Amex Business Gold vs BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

Both business cards worked out on the same spending: rewards, welcome bonus, fees and perks, line by line.

amex business gold

American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card

4.5

Apply now
BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

3.1

Learn more

Worked out on a typical small business spending $4,000 a month. Enter yours to see your own numbers.

$1,866

First-year value

$376

$536

Every year after

$249

Amex Business Gold is worth $1,490 more to your business in year one.

It stays ahead after that, by $287 a year.

How the first year adds up

Rewards and the welcome bonus in, the annual fee, FX fees and employee cards out, at your spending.

$915.19Better of the two
in American Express Membership Rewards points a year

Annual rewards

$428.85
cash back a year
+ $1,330Better of the two
first year only

Welcome bonus

+ $127.5
first year only
− $199

Annual fee

Better of the two− $0
no annual fee
− $180
2.5% on $600/mo

FX fees

− $180
2.5% on $600/mo
$1,866.19Better of the two

First-year value

$376.35

Where each card earns

A year of your spending on each card, category by category, biggest spend first.

Amex Business Gold earns more on 17 of your 17 categories.

$239.4Better of the two
at 1x

All Other Business Expenses

$12,600 a year

$94.5
at 0.75%
$116.74Better of the two
at 1x

US Dollar Purchases

$6,150 a year

$46.13
at 0.75%
$91.2Better of the two
at 1x

Recurring Bills & Subscriptions

$4,800 a year

$36
at 0.75%
$68.4Better of the two
at 1x

Gas & EV Charging

$3,600 a year

$54
at 1.5%
$68.4Better of the two
at 1x

Dining & Restaurants

$3,600 a year

$27
at 0.75%
$57Better of the two
at 1x

Office Supplies

$3,000 a year

$45
at 1.5%
$45.6Better of the two
at 1x

Phone, Internet & Cable

$2,400 a year

$36
at 1.5%
$34.2Better of the two
at 1x

Hotels

$1,800 a year

$13.5
at 0.75%
$34.2Better of the two
at 1x

Shipping & Courier

$1,800 a year

$13.5
at 0.75%
$34.2Better of the two
at 1x

Accounting & Bookkeeping

$1,800 a year

$13.5
at 0.75%
$23.26Better of the two
at 1x

Other Foreign Currencies (EUR, GBP, etc.)

$1,230 a year

$9.22
at 0.75%
$22.8Better of the two
at 1x

Electronics & Software

$1,200 a year

$9
at 0.75%
$22.8Better of the two
at 1x

Air Canada

$1,200 a year

$9
at 0.75%
$22.8Better of the two
at 1x

Transportation

$1,200 a year

$9
at 0.75%
$11.4Better of the two
at 1x

Other Airlines

$600 a year

$4.5
at 0.75%
$11.4Better of the two
at 1x

Car Rental

$600 a year

$4.5
at 0.75%
$11.4Better of the two
at 1x

Other Travel

$600 a year

$4.5
at 0.75%
$0
10,000 points each quarter when you charge $20,000 in net purchases to your Card

Spend bonuses

on top of the rates

$0
none
$915.19Better of the two

Rewards in a year

$428.85

Welcome bonus

Each offer as the issuer words it, then which milestones your spending reaches.

Amex Business Gold

  • Earn a welcome bonus of up to 70,000 Membership Rewards® points in your first year.
  • Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $7,500 in purchases within the first three months of Cardmembership.
  • Plus, earn an additional 20,000 points after spending $30,000 on your Card in your first 12 months of Cardmembership.
  • That’s up to $700 in statement credits to reinvest in your business.

BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

Get 10% cash back on gas, office supplies and cellphone and internet bill payments for 3 months!1 Plus, get a 0.00% introductory interest rate on Balance Transfers for 9 months with a 3% transfer fee.†

Amex Business Gold

Worth $1,330 at your spending

Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $7,500 on your Card in your first 3 months

50,000 pts

Earn 20,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $30,000 on your Card in your first year

20,000 pts

BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

Worth $127.5 at your spending

Intro rate for the first 3 months

$127.5

Fees, rates and eligibility

What each card costs to hold and to use abroad, and who it's for.

$199

Annual fee

Better of the two$0
$50

Employee cards

$50
2.5%

Foreign transaction fee

2.5%
American Express Membership Rewards

Rewards

Cash back
American Express

Network

Mastercard

Amex Business Gold

Interest rates

Purchase:

21.99% - 29.99%1

Cash Advance:

N/A1

1 This charge Card has both Due in Full and Flexible Payment Option balances. All Due in Full balances must be paid each month. Interest rate of 30% applies to each delinquent Due in Full charge. This rate is effective from the day account is opened. The Preferred rate of 21.99% applies to your Flexible Payment Option balance. If you have 2 separate Missed Payments in a 12 month period, the Flexible Payment Option rate for your account will be 25.99%. If you have 3 or more separate Missed Payments in a 12 month period, the Flexible Payment Option Rate will be 29.99%. These rates are effective from the day the Flexible Payment Option is first available on your account.

Recommended credit score

300
Poor
693
Fair
743⁎
Good
790⁎
Very Good
833⁎
Excellent
⁎Estimates based on TransUnion scoring

Income required

Min Personal Income:

N/A

Min Household Income:

N/A

BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

Interest rates

Purchase:

20.99%

Cash Advance:

23.99%

Balance Transfer:

23.99%

Recommended credit score

300
Poor
560
Fair
660⁎
Good
725⁎
Very Good
760⁎
Excellent
⁎Estimates based on Equifax scoring

Income required

Min Personal Income:

N/A

Min Household Income:

N/A

How each card earns

The earn rates and caps, as each issuer sets them.

Amex Business Gold

  • 1x point per $1 spent on all purchases
  • 10,000 points each quarter when you charge $20,000 in net purchases to your card

BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

  • Earn 1.75% cash back on eligible gas purchases when you pay at the pump or shop in store at Shell®±4 (up to a maximum of $2,500 per account)
  • Earn 1.5% cash back on eligible on gas, office supplies and cellphone and internet bill payments2 (up to $1,000 of spending in each category per statement cycle)
  • Earn 0.75% cash back on all other card purchases5

Insurance and perks

What both cards include comes first in each list.

Amex Business Gold

Insurance

  • extended warranty

    Extended Warranty

    1 year
  • purchase protection

    Purchase Protection

    90 days

  • lost baggage

    Lost or Stolen Baggage

    $500
  • hourglass timer

    Baggage Delay

    $500
  • car insurance

    Car Rental Damage & Theft

    yes
  • heart lock

    Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance

    $100,000
  • mobile device insurance

    Mobile Device Insurance

    $1,000
  • burglar

    Hotel Burglary Insurance

    $500
  • hourglass timer

    Flight Delay

    $500

Perks

  • travel

    Travel Credit

    Book two or more consecutive nights at participating properties through The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel to receive a $100 credit for amenities or a complimentary room upgrade, if available.
  • airport waiting room

    Priority Travel

    Enjoy premium benefits at the Toronto Pearson Airport, including access to the Pearson Priority Security Lane and discount on parking.
  • Amex logo

    Amex Experiences™

    Access Front Of The Line® Amex Presale & Reserved Tickets to some of your favourite concerts and theatre performances and special offers and events curated for Cardmembers with Amex Experiences™

BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

Insurance

  • extended warranty

    Extended Warranty

    1 year
  • purchase protection

    Purchase Protection

    90 days

Perks

  • gas station

    Gas Discount

    Get up to 7 cents off per litre on all your Shell®± fuel – just for being a BMO cardholder[7]

Our take

Amex Business Gold

The American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card is an excellent choice for business owners who also travel seeking an entry-level card that offers a strong balance of generous travel benefits without excessive costs. With a relatively low annual fee, this card provides flexibility and a range of perks that make it stand out among other options.

  • Flexible rewards
  • Travel perks
  • Foreign transaction fees
  • Limited travel insurance
  • Lower acceptance

BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

A genuinely good free card. You get 1.5% cash back on gas, office supplies, and telecom with no annual fee — that’s rare. The 10% introductory cash back for the first three months is unusually generous for a no-fee card, making it worth picking up even just for the welcome period. The 0.75% base rate on other purchases is modest, and there are annual caps on the bonus categories, but the math still works for most small businesses. If you want cashback without paying for it, this is one of the best options available. Just don’t expect travel perks or premium insurance — it’s purely about the cash back.

  • No annual fee
  • Generous welcome bonus
  • Competitive cashback
  • Business accounting software integration
  • Low base earn rate
  • Spending caps
  • Limited bonus categories
  • Foreign transaction fees
  • Lacks travel benefits
  • Lacks travel coverage
  • High purchase interest rate

More business card comparisons

Each card against every other business card we review.

Legal


Amex Business Gold

*Terms and conditions apply.


This charge Card has both Due in Full and Flexible Payment Option balances. All Due in Full balances must be paid each month. Interest rate of 30% applies to each delinquent Due in Full charge. This rate is effective from the day account is opened. The Preferred rate of 21.99% applies to your Flexible Payment Option balance. If you have 2 separate Missed Payments in a 12 month period, the Flexible Payment Option rate for your account will be 25.99%. If you have 3 or more separate Missed Payments in a 12 month period, the Flexible Payment Option Rate will be 29.99%. These rates are effective from the day the Flexible Payment Option is first available on your account.


Account must be in good standing. Membership Rewards points (points) earned by the Basic Cardmember on all purchases, less credits and adjustments. Interest charges, annual fees, other fees and cash equivalent transactions are not purchases and do not qualify for Membership Rewards points. A minimum purchase of $0.50 is required to earn points. Earn one (1) point for every $1.00 in eligible purchases charged to your card.


American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. If you apply and get approved for an American Express Card, (I/we) may receive compensation from American Express, which can be in the form of monetary payment.

BMO CashBack Business Mastercard

1 BMO CashBack Business Mastercard applications must be received between September 1, 2020 and December 13, 2025 (the “Offer Period”) to be eligible for this offer. You will earn 10% cash back for each dollar you spend at qualifying gas stations, office supply stores, and on your cell phone/internet (phone) bill payments in the first 3 (three) billing cycles from the account open date (less refunds and excluding cash advances, cash-like transactions, interest charges, fees, credit or debit adjustments) up to a maximum of $150 cash back (a minimum of $1,500 in eligible purchases). The 10% cash back reward includes the base earn rate of 0.75% and a bonus of 9.25% for qualifying office supply store purchases, cell phone/internet bill payments, or gas purchases (bonus of 9.50% at Shell locations in Canada). To qualify for the bonus cash back reward, your purchases must be made at “Qualifying Merchants” classified in the Mastercard network as Service Stations (gas stations with or without ancillary services) and Automated Fuel Dispensers (Merchant Codes: 5541 & 5542), Stationery and Office Supply Stores (Merchant Codes: 5111 & 5943) and Cellphone/Internet billings (Merchant Codes: 4812, 4814 & 4816) at merchant locations in Canada. This bonus earn would not apply to some merchants who sell similar products/services or are separate merchants who are located on the premises of such merchants but are classified in another manner. After the first three (3) billing cycles or $1,500 spent in eligible purchases (whichever comes first), you will earn 1.5% cash back for each dollar you spend at office supply stores, on your cell phone/internet (phone) bill payments and at gas stations (1.75% cash back on purchases made at Shell locations in Canada). The 10% cash back reward offer is limited to new BMO CashBack Business Mastercard accounts and will not be awarded to current or former cardholders who reinstate a closed account, who transfer to another account, or who open a new account during the offer period. Limit of one bonus offer per account. If you cancel your card within one hundred and twenty (120) days from the date your account is opened, all cash back rewards earned within that period will be cancelled. This offer may be withdrawn or changed without notice.


2 You will earn 1.5% cash back on the first $1,000 you spend in each category per statement cycle for gas, office supply stores, and cell phone and internet (phone) bill payments for purchases made at merchant locations in Canada. The 1.5% CashBack rewards includes the base earn rate of 0.75% and the bonus of 0.75% for qualifying gas purchases, office supply store purchases, or cell phone/internet bill payments. Purchases made in these categories after the first $1,000 will earn at the base rate of 0.75%. All other purchases will continue to earn a 0.75% base rate of cash back rewards. To qualify for the bonus cash back rewards, your purchases must be made at merchants classified in the Mastercard network as Service Stations (gas stations with or without ancillary services) and Automated Fuel Dispensers (Merchant Codes: 5541 & 5542), Stationery and Office Supply Stores (Merchant Codes: 5111 & 5943) and Cellphone/Internet billings (Merchant Codes: 4812, 4814 & 4816). Some merchants may sell similar products/services or are separate merchants who are located on the premises of these merchants but are classified in another manner, in which case this bonus earn would not apply.


4 You will earn 1.75% CashBack rewards for purchases made at Shell locations in Canada, which includes the base earn rate of 0.75% and the Shell bonus of 1%. The Shell bonus CashBack rewards will be earned on purchases made at Shell locations in Canada (including Beaver, Turbo and Payless) to a maximum of $2,500 per account. The number of CashBack rewards will be rounded down to the nearest cent.


5 Cash back rewards earned are cumulative over the statement period. The awarding of cash back rewards is made for purchases charged to your account (less refunds and excluding cash advances, cash-like transactions, interest charges, fees, payments, credit or debit adjustments) and is subject to the Terms and Conditions of the BMO CashBack Business Mastercard. The number of cash back rewards will be rounded down to the nearest cent.


7 This offer is available only to AIR MILES collectors who have linked their BMO credit card with their AIR MILES collector account. To receive the savings at the pump, the eligible AIR MILES collector number must be connected to your BMO credit card and the eligible AIR MILES collector number must be valid at the time of the purchase transaction.
To qualify for the offer, eligible collectors with a BMO credit card:
Can receive their fuel discount at the pump once the customer input their AIR MILES collector number and complete the payment with the BMO credit or debit card that has been linked to their AIR MILES collector account.
BMO AIR MILES credit card holders with a valid AIR MILES collector account will receive an instant discount of $0.02 per litre on regular fuel (Shell Bronze and Shell Silver) and $0.07 per litre of premium fuel (Shell V-Power NiTRO+ or Shell V-Power NiTRO+ 91 or Shell V-Power NiTRO+ 93) at Shell (excluding Flying J locations) between March 18, 2024, to December 31, 2024, to a maximum of 1,000 litres in one month.
BMO non-AIR MILES credit card holders, including other BMO Mastercard and BMO Visa* holders must link their credit card to an existing or new AIR MILES collector account at airmilescardlink.ca/bmo-shell-benefit to be valid for this offer. The Opt-in process might take up to 5 days before the benefit is provided, then eligible AIR MILES collectors will receive an instant discount of $0.02 per litre on regular fuel (Shell Bronze and Shell Silver) and $0.07 per litre of premium fuel (Shell V-Power NiTRO+ or Shell V-Power NiTRO+ 91 or Shell V-Power NiTRO+ 93) at Shell (excluding Flying J locations) between March 18, 2024, to December 31, 2024, to a maximum of 1,000 litres in one month. This is a limited time offer and may be changed, extended, or withdrawn at any time without notice.
All BMO AIR MILES Mastercard credit card holders are automatically linked to their AIR MILES collector card, and thus, are automatically eligible for this offer.
All BMO non-AIR MILES Mastercard credit holders, by linking their BMO Mastercard to their AIR MILES collector card, are automatically enrolled in this Shell CPL offer and in other AIR MILES card-linked offers. To learn more about other AIR MILES card-linked offers, visit https://www.airmilescardlink.ca/.
BMO, AIR MILES, and Shell reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to suspend, disqualify, limit or revoke this offer to any person or account holder manipulating or otherwise abusing the process, fairness, integrity or operation of the offer. This offer will be in addition to any other offers available for you.
Shell and their affiliates are not liable or responsible for any of the services and products offered/provided by BMO. Please note that any information you provide directly to Shell or that Shell obtains about you as a Shell customer or participant will be governed by Shell’s Privacy Notice.
Offer is subject to the Terms and Conditions of your BMO Mastercard Cardholder Agreement or BMO Visa Cardholder Agreement.



† a) Subject to these Terms and Conditions, each balance transfer amount is eligible for a promotional interest rate of 0.00% provided that each balance transfer is posted to your BMO CashBack Business Mastercard account, BMO World Elite Business Mastercard or BMO Rewards Business Mastercard account (the "Account") in the first 9 (nine) statement periods from the Account open date (“Promotional Period”) , and your Account remains in good standing. Offer is available to new customers only upon Account approval for applications submitted on or after March 14, 2023. Balances from other BMO credit card accounts are not eligible to be transferred. The promotional rate will no longer apply to your Account if you transfer into a card other than the BMO CashBack Business Mastercard, BMO World Elite Business Mastercard or BMO Rewards Business Mastercard. Balance transfers apply to Canadian dollar amounts only.

b) Balance transfers do not qualify to earn loyalty rewards such as CashBack Rewards or BMO Rewards Points. Balance transfers are treated as cash advances and the promotional interest rate applies from the date the transactions are posted to your Account until the last day of the Promotional Period. After the Promotional Period expires, any remaining balance transfer amounts will be charged interest at the standard annual interest rate for cash advances. The promotional interest rate of 0.00% does not apply to purchases, fees, cash advances and other charges posted to your Account during the Promotional Period. Standard interest rates will continue to apply to those transactions. Please refer to your monthly statement for the interest rate applicable to your Account.

c) Each balance transfer is subject to a fee of 3% which will be charged to your account on the date the balance transfer is posted to your Account. For example, if an amount of $1,000 is transferred to your Account, you will be charged a fee of $30. You may request a balance transfer for as low as $100, as long as the transfer amount plus the fee, does not exceed the unused portion of the credit limit on your Account.

d) If your Account has balances with different interest rates, such as purchases with a standard interest rate and balance transfers with a promotional interest rate, any payment that exceeds the minimum payment will be allocated proportionately to those balances according to the terms set out in section 14 of the BMO Mastercard Cardholder Agreement. For example, if you have an $800 purchases balance at the standard interest rate and a $200 balance transfer balance at a promotional interest rate, 80 per cent of your payment will be allocated to your purchases balance and 20 percent will be allocated to your balance transfer balance. This offer may be withdrawn or changed without notice.

e) You will pay interest on purchases unless you pay your full Account balance by the payment due date. For example, if you complete a balance transfer for $5,000 and spend $2,000 in purchases during the same statement period, you must pay the entire balance of $7,000 before the payment due date to avoid paying interest on your purchases. You will be charged interest if you only pay the amount owing for your purchases. There is no interest-free grace period for cash advances or balance transfers.

f) To transfer balances from non-BMO credit card accounts, register for Online Banking or log in at bmo.com and do the following; select your Mastercard account, then select Set up Balance Transfer or Pre-authorized payment, then select Credit Card Balance Transfer and follow the instructions to complete the transfer.

g) If you have not made your minimum payment by the due date twice within a 12-month period, and it remains unpaid by the time we prepare your next statement, the following penalties will apply:

In both instances outlined above, you will receive the default rate disclosed to you on the card carrier or any other terms or notices we provide to you.

  • You will not receive a promotional rate on your balance transfer, even if it was presented to you through email, letter, or online banking.
  • You will lose your promotional interest rate on any balance transfers you currently hold.


BMO is not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click on the Apply now link for the most up to date information.