My review of the American Express Business Green card (with referral)
American Express: what is it?
You’ve probably already heard the name “American Express” but might not know exactly what it is. This isn’t surprising because unlike North America, credit cards aren’t very common in France.
American Express is a company that offers credit card solutions.
Amex isn’t a bank; it only issues payment methods, offering various types of benefits that vary depending on the card.
The general principle is very simple: when you join Amex, you provide them with authorization to debit your account (so you don’t switch banks). Once you receive your card, you can use it; American Express gives you credit (free of charge) and will debit your account once a month for all the expenses you’ve made.
Who Accepts the American Express Card?
It’s not accepted everywhere in France, but its acceptance is increasingly widespread. Few major chains refuse it now, and you can use it in a multitude of shops, restaurants, gas stations, …
As for online purchases, same principle: more and more sites accept it, but it’s not systematic. Handy tip: you can link your Paypal account to your Amex, so you can use it on sites that accept Paypal, even if they don’t accept Amex!
The American Express Business Green card
The American Express Business Green card is, as its name suggests, reserved for businesses.
It’s the simplest Amex card: it’s the least expensive but offers the fewest benefits. In fact, it only offers two perks:
- The 30-day payment deferral, which can be handy for optimizing your cash flow
- Cashback
Cashback
It’s mainly for the cashback offer that Amex is renowned.
Indeed, on each of your purchases, you’ll earn “rewards points” on a simple basis: 1 € spent = 1 rewards point.
1000 rewards points are worth 5 €, which you can use to offset expenses or buy gifts from the Amex shop. That equates to a cashback rate of 0.5%.
There are many ways to optimize this cashback rate. For instance, you can convert Amex points into points from other loyalty programs. Personally, I exchange them for Marriott hotel points. On one hand, it’s nice to treat yourself to free hotel nights; on the other, I manage to boost the cashback rate up to 1%.
The Amex Business Green abroad
This is the major criticism I have of Amex, and it applies to all their offers: it’s not worth using outside the eurozone.
You’ll have to pay 2.8% in foreign exchange fees on all your transactions, whether payments or ATM withdrawals.
Insurance included with the Amex Business Green card
Since the American Express Business Green is the entry-level card, there’s no insurance included.
How much does the American Express Business Green card cost?
The annual fee for the Business Green is 95€/year. Based on the 0.5% cashback rate, you’d need to spend 20,000 € in a year to break even.
The referral offer
If you’d like to get an American Express Business Green card, feel free to ask me to refer you in the comments.
My review of the American Express Business Green card
The American Express Business Green card is truly the simplest, offering few perks. It’s quite far from the Business Platinum which offers comprehensive coverage and unlimited access to airport lounges. But of course, the annual fee costs 7 times more 😀
However, if your business spends over 20,000 €/year per card (which can add up quickly if you have advertising expenses like Google Ads or Facebook Ads, for example), you’d be wrong not to get it. It’ll quickly pay for itself, and you can offset expenses or treat yourself to gifts, which is always nice 🙂
