SimplyCash from American Express Credit Card Review
November 16, 2010
The SimplyCash may be one of the best business credit cards out there because of the fact that it combines a lot of rewards opportunities with reasonable rates and no annual fee. The card offers the highest cash back percentage on wireless phone services and office supplies, 5% back, and earns you 3% cash back on gas purchases.
Other business credit cards offer a flat 1% cash back on all purchases but the SimplyCash card combines a cash rebate card with a gas rebate card for business owners. It kind of borrows from the model of the TruEarnings card, where you earn a fixed percent back on all your purchases, in the case of SimplyCash that’s 1%, and are paid a considerably higher rate for things like gas and office products. Having both of these available on one card is what makes it stand out the most for me.
Although there’s no annual limit on the total cash back you can earn with the card you only earn 5% back on the first $12,000 worth of purchases of wireless and office supplies you make in a year. The same applies for gas purchases, after your first $12K annual gas spending, the remaining sales earn you 1% cash back.
Simply Cash Discounts
In addition to the cash rebates, the SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express OPEN offers discounts at all OPEN Savings merchant partners. This means that not only will you receive cash back on purchases, but you can also save additional money on a variety of office-related products and services.
The OPEN Savings program has a good selection of companies that businesses tend to work with for things like travel, technology, shipping, etc. Here you can see some examples of the merchants in the program such as HP, Hyatt Hotels, FedEx, AirTran, Hertz, and Symantec.
The Open Savings program is pretty simple, if you use your Simply Cash card at one of the merchants, the discount is automatically applied when you pay. For example, Symantec makes the popular Norton Anti-virus software, if you buy Norton for your business with your SimplyCash card you get a 10% discount. You do have to read the terms of each merchant and product to make sure you get the discount. In the case of Norton, the Symantec products are only eligible for the discount if you buy through their online store. So be sure you know the terms of the merchant before you buy.
Rewards are Automatic
Another nice thing about this business rewards credit card is that redeeming your rewards requires absolutely zero effort on your part. Each month when you receive your credit card statement you will see that your cash back rewards have been automatically added to that statement. Many business owners have good rewards credit cards but are so busy that they forget to redeem those rewards. That will never be a problem with a card that offers automatic rewards!
Simply Cash APR and Fees
As is the case with many business credit cards, the Simply Cash from American Express card has a relatively low APR with an introductory 0% APR. The card also has a longer-than-average 25-day grace period, as well as no annual fee and no fee for additional cards, all of which enhance the appeal of this card. To get up-to-date information about the APR for this card scroll down to the chart at the bottom of this page.
American Express Benefits
American Express does make a serious effort to make their business credit cards more than just a credit card. Their OPEN network not only has the Savings program I discussed earlier, it also features the OPEN Forum and Connectodex. These online business communities feature business resources to help fill the gaps in a business owner’s expertise, as well as networking tools for trading advice and collaboration.
The online account management and reporting you get with an American Express card like SimplyCash are pretty flexible when it comes to tracking and reporting on how you’re spending your money.
Conclusion
Of all the benefits of the Simply Cash from American Express, the 5% rebate on office purchases is the greatest selling point. For any business owner who logs a lot of miles in a car or other vehicle for deliveries or other purpose, the cash back on gas expenditures is also highly attractive especially as gas prices continue to climb. All in all, this card has no annual fee, low APR, and high rebates: all things you should look for in a business credit card.
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