Costs & Pricing

Metric	American Express® Business Gold Card	Spark 1.5% Cash Select
Annual fee	$375	$0
Employee card fee	Employee Business Gold $95 (first 5 then $95 each); Employee Business Expense Cards $0; max 99 additional cards	$0
Purchase APR	17.74%–28.49% variable on Pay Over Time only (Prime + 10.99% to +21.74%)	16.74%–26.74% variable after intro (based on creditworthiness)
Intro APR (purchases)	Not a standard public offer (some targeted pages have shown 0% for 6 months on POT-eligible purchases)	0% for 9 months, then 16.74%–26.74% variable
Foreign transaction fee	$0	$0
Late payment fee	$39 or 2.99% of any past-due Pay In Full amount, whichever is greater	Not disclosed on public product page (aggregators: up to $39; cash-back hub footnote mentions 2.99% — unresolved)

Rewards & Value

Metric	American Express® Business Gold Card	Spark 1.5% Cash Select
Base earn rate	1X Membership Rewards point per $1 on other eligible purchases	Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase (no category restrictions)
Welcome bonus	Personalized — marketed as high as 200,000 Membership Rewards points after $15,000 eligible purchases in first 3 months (offer varies; you may not be eligible)	$750 cash after $6,000 purchases in first 3 months
Redemption value	Varies by redemption; Amex does not publish a single cpp. Treat Pay With Points / statement credit at ~1¢; transfers can be higher or lower — do not assume 2¢.	Face-value cash (statement credit or check); any amount; does not expire while account is open
Transfer partners	Membership Rewards partners (most airlines 1:1; hotel ratios vary). U.S. airline transfers: excise tax offset $0.0006/point, max $99. Confirm live at membershiprewards.com/pointsinfo.	Cash itself does not transfer. If you also hold a Capital One miles card, cash can convert at 1¢ = 1 mile (widely documented; not on the Select product page).

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	American Express® Business Gold Card	Spark 1.5% Cash Select
Personal guarantee	Required (standard small-business Amex model; no published no-PG path)	Not quoted on product page; market practice = required for Capital One small-business revolving cards
Credit check	Apply with Confidence — no personal-score impact to learn approval; accepting the card may impact personal credit. Submitting may affect business credit.	Hard pull on apply (commonly all three bureaus). Pre-approval advertised as no impact to personal score.
Employee cards	Up to 99 total; Gold employee cards $95 structure; Expense Cards $0; spend limits and alerts	Free; custom spend limits; card lock; account-manager role (primary remains liable)
Product type	Hybrid small-business charge card with revolving Pay Over Time (NPSL on purchases)	Revolving business credit card (fixed credit line)

Pros & Cons

American Express® Business Gold Card

Pros

• Auto-4X on whichever two of six categories lead each month, up to $150k combined — no annual category lock-in
• Transferable Membership Rewards (same partner list as other MR cards)
• Statement-credit stack can exceed the $375 fee if credits are enrolled and used
• $0 foreign transaction fee; NPSL plus optional Pay Over Time
• Personalized welcome marketed as high as 200k / $15k / 3 months

Cons

• $375 annual fee plus $95 Employee Business Gold cards
• 4X dies after $150k combined and is only two categories per cycle; 1X residual is weak
• Shipping dropped from 4X (2026 refresh); credits need enrollment and specific vendors
• No lounge, Global Entry/TSA, or airline incidental credit
• Hybrid pay-in-full + high POT APR; late fee can be 2.99% of past-due Pay In Full

Spark 1.5% Cash Select

Pros

• $0 annual fee; unlimited 1.5% cash back with no category tracking
• Live $750 / $6,000 / 3-month welcome bonus
• 9-month 0% intro APR on purchases
• $0 foreign-transaction fee; free employee cards that earn the same rate
• Cash back never expires while the account is open; redeem any amount

Cons

• 1.5% trails 2% flats and category-heavy Ink/Amex products at scale
• 5% travel only inside Capital One Business Travel; no lounge/GE credits
• Balance transfers not available
• Revolving Spark cards commonly report to personal credit
• Excellent-credit bar; full Schumer (late fee, penalty APR) not on the public product page

Verdict

American Express® Business Gold Card

Business Gold is a specialist, not a simple daily driver. Auto-4X that follows whichever two categories win each month is powerful for ads, software, restaurants, gas, transit, or wireless — and the credit stack can more than offset $375 if you already buy those products. After the $150k cap, or if you will not enroll in credits, a no-fee 2% card or Ink Preferred is usually cleaner. Poor substitute for 0% capital, no-PG fintech cards, or Business Platinum travel perks.

Spark 1.5% Cash Select

Spark Cash Select is the clean no-fee 1.5% Capital One option — plus a $750 bonus and 9 months of 0% on purchases. It is not Spark Cash Plus (NPSL, $150) and not Classic (fair credit, 1%). Best as a simple daily driver or year-1 0% tool; once annual spend is high enough that a 2% flat or category card wins, move the volume.