American Express Graphite Business Card: 2% Cash Back & $295 Fee

American Express just dropped a fresh business card. The Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card has a simple pitch: unlimited 2% cash back on purchases. But the card’s $295 annual fee complicates the math. (Terms apply.)

Here’s everything you need to know about the new card, including how it stacks up against other cash-back business cards.

The details

The Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card is a premium cash-back card designed for high-spend businesses. You get unlimited cash back with no preset spending limit*.

The highlights include:

• 2% cash back on eligible purchases. 

• 5% cash back on flights and prepaid hotels booked via AmEx Travel®.

• No foreign transaction fees.

• Terms apply.

The welcome offer: 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. Terms Apply.

American Express Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card Rates and Fees

on American Express' website

The downsides

The card’s main downfall? Its $295 annual fee makes it one of the most expensive cash-back cards on the market. The rewards alone don’t justify the cost.

While AmEx bills this card as "the on-ramp" to a broader business membership, most of the details about that platform are still unknown.

The Graphite’s only added perk, at the moment: $2,400 in statement credits for One AP®, AmEx’s automated accounts payable platform. You need to spend $250,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year to get the credits the following year. Terms apply.

Want to pocket the welcome offer, then bounce? There’s a catch too.

You can’t cash out your bonus to a bank account or request a check. You can only redeem cash rewards as:

• A statement credit.

• At Amazon.com checkout.

Should you get the AmEx Graphite Business Cash Unlimited?

For most businesses, the answer is no. The new Graphite Business Cash Unlimited isn’t worth the annual fee.

If you want unlimited 2% cash back, better options exist for almost every use case.

A case could be made for the Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card if you book a lot of business travel and prefer cash back over points. But that’s a lot of ifs.

*No Preset Spending Limit means your spending limit is flexible. Unlike a traditional card with a set limit, the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history.

To view rates and fees of the Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card, please visit this page.