American Express also has a tendency to feature in the news, and its newest action, which is a brand-new business cash back card known as the Amex Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card is already coming into the spotlight in the points and rewards circles. But turning heads does not necessarily give way to opening wallets, and the present one is a commendable specimen of the reasons.

Now, we can dissect what this card actually provides, who it may be useful to, and whether the figures can make sense to the majority of business owners.

The Fundamentals: What You are Receiving

At first glance, Amex Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card seems to be very attractive. It is offered a 2% cash back on all purchases made without limitations, but without a limit, a rate that is generally regarded as the minimum standard in a good cash back card. Add 5 percent back on flights and prepaid hotels booked via Amex Travel Online and you have a travel friendly sweetener on top of the daily earning rate. No foreign transaction fees are also offered and that is always a good news to the business owners who travel abroad.

Welcome offer includes a cash back of 1, 500 which will be unlocked once the member spends 50,000 in the first six months of card membership. That is a decent amount of money to spend in business that makes frequent spending on such volume. To all others it is a stumbling block that can be more of a sprint than a walk.

One more advantage should be mentioned: eligible purchase cardholders with spending of 250,000 and higher in a calendar year will be rewarded by up to $2,400 in annual statement credits which is provided by American Express One AP, the accounts payable solution of Amex. It is a valid advantage, but very specific.

This is the summary of the main functionality of the card:

• Annual fee: $295, and approved users at $95 apiece (there is a no-charge Employee Business Expense Card)
• Cash back rate: Unlimited 2% on all qualified charges; 5% on flights and prepaid stay through Amex Travel Online.
• Welcome bonus: 1500 cash back on a spending of 50000 within the first half of year.
• No foreign transaction fees
• Card format that is hybrid and has no predetermined amount of money to spend.
• One AP statement credit of up to $2400 on spending of over 250000 per year.

The Annual Fee Problem

This is where the complications arise. The annual fee of $295 is a high price to pay a card that has cash back of 2 per cent as its main value proposition. No disparagement on 2% that is a really good, straight-forward earning rate to the business not interested in the category bonuses or the rotating rewards. However, with competing business cards that do the same flat rate of 2 percent with no annual fee whatsoever, the computation cannot be overlooked.

In order to simply break even on the annual fee alone- before receiving a single net dollar of benefits a cardholder would have to spend almost 15,000 annually at the 2% rate. That is without considering what a free option would have made on the same expenditure. That equation, however, begins to change when large businesses are involved and their annual expenses begin to move into the hundreds of thousands. In the case of small or middle-sized operations, it is more difficult to sell.

The 5 per cent travel bonus is a good addition, though it has a condition, namely, bookings have to be done via Amex Travel online. That is a true sacrifice to business travelers who like to book directly with airlines or hotels - which is often the more prudent choice as far as airline miles, elite status, or negotiated corporate rates are concerned.

Who Do You Think Benefits In this Card?

Honestly? The sweet spot of this card is rather small. It is most logical with those businesses already associated with Amex, spend enough to justify the annual fee, and already use or want to use the One AP platform offered by Amex. The potential statement credits of the 2400 are a very good perk, but one that is locked away by quarter-million dollars of annual expenditure, and which is therefore squarely in enterprise level as opposed to small business reality.

The welcome bonus is also worth a second look in case your business goes naturally to a spending of $50,000 in a span of six months. A cash refund in business expenses required is a real money of 1500. Yet, in case you were artificially padding up expenses in order to pursue the bonus, the mathematics is nearly never in your favor.

It is also reasonable to admit what this card means to Amex itself. Hitherto, the issuer did not have a business card in its product portfolio that generates unlimited 2% flat cash back. It is not a revolutionary idea in the larger market, but it does serve an actual need in the Amex portfolio. The brand is already positioning this to the customers who already have the Amex ecosystem and are interested in the cash back option but without having to change an issuer - not necessarily the deal-hunting business owner typer of all cards in the market.

The Comparison with the Competition

This is where Amex Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card starts to tarnish. There are a few reputable business cards, which are available at 2% flat cash back with no annual fee at all and are, therefore, structurally better to most business owners, who are not in need of the Amex branding or the One AP integration. Instead, even in the high end business cards, you will have the alternative of cards that offer better rewards, greater flexibility in travel benefits, and similar or lower annual fees.

Amex has been always playing towards its premium card issuer and there is an actual market out there. Brand loyalty is a real consideration in individual decision-making on financial products, and not all are maximizing on cents-per-dollar. In case you require an Amex card, expect cash back, and have a business with high monthly charges, this card will do as it claims.

However, it is not likely to be the best cash back business card on the market at the moment, insofar as what you want to do is to get the most high-valued cash back business card.

The Bottom Line

The Amex Graphite Business Cash Unlimited Card is a well-built product for a specific type of customer one already embedded in the Amex ecosystem, comfortable with a $295 annual fee, and spending at a volume where the One AP credits and welcome bonus actually move the needle. For that person, it's a perfectly solid choice.

For everyone else, the competitive landscape offers too many strong alternatives to make the annual fee easy to justify. The 2% earning rate is the industry floor for premium cash back cards, not the ceiling and at this price point, you'd expect a little more firepower. Worth keeping an eye on as Amex potentially adds benefits over time, but not a card that demands an immediate application from most business owners.