As a small business owner (SBO), you often have to give your company 110% of your energy, which can mean long days and sleepless nights. In this guide, we’ve compiled 5 useful tips for turning your business spending into rewards that give you and your colleagues the platinum treatment you deserve.
This guide is a paid content promotion brought to you by American Express®.
Earn Membership Rewards® points on almost all your business spends with one of our American Express® Business Cards. You can use rewards in so many different ways and they never expire. Annual fees and terms apply. Learn more
Whether you’re in the research stage or ready to apply for a business credit or charge card, it’s a good idea to compare all your options before signing on the dotted line. Cards come with widely differing bonuses, rewards, perks and fees.
If it’s a rewards card you’re after, the earn rate is typically 1 point per £1 of eligible spending or more if you’re making a purchase with a partner of the card provider or through one of its own services.
The American Express Business Platinum Card, for example, has an earn rate of 1 Membership Rewards point for every £1 of eligible spending and 2 Membership Rewards points for every £1 spent on booking eligible deals via the American Express Travel UK website. Plus, if you spend £10,000 each month, you could benefit from an additional 10,000 points, which you could redeem for a £50 gift card at stores such as Marks & Spencer and Currys. T&C's apply.
As a Charge Card, the Amex Business Platinum Card works differently from a rewards credit card. As with any charge card, for example, you must pay off the balance in full each month. If you don’t pay off your balance, you’ll be charged a late payment fee.
If you’re looking for a new card for your business, compare welcome bonuses and check the small print. You might find that if you’re an existing or recent customer, you’re not eligible for a welcome offer. But, if you are eligible, you’ll get an instant boost in rewards that can be spent on yourself or your team, as long as you meet any spending requirements.
The Amex Business Platinum Card currently offers the largest welcome bonus of any card in Amex’s Business range, with 60,000 bonus Membership Rewards points if you’re approved and spend £8,000 in the first 3 months of Cardmembership. But it does come at a cost of £650 a year.
With the Platinum Business Card, the maximum repayment period on your purchases is 54 calendar days. This depends on the purchase date, and you must repay the balance in full on the due date. Amex offers a range of Business Cards, and if you’re looking for a business card that doesn’t charge an annual fee, you can learn more about the American Express Business Basic Card.
60,000 Membership Rewards points is more than enough to get you 2 years of ad-free Spotify, worth 50,000 Membership Rewards points, so you can sing your heart out on your way to work without being interrupted by another food delivery advert. T&Cs apply.
Do you know any other companies, friends or family members who could benefit from a business rewards card? Referral schemes are an easy way to lift your points total.
With Amex’s Business Platinum Card, you could earn 18,000 bonus Membership Rewards (up to a maximum of 90,000 bonus points a year for referring someone, if they’re approved for the Card as a new Cardmember.
You could save your 90,000 Membership Rewards and once you hit 100,000 you could redeem them in for a gift card for £450 at Amazon or £500 at Selfridges. T&Cs apply.
If you’re a frequent flyer, you’ll have endured the scramble to get a decent coffee or a cheeky pint at the airport during peak travel time. But some business cards are your ticket to the airport lounge, instead.
American Express’s Business Platinum Card opens the door to more than 1,200 airport lounges across 130 countries, including The Centurion Lounges® and membership of Priority Pass. It also comes with worldwide travel insurance for you and your family (see the Amex site for full T&Cs on this cover). Find out more about airport lounge schemes in our full guide.
As a Business Platinum Cardmember, you get extra benefits at Fine Hotels + Resorts – a global chain of 1,000 5-star hotels – such as room upgrades and free breakfast. Plus, you could be eligible for £400 in hotel credit and, under the latest offer, £200 in travel credit. You could put these towards a well-deserved luxury break at the 5-star Raffles Dubai, for example. T&Cs apply. To be eligible for this benefit, your Account must be in good standing and you need to book through American Express Travel online.
Giving yourself (and your team) the platinum service doesn’t always mean redeeming rewards. By having your money work smarter, you can free up some time – and as we know, time is money. You can reinvest this back into your business, or yourself.
Maintaining a healthy cash flow is a major headache for a small business, but cash flow tools can help. Amex offers an expense management platform (AmexExpense) that can help track, manage and optimise your business spending, saving you and your accounts team from hours of manual data-gathering.
Important: The Amex Expense tool is closing on 31 March 2024.
Have you thought about putting your PPC campaign on a card? One of the main benefits of a charge card, compared with a credit card, is that you can typically access higher spend limits. So, not only do you not have to worry about your campaign being capped by hitting a credit card limit, but you can also reap the benefits of every £1 spent – as long as you keep on top of your repayments.
Rewards cards typically come with promotional discounts from partner brands. For example, with the Amex Business Platinum card, you could earn extra points through special offers from Amex partners.
Trusted colleagues can contribute to the points pot with their spending, meaning you’ll earn rewards faster.
With the Business Platinum Card, you can get 1 complimentary Business Platinum Employee Card and up to 99 complimentary Business Gold Cards.
Sharing out Employee Cards to as many (or as few) of your employees as you like allows them to look after their day-to-day business expenses, while still earning Membership Rewards points for the main account.
Just remember that as the main Account Holder, you’re responsible for paying the bill on time and in full each billing month.
Using all the tips above, you could earn more than 160,000 in Membership Rewards points in the coming year, which would get you a luxury culinary weekend with a 2-night stay in a London hotel and a kitchen table experience for 4 at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. T&Cs apply.
But business reward cards aren’t right for everyone, so compare all types of business cards with our guide before you decide.
Here’s how your business spending can add up to flights to some fabulous hotspots in 2024, with a BA Amex Accelerating Business Card. (Paid content)
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