Costs & Pricing

Metric	Blue Business Cash® Card	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Annual fee	$0 (no annual fee, ever)	$125 (no first-year waiver published)
Employee card fee	$0 (up to 99 Employee Cards)	$0; up to 99 Employee Cards
Purchase APR	16.74%–28.49% variable (Prime + 9.99% to +21.74%; cap 29.99%)	Prime + 12.74% to Prime + 21.74% (marketing 19.49%–28.49% variable at Prime 6.75% as of 1–2 Sep 2026). Placement by creditworthiness at opening. No intro APR.
Intro APR (purchases)	0% for 12 months from account opening, then variable purchase APR	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	2.7% of each transaction after conversion to USD	$0
Late payment fee	Up to $39 (cannot exceed Minimum Payment Due)	Up to $39; will not exceed Minimum Payment Due

Rewards & Value

Metric	Blue Business Cash® Card	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Base earn rate	2% cash back on first $50,000 eligible purchases per calendar year; 1% thereafter	2 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 on other eligible purchases (no published cap). Card-side points only — Marriott member-stay points are a program overlay, not a card rate.
Welcome bonus	$250 statement credit after $3,000 eligible purchases in first 3 months (standard public offer)	Up to 125,000 Bonvoy bonus points: 75,000 after $6,000 eligible purchases + 50,000 after an additional $3,000 ($9,000 total) within the first 6 months of Card Membership (live public offer, 3 Sep 2026). Rotates — 3+2 Free Night Awards have appeared in other cycles. Offer end date not printed on the Business page.
Redemption value	Automatic statement credit — 1¢ per 1% of eligible spend (2% = 2¢ per $1 under cap)	Issuer does not publish a cent value. Do not invent one. Industry write-ups often use ~0.6–0.9¢ on paid-night replacement; airline transfers often lower. Do not assume 1¢.
Transfer partners	None — cash back only, not a points bank	Marriott Bonvoy airline partners at ~3:1 (not Membership Rewards). Not transferable to Amex MR.

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	Blue Business Cash® Card	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Personal guarantee	Required — joint and several liability of Basic Card Member and Company (CMA)	Required in substance. CMA: Basic Cardmember and Company jointly and severally liable for all charges, including Employee Card use.
Credit check	No personal-score impact to learn if approved; may impact personal credit if applicant accepts the card	No personal-score impact to learn if approved. Personal score may be impacted if approved and the Card is accepted. Business credit may be impacted on submit.
Employee cards	Up to 99 Employee Cards, $0 AF; spend limits and merchant-type alerts	Up to 99 at $0 AF. Spend limits, merchant-type limits, real-time alerts, freeze/unfreeze, account graphs. Liability remains on Basic Cardmember + Company.
Product type	Revolving business credit card with stated credit limit and Expanded Buying Power	Revolving business credit card (not a charge card; not a spend-management / net-terms product)

Pros & Cons

Blue Business Cash® Card

Pros

• $0 annual fee on primary and up to 99 Employee Cards
• 2% automatic cash back on first $50,000 calendar-year eligible spend
• 12-month 0% intro APR on purchases
• Expanded Buying Power — no overlimit fee; rewards earn above limit if approved
• Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty included

Cons

• 2% earn ends at $50k; incremental spend drops to 1%
• 2.7% foreign transaction fee
• Joint-and-several personal liability of Basic Card Member
• Modest standard welcome bonus ($250 / $3k / 3 months) vs many competitors
• Over-limit balances due in full; missed Closing Date can trigger Penalty APR on entire balance

Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

Pros

• $125 fee with an automatic annual Free Night (≤35,000 points) that can exceed the fee if redeemed against a high cash rate
• Complimentary Gold Elite + 15 ENCs without 25 paid nights
• 4X on four real small-business categories (worldwide restaurants, U.S. gas, U.S. wireless, U.S. shipping) with no published cap
• Up to 99 employee cards at $0 with limits and alerts; $0 FTF
• Apply-to-decision path that does not hit personal credit unless the Card is accepted

Cons

• $125 fee with no statement-credit offset; 35k Free Night cap plus dynamic pricing and resort fees
• Points are Marriott-locked; airline transfers are 3:1
• Purchase APR 19.49%–28.49% variable and no 0% intro — a poor revolver
• Personal / joint-and-several liability
• No lounge access, no Global Entry/TSA credit, thin trip-insurance stack vs premium Amex business cards

Verdict

Blue Business Cash® Card

The Blue Business Cash Card is Amex's no-fee workhorse for modest spenders — 2% automatic cash back up to $50k, then 1%, paired with a 12-month 0% intro APR and Expanded Buying Power. It beats uncapped 1.5% cards on the first $50k but loses incremental dollars to Spark Cash Plus or Ink Unlimited above that cap. Best for domestic sole props and small firms who won't chase category bonuses or transfer partners.

Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

This is the live U.S. Marriott business cobrand — not Bevy/Brilliant, not Chase Marriott Business (closed to new applicants), and not the Canadian $150 / 5X/3X/2X card. It pays when the firm actually sleeps Marriott and uses the Free Night. A hotel-agnostic shopper should use Ink Preferred, Business Gold, or a $0 2% cash card instead. Do not put Bonvoy member-stay points in the card earn column.