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finder.com’s rating: 4.3 / 5.0
★★★★★
$3,500
Min. Amount
$75,000
Max. Amount
Product Name | American Express business loans |
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Min. Amount | $3,500 |
Max. Amount | $75,000 |
Loan Term | 6 to 36 months |
APR | 6.98% to 19.97% |
Requirements | Must be an American Express Basic Cardmember or an American Express Business Cardmember in good standing. |
Review by
Anna Serio is a trusted lending expert and certified Commercial Loan Officer who's published more than 1,000 articles on Finder to help Americans strengthen their financial literacy. A former editor of a newspaper in Beirut, Anna writes about personal, student, business and car loans. Today, digital publications like Business Insider, CNBC and the Simple Dollar feature her professional commentary, and she earned an Expert Contributor in Finance badge from review site Best Company in 2020.
A fast, painless application is the main draw for American Express business loans — but it’s only available if you already have an Amex business card. You can check your rate by logging in to your account and completing the application by answering a few additional questions.
But if you’re looking to fund a long-term project, this isn’t the right choice for you. It only offers loans up to $75,000 and terms only run as long as three years, which is shorter than what you’ll find with most term loans.
Not sold on Amex? Find a different lender below.
Yes, American Express offers unsecured fixed-rate loans for small businesses. You have two options:
American Express business loan rates run from 6.98% to 19.97% APR with a choice of terms from 6 months to 3 years. You can borrow between $3,500 and $75,000.
Use the calculator below to find out how much you might pay each month and in total, based on the rates, terms and loan amounts you’re interested in.
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Only borrowers with near-perfect credit, high revenue and in excellent standing with American Express will qualify for the low 6.98% APR. But if your repayments just barely fit into your budget or your credit is lacking, you might expect a rate closer to 19.97%.
Your loan amount and term might also affect your rate.
To qualify for an American Express business loan, you must meet the following criteria:
To qualify for debt consolidation, you can have no more than four business credit cards issued by US banks with:
There are no hard credit requirements, but Amex bases its fees on your creditworthiness, your standing with Amex, your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio and aspects of your financial history.
We called Amex to confirm specific documents it might require for loan approval. Turns out that because you’re an Amex business cardholder, Amex already has a lot of the info it needs about you and your finances.
If any additional documentation is required, Amex will let you know during the application process.
American Express doesn’t work with all industries. Its customer service team would not specify which industries are excluded without an account number when we called to ask. Your best bet to find out if your industry is eligible is to prequalify or call in to customer service with your account number.
Amex offers services to business owners that go beyond small business loans, including:
Here’s a snapshot of what you might like and not like about the American Express business loan.
Yes, American Express is one of the most widely used credit card and merchant service companies. It protects all information you enter online with SSL encryption. And it’s up front about most information you need to make a meaningful comparison with other providers, including rates, terms and fees.
BBB accredited | Yes |
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BBB rating | A+ |
BBB customer reviews | 1.1 out of 5 stars, based on 179 customer reviews |
BBB customer complaints | 3,343 customer complaints |
Trustpilot Score | 2 out of 5 stars, based on 1,216 customer reviews |
Customer reviews verified as of | 13 October 2020 |
American Express itself gets mostly negative customer reviews as of October 2020. But these are about other Amex products — mainly, its credit cards. However, reviews express frequent issues with Amex's customer service, and some customers also complained about being surprised by fees. While these aren't directly related to its business loans, it may show issues you could run into if you have a problem with your Amex business loan.
Follow these steps to apply for an American Express business loan:
After you apply, American Express runs your application through an algorithm and gives you a decision in a few seconds in most cases. If you’re approved and accept the offer, American Express runs a hard credit check.
Your funds should be disbursed between three and five business days after your application is accepted. Contact Amex by calling the number on the back of your card if it takes more than two weeks to receive your money.
American Express business loans come with monthly repayments, which you can make online by logging in to your Amex account. To simplify the process, set up autopay. If you’re late, American Express charges a $39 fee for late or insufficient payments.
If you find yourself unable to repay your loan according to your terms, contact American Express as soon as possible. Amex may be willing to renegotiate your terms or make other adjustments to get you back on track.
Compare American Express to other lenders by reading our guide to business loans.
Image source: AmericanExpress.com
We rate business loan providers on a scale of 1 to 5 stars based on factors like transparency, costs and customer experience. We don’t take into account elements like eligibility criteria, state availability or payment frequency — we save that for our reviews.
Read the full methodology of how we rate business loan providers to get a better picture of what goes into each star rating.