Amex Eyes Cash Flow With New SMB Card

American Express is rolling out a new commercial card solution for small businesses targeting cash flow management for its users.

The company announced in a press release Thursday (July 18) the launch of its Blue Business Cash Card, a card that offers 2 percent cash back without an annual fee. According to American Express, the product empowers small business spending to promote healthier cash flow and the ability to say “yes” to more business opportunities.

The card connects small business owners to American Express’s Expanded Buying Power function, a way to leverage the card beyond its credit limit without any penalty to invest in larger purchases. At the end of their billing cycle, small businesses pay the portion above their credit limit in full, and they can choose whether to pay off the remainder of their balance or carry it into their next billing cycle with interest.

American Express is also connecting small business owners to Connect to Quickbooks and its Spend Manager solutions to integrate into their accounting portal and analyze spending.

Coinciding with the launch of the new SMB card, American Express also released new research on small businesses’ cash flow challenges, finding that 51 percent of SMBs prefer to organize their junk drawers than deal with cash flow issues. More than one-third would ditch social media or their phones to avoid cash flow friction.

Its “Blue Business Cash Survey from American Express” also found that nearly two-thirds of small businesses agree automatic cash back would be helpful in managing cash flow, with 62 percent agreeing it would support their investment in their businesses.

“We know that three-quarters of small business owners experience unexpected business costs on a monthly basis, but less than a quarter of them feel fully prepared to deal with those unexpected costs,” said E-Bai Koo, executive vice president of Global Commercial Services at American Express in the release. “We launched the Blue Business Cash Card to help alleviate some of the most common pain points of running a business so that business owners can concentrate on growing their business.”