If you have a small business and spend a lot of time on the road, you may want to add The Business Platinum Card® from American Express to your wallet. After all, frequent travelers can undoubtedly benefit from the Amex Business Platinum’s lounge access, hotel elite status and more.
Plus, new cardmembers can earn 120,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases with the card within the first three months of card membership.
If you’re interested in the Amex Business Platinum, you may wonder whether you have a good enough credit score to be approved. After all, it’s one of the best business cards on the market. This post will address some common questions about the necessary Amex Business Platinum credit score.
What credit score do you need for the Amex Business Platinum Card?
American Express doesn’t state a minimum credit score for Amex Business Platinum applicants. However, you will generally need good or excellent credit to be approved. In particular, your consumer credit score will usually need to be 740 or higher to have a competitive application.
Amex will perform a credit check with consumer and business credit bureaus when you apply for an Amex business card. Your small business may not have any business credit history, but that’s OK. In this case, Amex will rely primarily on your personal credit history and other information about your business to determine whether to approve your application.
Of course, each application and small business is different. As such, Amex may approve your application even if you or your company have a lower credit score. However, you’ll generally need a well-established business and significant annual revenue to be approved with a lower credit score.
Related: What credit score do you need for business credit cards?
Factors that affect your credit score
First, it’s essential to understand that not all credit scores are the same. As such, even at a given time, you don’t have just one credit score. Instead, your credit score may differ across calculation methods and credit reporting agencies. For example, your Experian FICO score may differ from your TransUnion VantageScore score.
FICO states that it calculates credit scores using credit data from your credit report in the following proportions:
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- Payment history (35%): History of paying credit accounts on time
- Amounts owed (30%): Amount of available credit you’re using, also known as credit utilization
- Length of credit history (15%): How long have your credit accounts been established, and how recently have you used each account
- New credit (10%): Opening multiple credit lines in a short period may indicate risk to a lender
- Credit mix (10%): Use of different types of credit
As you can see, many factors impact your credit score. As such, it’s important to understand credit before applying for cards.
Related: 3 real ways to boost your credit score in 30 days
What to do if you get rejected
Getting rejected for a card you want is never fun. But there are many reasons Amex might deny your Amex Business Platinum application. For example, you may have opened too many credit lines recently. Or your income-to-spending ratio might indicate too much risk.
I recommend waiting to read the rejection letter you’ll receive in the mail. This letter will provide one or more reasons why Amex rejected your application. You can use the rejection to learn and improve your credit. Then, you can apply again once you have the needed credit score for the Amex Business Platinum.
You can also call the card reconsideration line if you believe additional information might lead Amex to reconsider your application. Even if the representative can’t approve your application, calling the reconsideration line may provide more insight into why Amex rejected your application.
Bottom line
The Business Platinum Card from American Express is one of the best business cards on the market. It has myriad premium travel perks.
However, business travelers often wonder whether their credit score is high enough to be approved for the Amex Business Platinum card. Although there’s no specific requirement for an Amex Business Platinum credit score, you’ll generally have the best chances of approval if you have a very good or excellent credit score.
To learn more, read our full review of the Amex Business Platinum.
Apply here: The Business Platinum Card from American Express
