Graphite Business Cash Unlimited

The Graphite Business Cash Unlimited is built for companies with big, steady spend: a flat 2% cash back on eligible purchases, 5% on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel, and no foreign transaction fees. American Express recently raised the welcome offer from $1,500 to $2,000, but you have to spend $50,000 in the first 6 months to earn it, which tells you who this card is for. The real catch is the $295 annual fee on a card whose base rate is a plain 2%: at that rate you need roughly $15,000 a year in spend just to cover the fee before the card starts earning anything. The One AP perk, up to $2,400 in statement credits toward One AP monthly fees, only unlocks after $250,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year. If your business clears those spend levels it can pay off, but smaller operations will struggle to justify the fee.