
- Reward Rate: 2%-5%
- Recommended Credit: Good to Excellent
Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card
Earn $1,500 Cash Back in the form of Reward Dollars
Offer Details:
Earn $1,500 Cash Back in the form of Reward Dollars after you spend $50,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Reward Dollars can be redeemed as statement credits and at Amazon.com checkout.
Why we like it
The Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card offers a simple way for high-spending businesses to earn a ton of cashback. It’s not flashy and it doesn’t offer any bells and whistles: it simply does what it says on the tin, and for the right person, that’s invaluable.
Reward details
2% cash back on all eligible purchases
5% cash back on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel® Online
Pros & Cons
Pros
No preset spending limit
Pay Over Time flexibility
No foreign transaction fees
Employee card options
Purchase protection, return protection, extended warranty, and car rental loss and damage insurance
Potential to unlock up to $2,400 in One AP statement credits
Cons
$295 annual fee
$50,000 spending requirement for the welcome offer
The 5% travel category is limited to Amex Travel bookings
One AP credit requires $250,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year
Reward Dollars are less flexible than transferable points
*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/
by your friends at The Daily Navigator
