American Express is expanding its banking offerings for small business owners.
About American Express Business Savings and More:
This week, Amex revealed that it was launching a new account option. American Express Business Savings is a high-yield savings account and joins the existing American Express Business Checking account. With the debut, customers will be able to apply for both a Business Checking and Business Savings account at the same time (or can continue to apply separately). After opening their accounts, they’ll be able to manage them alongside their American Express cards in the Amex app or on the website.
The new high-yield account has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. In fact, the only fee the account has at this time is a same-day ACH fee of $10. Currently, the account earns 2.95% APY, with interest compounding daily.
Although there’s not currently a bonus for opening a new American Express Business Savings account, new Business Checking account customers can take advantage of a special bonus. Now, when members open an account can earn 35,000 Membership Rewards points after depositing a total of $5,000 or more within 30 days, maintaining an average account balance of $5,000 for the next 60 days, and making at least five qualifying transactions within 60 days of account opening.
In addition to this new account option, Amex teased some other updates that are on the way. For example, later this year, Amex will give Graphite Business Cash Unlimited cardholders a new option for redeeming their rewards for deposits into Business Checking accounts. Additionally, the company is working on a new payroll solution that will be powered by Gusto. This is also set to debut later this year.
What They’re Saying:
Discussing this expansion, American Express EVP of Global Commercial Services Eva Reda stated, “Businesses are looking for more value from their banking services, including competitive returns and simple tools that help them automate processes and fit seamlessly into how they operate. With Amex Business Banking, businesses now have banking tools that make it easy and rewarding to manage their finances, all in one place.”
My Thoughts:
Considering that American Express already offers a high-yield savings account for consumers, it only makes sense to create a similar product for small businesses. Surely this will be a useful tool for small business owners and allow them to earn on their parked funds. After all, while Amex Business Checking’s 1% APY is pretty good for a checking account, the new Business Savings account will pay nearly triple that rate.
Elsewhere, the current Business Checking bonus sounds like a good opportunity for small business owners to earn a significant number of Membership Rewards points for some pretty easy-to-accomplish tasks. So, if you’re an American Express business cardmember but don’t yet have a Business Checking account, it may be worth opening both a checking and savings account while this offer lasts.
