The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Premium $895 charge card: 5X Amex Travel + 2X U.S. construction/electronics-software-shipping/$5k+ tickets, transferable MR, lounge network, and enrollment credits
First Federal Community Bank Business Zero+ Card
No-annual-fee 18-billing-cycle 0% intro APR working-capital card; rewards only on portal prepaid travel
Costs & Pricing
| Metric | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | First Federal Community Bank Business Zero+ Card |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $895 (new accounts since 09/18/2025; existing accounts moved to $895 on first renewal on or after 12/02/2025). Refundable if closed within 30 days of the Closing Date the fee posted. | $0 (ongoing; Elan product suite + Horizon Zero+ + WalletHub FFCB listing 11 Aug 2026) |
| Employee card fee | $400 each Additional Business Platinum Card; $0 each Additional Business Expense Card; max 99 additional cards. Legacy accounts opened before 09/18/2025 and not notified of the change may still be billed $350. | $0 (no fee for additional employee cards) |
| Purchase APR | Pay Over Time only: Prime + 10.99% to Prime + 21.74% (marketed 17.74%–28.49% variable); cap 29.99%. Does not apply to Pay In Full charges paid by the due date. | 0% intro for first 18 billing cycles, then 16.24%–25.24% variable based on creditworthiness at opening (varies with WSJ Prime). Horizon Bank official Zero+ disclosure; WalletHub assigns the same band to this cobrand. With Prime 6.75% (WSJ, 2 Sep 2026) implied margins ≈ Prime + 9.49% to Prime + 18.49%. First Federal does not post its own public Schumer box — confirm live box at apply. |
| Intro APR (purchases) | Not offered | 0% for first 18 billing cycles from account opening, then assigned purchase APR. Does not apply to cash advances. Intro can end early if late payment, returned payment, or overlimit (standard Elan sibling language). |
| Foreign transaction fee | $0 | 3% |
| Late payment fee | $39 or 2.99% of any past-due Pay In Full amount, whichever is greater | WalletHub max $41 (11 Aug 2026). Older Elan PDFs said up to $39. Treat $41 as aggregator; confirm live box. |
Rewards & Value
| Metric | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | First Federal Community Bank Business Zero+ Card |
|---|---|---|
| Base earn rate | 1X Membership Rewards point per $1 on other eligible purchases | None on ordinary purchases. Program rules: Cash Rewards are not earned for any Purchases other than prepaid air / car / attractions / hotel booked via the Rewards / Travel Center. |
| Welcome bonus | Personalized — marketed as high as 300,000 Membership Rewards points after $20,000 eligible spend in the first 3 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible. Do not treat 300k as a guaranteed public offer. | None. Official Elan Zero+ Business copy and WalletHub: no initial rewards bonus. |
| Redemption value | Issuer does not publish a single cpp. Do not invent one. Pay-with-Points airfare is often treated near 1¢; hotel portal is frequently lower. Transfers can be higher or lower. | Cash back at 1¢ per 1% via statement credit or deposit to a checking/savings account at this Financial Institution only. Rewards Card value may vary. Do not treat 5% as travel-category MCC. Do not assume 1% on other spend. |
| Transfer partners | Membership Rewards program (not card-unique; ratios change). Most airlines 1:1; commonly cited exceptions include Aeromexico 1:1.6, JetBlue 250:200, Hilton 1:2, Marriott 1:1, Choice 1:1, LHW 4:1. Re-check membershiprewards.com. Typical minimum 1,000 points. One-way. No expiration while the account remains open / program rules are met. | Not offered |
Credit & Eligibility
| Metric | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | First Federal Community Bank Business Zero+ Card |
|---|---|---|
| Personal guarantee | Required in substance. CMA: “The Basic Card Member and the Company remain jointly and severally liable for all Charges.” Not a no-PG product. | Required. Owner and business jointly and severally liable; owner remains individually liable. Elan Company Card (corporate liability, typically $5M+ sales, 2+ years) is a different product. |
| Credit check | Marketed “Know if you're approved with no personal credit score impact.” Secondary: decision often before a hard pull; hard personal inquiry commonly reported if the card is accepted. Business bureau review may occur when an EIN is used. | Hard personal inquiry expected on the owner. Industry reporting: Elan TransUnion primary (not confirmed on firstfed.com). WalletHub user: inquiry from Elan Financial Services/First Federal Community. |
| Employee cards | Up to 99 additional. Platinum AU $400 with fuller travel benefits (lounge, hotel status, GE/PreCheck commonly reported as individual). Many statement credits remain account-pooled. Expense cards $0 without the full perk stack. Spend limits, alerts, freeze. | Allowed; $0 additional-card fee. Add via MyAccountAccess Manage Employees (legal name, DOB, SSN, address). Variable credit limits and authorization controls listed as a generic business-card feature. Owner/business remain liable. |
| Product type | Charge card with No Preset Spending Limit plus optional Pay Over Time (hybrid charge / limited-revolve) | Revolving business credit card (intro 0% then variable purchase APR). Not a charge card. Not Elan’s Visa Business Company Card (corporate liability). |
Pros & Cons
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Pros
- 5X on Amex Travel flights / prepaid hotels / prepaid STRs, transferable MR, and 35% Pay-with-Points airline rebate
- 2X on defined U.S. construction, electronics/software/cloud, shipping, and $5k+ tickets up to $2M
- Global Lounge Collection plus $600 hotel credit and FHR/Hotel Collection access; $0 FTF; NPSL
- Business credit stack (Dell up to $1,150, Indeed $360, Adobe $250, wireless $120, ChatGPT Business $300) if those vendors are already in use
- CLEAR+, Global Entry/PreCheck, hotel elite status, and cell-phone protection on a charge card
Cons
- $895 primary fee and $400 perk-bearing employee cards
- 1X on most everyday spend; 5X does not apply to flights booked direct with airlines
- Credits are fragmented, enrollment-gated, and easy to miss; marketing “$4,000+ value” assumes utilization the business may not have
- Pay-in-full late fee can be 2.99% of past-due PIF; POT APR is high if used as working capital
- Personal / joint-and-several liability; welcome bonus is personalized (“as high as”) and generally once per this product
First Federal Community Bank Business Zero+ Card
Pros
- $0 annual fee and $0 extra-card fee
- 0% intro APR for 18 billing cycles on purchases and on timely BTs — among the longest business-card intros advertised in 2026
- BT window extends 558 days after opening on the aggregator box (same Elan SKU across partners)
- 5% cash back + $50/card credit on Rewards Center prepaid travel if you actually use the portal
- Optional 3-month $0 ExtendPay once per year after intro ends; cell-phone protection up to $600 when the bill is paid with the card
Cons
- No cash back on ordinary business spend — portal prepaid travel only
- Go-to purchase APR 16.24%–25.24% variable is expensive float after the intro
- 3% BT fee and 3% foreign-transaction fee
- Personal guarantee; Elan may pursue the owner for all account charges
- First Federal does not publish the live Schumer box on its site; rewards travel headline is easy to misread as airline/hotel MCC bonuses
Verdict
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Business Platinum is the lounge-and-credits SKU — not consumer Platinum (different credits, broader direct-airline 5X) and not Business Gold (lower fee, auto-4X ads/restaurants/gas). It pays when portal travel, 2X categories, and enrollment credits are real spend you already have. Unused credits make $895 a net loss versus Ink Preferred or a 2% cash card. Poor daily driver for flat cash back, 0% capital, no-PG underwriting, or flights ticketed direct with airlines.
First Federal Community Bank Business Zero+ Card
This is Elan’s Visa Business Zero+ cobranded for First Federal Community Bank (Dover, OH / firstfed.com) — not a card the bank underwrites, not the consumer Zero+ twin, and not Bucyrus ffcb.com. It is a 0% float tool with thin portal-only rewards, not a daily driver. Pair it with a 2–5% earn card. Confirm the live rates-and-fees box at application.