American Express Business Checking Overview

The American Express Business Checking account has no monthly service fees and lets you earn Membership Rewards points every time you make a debit card purchase. You can redeem these points for cash or travel benefits. You also get free ACH transfers and free withdrawals at 70,000+ ATMs.

Moreover, the American Express Business Checking account includes 24/7 customer support and connects to Quickbooks for easier tracking of your business’s finances.

Pros and Cons

Axos Bank at a Glance

Suitable For?

The American Express Business Checking account is suitable for a wide variety of small businesses. It’s especially attractive if you want a checking account that makes it easy to move money around. The Business Checking account has no monthly service fees and comes with free ACH transfers, free withdrawals at 70,000+ ATMs, and debit cards for your entire team.

The Business Checking account enables you to earn Membership Rewards points, so it can be a good option if you need to travel for business or want to earn cashback on debit card purchases. You can also earn up to 1.30% APY on balances of up to $500,000. That can be a major benefit if you keep a lot of money in your business checking account and want to earn from it.

Businesses with small balances can also benefit from this account. Upon opening, there’s no minimum deposit requirement, and you don’t need to maintain a minimum balance to waive monthly service fees. American Express’s welcome bonus, which offers 30,000 Membership Rewards points, only requires a $5,000 initial deposit.

Note that there’s no way to deposit cash to an American Express Business Checking account, so it’s not ideal for businesses that accept cash payments.

Features/Highlights

Advantages over traditional banks

The American Express Business Checking account has no monthly account fee, minimum deposit, or balance requirements. It also lets you earn up to 1.30% APY on up to $500,000 in deposits.

Another major advantage is the Membership Rewards program. You’ll earn 1 point for every $2 you spend with your debit card, and you can redeem points for cashback or travel rewards.

You’ll also receive 30,000 points (worth around $300) as a welcome bonus when you deposit at least $5,000 in your first 30 days after account opening, maintain an average account balance of at least $5,000 for the next 60 days, and make 5 deposits within 60 days of account opening.

You can pool Membership Rewards points from your Business Checking account with points you earn from a personal or business American Express credit card. This can make it easier to accumulate and redeem points.

Cutting-edge banking services

American Express enables you to check balances, pay bills, and initiate transfers through its web platform and mobile apps (for iOS and Android).

The platform doesn’t have built-in budgeting features, but it integrates with Quickbooks to make it easy to track your business’s finances. American Express also offers solutions to help you manage employees’ spending on your cards or pay your business’s vendors.

Traditional banking services

American Express offers business credit cards and lines of credit in addition to the Business Checking account. However, American Express doesn’t have physical branches and doesn’t offer a business savings account. You can’t deposit cash to the Business Checking account, but you can withdraw cash fee-free from 70,000+ Allpoint and MoneyPass ATMs.

Interest rates and fees

The American Express Business Checking account has no monthly account fee. You don’t have to meet certain requirements or maintain a minimum balance to have fees waived.

Domestic and international ACH transfers and incoming wire transfers are free, but there’s a $25 charge for outgoing domestic wire transfers. All foreign transactions on your debit card incur a 2.7% fee.

You can earn up to 1.30% APY on balances up to $500,000 in your Business Checking account. Note that there’s no interest on deposits over the $500,000 limit.

Customer service and online experience

American Express offers 24/7 customer support by phone, and online reviews report extremely responsive service with short wait times. While the company isn’t rated by the Better Business Bureau and has only a 1.5-star rating on Trustpilot, the negative reviews are mostly related to American Express’s personal credit cards rather than the Business Checking account.

American Express has a detailed online knowledge base that explains how to manage your online account, redeem Membership Rewards points, and keep your account secure. There are also FAQs specifically about the Business Checking account.

You can apply for an American Express Business Checking account online in about 10 minutes. The American Express web platform is easy to use and integrates seamlessly with Quickbooks, so you can keep track of deposits and debit card transactions. It also has tools for monitoring your business’s cash flow.

Mobile app

American Express offers a dedicated mobile app for Business Checking customers called American Express Blueprint. It’s available for iOS and Android and displays your business’s account balance, cash flow statistics, and transactions across all your debit cards. You can also use the app to deposit checks, initiate transfers, and automatically pay vendors.

The app is easy to use and works especially well if you need access to American Express’s other business tools, like invoicing or a line of credit. However, it won’t automatically import transaction data for any American Express business credit cards you might hold.

Security

The American Express Business Checking account is FDIC-insured, meaning you’d be insured for up to $250,000 in cash if American Express were to go out of business. Notably, American Express has been in business since 1850.

Your Business Checking account is protected by biometric and 2-factor authentication as well as 256-bit AES encryption—the highest level of encryption used by financial institutions. American Express also has a dedicated fraud team you can contact 24/7 and an online security center with tips on how to protect your account.

In addition, you can use the web platform or mobile app to set up spending alerts and lock debit cards at any time. American Express also offers more advanced software for growing businesses that want to control employee spending on debit cards.

Application Process

You can apply for an American Express Business Checking account online. The process takes about 10 minutes.

• Start by filling out information about your business, including your Taxpayer or Employer Identification Number and your company’s annual revenue, structure, and “Doing Business As” (DBA) name.
• Upload your business’s articles of incorporation and DBA certificate.
• Enter information about yourself, including your Social Security number, birthday, and current address. You’ll also need to enter this information for any other individuals who own 25% or more of your business.

American Express Business Checking accounts are currently not available for businesses in the money services, cryptocurrency, internet gambling, or marijuana industries.

American Express Business Checking Summary

The American Express Business Checking account is a business checking account with no monthly service fees and a wide range of benefits. You can earn Membership Rewards points on every purchase, make fee-free withdrawals at 70,000+ ATMs, integrate your account with Quickbooks for simplified accounting, and earn up to 1.30% APY on balances up to $500,000.

On top of that, American Express offers 24/7 customer support and has a dedicated fraud team to keep your account secure. You can apply for a Business Checking account online in about 10 minutes.

Physical Address

American Express, 200 Vesey Street New York, NY 10285-3106

Disclaimer

We are currently accepting applications from eligible U.S. businesses. Not all applicants will be approved for a Business Checking account.