Costs & Pricing

Metric	U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Annual fee	$0 intro first year, then $95/year	$125 (no first-year waiver published)
Employee card fee	$0	$0; up to 99 Employee Cards
Purchase APR	18.24%–25.24% variable (creditworthiness + Prime). Consistent 2026 aggregator tables — official Schumer box is application-gated, not a scanned PDF.	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)	Not offered	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	$0	$0
Late payment fee	Up to $41 reported (WalletHub 28 Aug 2026)	Up to $39; will not exceed Minimum Payment Due

Rewards & Value

Metric	U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
Base earn rate	1 point per $1 eligible net purchase (1X)	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	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.	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	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.	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	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.	Marriott Bonvoy airline partners at ~3:1 (not Membership Rewards). Not transferable to Amex MR.

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	U.S. Bank Business Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card	Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® 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.	Required in substance. CMA: Basic Cardmember and Company jointly and severally liable for all charges, including Employee Card use.
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.	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	$0 additional AF. Identity check only (issuer says no credit impact). Spend controls via Spend Management. Liability remains on the business account / guarantor.	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 business credit card (preset limit; ExtendPay installment option on eligible purchases)	Revolving business credit card (not a charge card; not a spend-management / net-terms product)

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

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

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.

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.