U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card
$95 travel-category points card (year-1 fee $0) with 4X travel/gas, 4 Priority Pass visits, $0 FTF
Brex Card
No-personal-guarantee startup/corporate charge card with category points, virtual cards, and expense ops; pay in full daily or monthly
Costs & Pricing
| Metric | U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card | Brex Card |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $0 intro first year, then $95/year | $0 published for the card. Software is separate: Essentials $0/user/mo; Premium $12/user/mo; Enterprise/Smart Card custom. Do not treat Premium as a card AF unless the company elects that plan. |
| Employee card fee | $0 | $0; unlimited physical + virtual cards advertised |
| Purchase APR | 18.24%–25.24% variable (creditworthiness + Prime). Consistent 2026 aggregator tables — official Schumer box is application-gated, not a scanned PDF. | N/A — charge card, pay in full. Marketing “0%” is charge-card float (daily ~1 business day after clear, or ~30-day monthly statement), not an intro APR. |
| Intro APR (purchases) | Not offered | Not offered |
| Foreign transaction fee | $0 | Marketing: no FTF. Official: FX rate markup of up to 3% on conversions (Mastercard wholesale, adjusted daily). Local-currency cards can avoid conversion on local spend. |
| Late payment fee | Up to $41 reported (WalletHub 28 Aug 2026) | 2.99% of delinquent balance or $38, whichever is higher, assessed once per statement that is 30 days past due (Card Program Terms, Apr 7, 2026) |
Rewards & Value
| Metric | U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card | Brex Card |
|---|---|---|
| Base earn rate | 1 point per $1 eligible net purchase (1X) | 1x on everything else under Exclusive (1 point per $1 USD spend with a U.S.-based merchant). All customers enrolled in Exclusive unless the contract says otherwise. No published category caps. Non-Exclusive / second-card path may be flat 1x — source conflict with 2026 reviews; confirm on the live contract. |
| Welcome bonus | 75,000 bonus points after $6,000 eligible net purchases on the Account Owner’s Card within 180 days (live official offer, 3 Sep 2026). About $750 only if redeemed at the official maximum 1¢ travel / USB-deposit path. Posts 1–2 billing cycles after qualifying. | $1,000 USD statement credit after ≥$4,000 Qualifying Spend within 30 days of activation. Apply, be approved, and activate (first purchase) Sep 1–30, 2026 (legal offer revised Aug 10, 2026). Re-check Oct 1. Review sites still print 10,000 points after $3,000 in 3 months — not found as a current dated legal page. |
| Redemption value | Official maximum applies to travel, Real-Time Rewards for travel purchases, and deposit into an eligible U.S. Bank account (treat as 1.0¢). Merchandise, gift cards, and statement credit may be worth less. Secondary: 0.8¢ cash if not depositing to a USB account (Doctor of Credit). Do not assume 1.0¢ on every path. | Brex Travel portal: 1 point = 1¢. Cash to Brex business account or statement credit: 1 point = 0.6¢ (admin must claim). Headline 7x rideshare is 4.2% cash only if Exclusive + cash path. Do not use 1¢ for cash. |
| Transfer partners | No airline/hotel partners. Intra-USB only: to/from Business Altitude Power, personal Altitude Connect, personal Altitude Go — not Altitude Reserve. 20,000 points out and 20,000 in per calendar year. Both accounts in good standing. Transfers final. | Emirates Skywards, Avianca LifeMiles, Singapore KrisFlyer, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Aeromexico Club Premier, Cathay Asia Miles, Qantas Frequent Flyer at ~1,500:1,000. Crypto (BTC/ETH) appeared in older guides at 0.6¢ — not on the current official redeem page. |
Credit & Eligibility
| Metric | U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card | Brex Card |
|---|---|---|
| Personal guarantee | Required in practice for U.S. Bank small-business cards. Official product page does not print the clause — confirm in Cardmember Agreement. | Not required in Brex marketing. Card Program Terms assign liability to the Company. Confirm the live issuer agreement at approval (Emigrant vs Fifth Third vs other). |
| Credit check | Hard inquiry on the personal credit report (official benefits-center FAQ). SSN/ITIN collected. Beneficial owners ≥25% identity-verified; USB says that will not affect their credit. | Brex states SSN is for identity verification and is not used to underwrite or pull personal credit. No advertised personal hard pull. |
| Employee cards | $0 additional AF. Identity check only (issuer says no credit impact). Spend controls via Spend Management. Liability remains on the business account / guarantor. | One employee card (physical or virtual) per user plus unlimited purchasing/virtual cards. Spend limits, merchant locks, policies, Apple/Google/Samsung Pay. Company liable. Auto-reissue on expiry. |
| Product type | Revolving business credit card (preset limit; ExtendPay installment option on eligible purchases) | Corporate / commercial charge card plus spend-management platform (pay-in-full daily or monthly; not revolving; no published purchase APR) |
Pros & Cons
U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card
Pros
- Live welcome bonus 75,000 points / $6,000 / 180 days on the owner card (official, Sep 2026)
- 4X on a wide travel definition plus gas/EV through $150,000 combined — broad for a sub-$100-AF business card
- $0 FTF and 4 Priority Pass visits after enrollment
- $0 employee-card AF and Spend Management controls
- Points can be pooled and moved (capped) to personal Altitude Go / Connect or Business Power
Cons
- $95 AF after year 1 with thin automatic credits
- No airline/hotel transfer partners; max value is issuer travel / USB deposit
- No 0% intro APR; employee spend excluded from the bonus hurdle
- Gas 4X excludes wholesale clubs and supercenters including Walmart/Target
- Public Schumer box is application-gated; insurance dollar caps are not in marketing copy
Brex Card
Pros
- No personal guarantee and no advertised personal credit pull; company is the obligor
- $0 card annual fee and unlimited employee/virtual cards on Essentials
- Exclusive category points with no published earn cap; Brex Travel portal at 1¢/pt
- Native expense controls, virtual/vendor cards, and accounting integrations
- Local-currency cards in 50+ countries (plan-dependent); business-bureau reporting without personal-credit reporting (per Brex)
Cons
- Charge card: no revolving APR, no 0% working-capital window; late fee 2.99% or $38 after 30 days past due, plus possible 10% workout fee
- Sole props ineligible; funded startups commonly ~$50k cash; commercial revenue floors are messy
- “No FTF” marketing vs up to 3% FX markup
- Cash redemption 0.6¢/pt; airline transfers 1,500:1,000; Exclusive/contract multipliers are easy to misread
- Dynamic limits can fall with cash; Capital One ownership may change terms
Verdict
U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card
Business Altitude Connect is the $95 (year-1 $0) travel sleeve — not consumer Altitude Connect (TSA credit, 0% intro, quarterly gas cap) and not Ink Preferred (transferable UR). 4X travel+gas to $150k plus 4 Priority Pass visits is the reason to pick it. Ads, shipping, Costco gas, and transferable-points collectors should skip it. Year 2 needs real 4X volume or the $95 fee loses to a $0 1.5–2% flat.
Brex Card
Brex is a charge-card ops platform owned by Capital One as of April 7, 2026 — not Spark, not Ramp’s Visa SKU, and not a revolving bank card. Pick it for no-PG underwriting and policy tooling. Do not assume 1¢ cash, a guaranteed 7x, or true $0 FX. Sole props, revolvers, and simple 1.5–2% cash shoppers should use a traditional PG card or Ramp if the cash bar fits. The Sep 2026 $1,000 / $4,000 / 30-day credit expires Sep 30 — re-check Oct 1.