Costs & Pricing

Metric	Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Annual fee	$0	$125 (no first-year waiver published)
Employee card fee	$0 (no published cap on number)	$0; up to 99 Employee Cards
Purchase APR	16.74%–26.74% variable after intro (creditworthiness-based; Prime + margin not printed on marketing summary)	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 7 billing cycles, then 16.74%–26.74% variable	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	3%	$0
Late payment fee	Not disclosed on public product pages	Up to $39; will not exceed Minimum Payment Due

Rewards & Value

Metric	Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Base earn rate	1% on all other Net Purchases (PRFB can lift to 1.25%/1.50%/1.75%)	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	$500 cash rewards after at least $5,000 in purchases in the first 90 days (live public online offer, 3 Sep 2026)	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	1¢ per 1% (cash is cash). No travel portal, no transfer partners.	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	Marriott Bonvoy airline partners at ~3:1 (not Membership Rewards). Not transferable to Amex MR.

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Personal guarantee	Required in substance — cards are backed by personal credit; owner/authorized officer applies	Required in substance. CMA: Basic Cardmember and Company jointly and severally liable for all charges, including Employee Card use.
Credit check	Hard personal pull on applying owner/authorized officer (treat as hard unless a prequalification tool says otherwise — none advertised)	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	Free; no published numeric cap; employee-transaction monitoring. Per-card sub-limits Unclear vs the separate CORP product.	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 small-business credit card	Revolving business credit card (not a charge card; not a spend-management / net-terms product)

Pros & Cons

Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards

Pros

• $0 annual fee and $0 employee-card fees
• Monthly-switchable 3% category plus 2% dining (first $50k combined); PRFB can take choice to 5.25%
• Live $500 / $5,000 / 90-day bonus and 0% purchase APR for 7 billing cycles
• Cash redeems to deposit, statement, or check; no expiration while open
• In good standing, issuer says the card stays off personal credit reports

Cons

• 3% foreign-transaction fee
• 3%/2% share one $50,000 calendar cap, then 1% (+ PRFB)
• Headline 'up to' rates require business checking and $20k–$100k combined balances
• Personal-credit underwriting and personal liability; not a no-PG startup card
• Intro APR is short and purchases-only; 5% BT fee with no 0% BT

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

Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards

Customized is the category SKU, not the flat 1.5% Unlimited card. It wins when gas, office supply, travel, telecom, computer services, or consulting plus dining stay under $50k combined. After the cap, or if you will not enroll in PRFB, Unlimited is usually simpler. Poor fit for foreign spend, ad-heavy businesses, or anyone who needs no personal guarantee.

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.