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
Ramp Corporate Card
No-annual-fee corporate charge card with no personal guarantee, 30-day pay-in-full, variable 0–1.5% cashback set by Ramp, unlimited employee/virtual cards, and expense software bundled
Costs & Pricing
| Metric | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | Ramp Corporate 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 on the card. Platform software is separate: Free $0/user/mo; Plus $15/user/mo + unpublished platform fee by team size (20% off annual); Enterprise custom. |
| 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; unlimited physical and virtual 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. | N/A — charge card; no revolving APR published. Marketing “0%” is 30-day statement float, not an intro APR. |
| Intro APR (purchases) | Not offered | Not offered (no APR product) |
| Foreign transaction fee | $0 | No separate FTF line. International charges that clear in a non-settlement currency: Visa conversion + markup not exceeding 3%. Local-currency cards on Enterprise / Canada can avoid conversion if spend matches card currency. |
| Late payment fee | $39 or 2.99% of any past-due Pay In Full amount, whichever is greater | Official: none on the card product. Auto-pay of the full statement is required; failed debit is the operational penalty (possible lock, limit cut, account action). |
Rewards & Value
| Metric | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | Ramp Corporate Card |
|---|---|---|
| Base earn rate | 1X Membership Rewards point per $1 on other eligible purchases | Rate determined by Ramp on Qualified Purchases (Rewards Terms, 15 Jul 2026). Public/spokesperson range 0%–1.5% assigned per customer. Do not treat 1.5% as guaranteed. Canada cards are a separate fixed 1% (out of scope). |
| 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. | Not disclosed on official corporate-card or pricing pages (3 Sep 2026). Third-party listings conflict: NerdWallet 15 Jun 2026 — $1,000 Ramp card on approval, no min spend, one per new customer; older reviews $500. Treat live offer as Unclear — confirm on application. |
| 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/statement path is 1¢ per 1% only to the extent Ramp assigned that earn rate. Transfers are not 1:1. Cashback is not automatic unless auto-applied to Plus/Bill Pay fees. |
| 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 listed in current Rewards Terms. Historical 2024 in-product list (verify in-dashboard): Aeromexico, Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways, Etihad Guest, Marriott Bonvoy, Qantas, Qatar Privilege Club, TAP Miles&Go, Wyndham — commonly 1.5 Ramp points : 1 partner unit. Min historically 100 partner points (150 Ramp). Irreversible; name must match an authorized admin. |
Credit & Eligibility
| Metric | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | Ramp Corporate 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. | Not required. Official: “Ramp does not require founders to personally guarantee your expenses.” Corporate liability. |
| 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. | Official: no personal credit check; no impact to personal credit score. Last 4 of SSN (or foreign passport) of one officer is KYC, plus selfie/ID if stepped up — not a published hard pull. |
| 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. | Unlimited physical and virtual; company liable. Spend controls: amount, frequency, category block/allow, merchant lock. Apple Pay / Google Pay; 3DS. USD physical cards: no PIN. |
| Product type | Charge card with No Preset Spending Limit plus optional Pay Over Time (hybrid charge / limited-revolve) | Corporate / commercial charge card plus spend-management platform (pay-in-full; not revolving; no published APR) |
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
Ramp Corporate Card
Pros
- $0 card AF and $0 extra-card fees with unlimited virtual/physical cards
- No personal guarantee and no personal credit check (official); corporate liability
- Native controls, receipt capture, and accounting sync — the software is the product
- 30-day interest-free float if auto-pay succeeds
- Visa Signature purchase security, extended warranty, and rental CDW on USD cards
Cons
- Cashback rate is not a published guarantee (0–1.5%, Ramp-determined); foreign/non-USD spend excluded from Qualified Purchases
- Must pay in full; cannot revolve or balance-transfer
- Sole props ineligible; $25k cash + real U.S. address bar
- FX markup up to 3% despite “no FTF” marketing; Plus platform fee and 2026 Bill Pay per-item fees can erase “free”
- Limit can move with linked cash; missed debit is operationally harsh
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.
Ramp Corporate Card
Ramp is a charge-card ops platform, not a 1.5% bank card and not Brex’s sibling SKU. Official no-PG / no personal pull plus unlimited virtual cards is the reason to pick it. Do not assume 1.5% cashback, a public welcome bonus, or true $0 FX. Sole props, revolvers, and rate-guarantee shoppers should use a traditional PG cash card instead. Plus seats and Bill Pay rails are software costs, not a card annual fee.