Costs & Pricing

Metric	Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card	Local/Regional Credit Union Business Cards
Annual fee	$0 intro year 1, then $150 (first year of Card Membership only)	CATEGORY: Often $0; some charge $15–$25 waived with spend — confirm Schumer, not marketing. EXAMPLE A BECU Low Rate and Cash Back: None (rates PDF 1 Sep 2026). EXAMPLE B NFCU GO BIZ: None.
Employee card fee	$0 (CMA: Annual Fee for Additional Cards: None)	CATEGORY: Usually $0; some premium tiers charge per extra card after N cards. EXAMPLE A BECU: not disclosed as a dollar fee; employee cards offered with spend-limit controls. EXAMPLE B NFCU: offered; dollar fee not disclosed publicly.
Purchase APR	19.49%–28.49% variable (Prime + 12.74% to Prime + 21.74%); placement by creditworthiness at account opening. APRs accurate as of 09/02/2026. No 0% intro.	CATEGORY: Variable, Prime + margin, often ~11%–29%. EXAMPLE A BECU Low Rate: 14.49%–26.49% variable (WSJ Prime + 7.74%–22.24%), rates PDF 1 Sep 2026. EXAMPLE A Cash Back: 16.99%–28.99% variable (same Prime + margin method). EXAMPLE B NFCU: 16.65%–18.00% variable as of 1 Jul 2026 product footnote; will not exceed 18.00% (agreement); adjusted quarterly off Prime. FAQ also printed 16.90%–18.00% as of 1 Dec 2025 — use 1 Jul 2026 footnote unless a newer PDF is issued. Illustrative: CU1 (AK) 10.25% (Prime + 3.50%) as of 3 Apr 2026; SDCCU 11.74% (Prime + 4.99%, floor 9.99%) effective 30 May 2026.
Intro APR (purchases)	Not offered	CATEGORY: Common on some local CUs (6 months typical); not universal. EXAMPLE A BECU: not offered. EXAMPLE B NFCU GO BIZ: not offered.
Foreign transaction fee	$0	CATEGORY: Split — many advertise $0; others 1–3%. Official rates table wins. EXAMPLE A BECU: None (rates PDF). EXAMPLE B NFCU: None. Illustrative SDCCU: 3%.
Late payment fee	Up to $39 (will not exceed Minimum Payment Due)	CATEGORY: Often $20–$35. EXAMPLE A BECU: $25. EXAMPLE B NFCU: $20 if min payment missed (can assess each month past due). Illustrative CU1: $30; SDCCU: $25.

Rewards & Value

Metric	Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card	Local/Regional Credit Union Business Cards
Base earn rate	1 SkyMile per $1 eligible purchases	CATEGORY: Most CU business cards are flat 1%–1.5% cash back or 1 point per $1 (≈1¢). Category bonuses uncommon. EXAMPLE A BECU Low Rate: no rewards (APR positioning). EXAMPLE A Cash Back: 1.5% on qualified purchases, no category caps. EXAMPLE B NFCU GO BIZ: 1X = 1 point per $1 eligible purchases; unlimited; no category bonuses; cash redemption 1¢/point (= 1%).
Welcome bonus	Conflict across official pages. Delta business-cards page: limited-time 90,000 bonus miles after $6,000 eligible purchases in the first 6 months — offer ends November 4, 2026. Amex product page (same period): evergreen-style 60,000 after $4,000 in the first 6 months with no end date. Treat 90k/$6k through 11/4/2026 as the live limited-time public offer; 60k/$4k as the fallback. Apply-flow T&Cs win.	CATEGORY: Modest ($100–$300 or 2,500–25,000 points) or none. EXAMPLE A BECU Cash Back (time-limited): $300 statement credit after $3,000 qualifying purchases in first 3 months; offer now through 30 September 2026. Not available to current cardholders of this card; prior holders who received this bonus in last 12 months; current Business Credit Card holders who switch to Cash Back; anyone who opened a different Business Cash Back account in previous 12 months. EXAMPLE A Low Rate: no published welcome bonus. EXAMPLE B NFCU GO BIZ: none on current public page as of 3 Sep 2026. Do not import Cash Preferred / consumer GO REWARDS bonuses.
Redemption value	Pay with Miles = 1.0¢ ($50 off per 5,000 miles on delta.com). Award travel is dynamic; TakeOff 15 improves award pricing ~15% on Delta-operated flights only (not partner-operated, not taxes/fees). Do not assume transfer-partner value — this card does not transfer.	CATEGORY: Statement credit (auto monthly/quarterly) or points catalog; transfer partners generally not offered. EXAMPLE A Cash Back: accrued cash automatically credited to statement each month; no portal / transfer partners. EXAMPLE B NFCU: every 1 point worth $0.01 when redeemed for cash; catalog illustrations exist — treat cash at 1¢ as contractual floor. Visa SavingsEdge on Visa GO BIZ is a merchant-discount program, not card earn rate.
Transfer partners	None. Currency is Delta SkyMiles, not Membership Rewards. No transfer-out to other airlines. Miles do not expire under Delta’s published policy; Delta may still deactivate an account and remove miles.	Generally not offered on CU business cards. Do not import consumer Flagship / GO REWARDS transfer or lounge perks onto GO BIZ.

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card	Local/Regional Credit Union Business Cards
Personal guarantee	Required in substance. CMA: Basic Card Member and Company remain jointly and severally liable for all charges. Quote the live application before publishing a legal excerpt.	CATEGORY: Typical Yes. EXAMPLE B NFCU: Yes, we require personal guarantees for all business lending products; guarantor must be an NFCU member. EXAMPLE A BECU: not disclosed on product/eligibility pages — Unclear, read signed agreement; CU lending almost always includes owner liability.
Credit check	Know if you're approved with no impact on your personal credit score until acceptance. Business credit may be impacted on submit. Accepting the card may impact personal credit. Treated as a hard pull on accept in industry practice; Amex does not print “hard pull” on the marketing page.	CATEGORY: Hard pull on owners/guarantors is standard. EXAMPLE B NFCU: Experian on owners and/or guarantors; business credit potentially including the credit profiles of the business. EXAMPLE A BECU: subject to membership and credit approval; hard vs soft not disclosed for the card (do not import consumer membership soft-pull language).
Employee cards	$0 additional-card fee. Spend controls / alerts marketed; Account Manager role can add cards, pay, review transactions. Hard cap on number not disclosed on this product page — do not invent 99 unless the application states it.	CATEGORY: Common with per-card limits; not Ramp-class software. EXAMPLE A BECU: yes; individual spending limits; number allowed not disclosed. EXAMPLE B NFCU: yes; count/fee/controls beyond multiple cardholders not fully disclosed; one GO BIZ per business membership, up to 2 total if multiple business memberships.
Product type	Revolving small-business credit card (published purchase APR, ADB interest, minimum-payment rule). Not a charge card. Not a corporate / net-terms spend platform.	CATEGORY: Revolving business credit cards. Not charge cards. Not NPSL commercial charge products. Not spend-management platforms. EXAMPLE A: BECU Business Low Rate Credit Card and BECU Business Cash Back Credit Card (two named variants). EXAMPLE B: GO BIZ® Rewards Credit Card (one product, Visa or Mastercard plastic).

Pros & Cons

Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card

Pros

• $0 year-1 fee then $150 — lowest annual fee in the Delta business lineup
• 1st checked bag free worldwide + 2nd bag free domestic (2026 add) can offset the AF in a few team trips
• 2X on uncapped restaurants plus capped U.S. shipping and U.S. digital/TV/radio ads
• $0 foreign-transaction fee and $0 employee cards (employee spend feeds the $10k flight-credit threshold)
• TakeOff 15 reduces Delta-metal award cost 15%

Cons

• Ongoing $150 AF with credits that are conditional, portal-locked, or enrollment-gated after renewal
• Miles are Delta-only — no Membership Rewards transfers
• No lounge, no GE/PreCheck credit, thinner insurance than Platinum/Reserve Business
• No 0% intro APR; carrying a balance is expensive (19.49%–28.49% as of 09/02/2026)
• Personal guarantee / joint and several liability; advertising 2X is MCC-narrow (media providers, not any marketing vendor)

Local/Regional Credit Union Business Cards

Pros

• Annual fee is frequently $0 (BECU, NFCU, CU1, many others)
• APR can undercut big-bank business cards when the CU posts Prime + a small margin (CU1 10.25% as of 3 Apr 2026; BECU Low Rate from 14.49% as of 1 Sep 2026; NFCU capped at 18%)
• FTF often $0 (BECU, NFCU; not universal — SDCCU 3%)
• Employee cards with per-user limits without per-card annual fees (BECU, NFCU)
• Visa/Mastercard Business insurance package on BECU’s posted guide; relationship model — membership + deposits can be the real product

Cons

• Field of membership is a hard gate (BECU geo/association; NFCU military/DoD + all owners must be members)
• Rewards are simple and low vs national business cards (1–1.5%; no transfer partners)
• Limits are modest (NFCU $5k–$25k official; others often unpublished and relationship-sized)
• Personal guarantee is the CU default (NFCU explicit); public Schumer data is uneven — BECU marketing vs PDF conflicts on overlimit and penalty APR
• Expense-ops tooling (virtual cards, QBO-native codes, approvals) is absent

Verdict

Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card

This is the low-fee Delta business cobrand — not personal Delta Gold (supermarkets 2X), not Platinum/Reserve Business, and not Amex Business Gold (MR). Confirm the live apply-flow welcome (90k/$6k through 11/4/2026 on Delta vs 60k/$4k still on Amex’s product URL). Skip it if you will not fly Delta, want transferable points, need 0% float, or refuse a PG.

Local/Regional Credit Union Business Cards

This is a CATEGORY PATTERN, not one SKU. EXAMPLE A BECU splits Low Rate (revolve) vs Cash Back (1.5% + $300 through 30 Sep 2026 if paid in full). EXAMPLE B NFCU GO BIZ is a members-only 1% points card capped at $25k with an 18% APR ceiling and explicit PG. Do not average CU terms into a national figure; collect each CU’s Schumer, FOM, PG sentence, and rewards PDF. Poor fit without FOM access or if you need Ink/Amex earn, NPSL limits, or Ramp-class ops.