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Amazon Business American Express Card vs Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit 2024

investor.com

Written by investor.com

December 18, 2023

In head-to-head competition, which of these rewards credit cards wins out? Here’s what each has to offer and how they fare when put to the ultimate test — the cash back you’ll earn for using them.

Amazon Business American Express Card
3% back or 60-day terms on U.S. purchases at Amazon. Terms and cap applies. 2% back at U.S. restaurants, gas stations, and wireless telephone services purchased directly from service providers. 1% back on all other eligible purchases. Get a $100 Amazon.com gift card upon approval.

Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit
Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back for your business on every purchase, no limits or category restrictions. Plus, earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. 0% introductory APR for the first 12 months that the account is open. .

Credit Card Calculator
Monthly Spend
Spend Categories expand_more
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dining Dining
local_gas_station Gas
monetization_on Other
card_travel Travel
phone_iphone Cell Phones
print Office Supplies

Amazon Business American Express Card

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Amazon Business American Express Card Logo
Cashback Per Year
$...
Annual Fee
$0
Welcome Bonus
an $100 Amazon Gift Card
Apply Now


Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit

Read review
Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit Logo
Cashback Per Year
$...
Annual Fee
$0
Welcome Bonus
N/A
Apply Now

Want to compare more cards? Use our full calculator.
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Which credit card earns more cashback overall?

Based on identical spending inputs, you’ll earn $464.40 cashback per year with Amazon Business American Express Card and $464.40 with Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit. For context, the average annual rewards payout from the business rewards credit cards in the investor.com database is $181.73.

The annual rewards payout assumes you charge $2,580 each month spread across the following spending categories: Cell Phones ($516), Dining ($516), Gas ($258), Office Supplies ($387), Travel ($387), and Other ($516). The dollar amounts for each category are based on average small-business spending data (how much business spend proportionally in each category) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources. We encourage you to use our business card rewards calculator to customize the amounts based on your business’s actual spending patterns.

To ensure the most accurate results possible, the rewards calculations for Amazon Business American Express Card and Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit incorporate bonus rewards rates, spending caps, default rewards rates and annual fees, where applicable.

Is the Amazon Business American Express Card good?

Time or money? You decide between a 3% rewards rate on Amazon-related spending or taking 60 extra interest-free days to pay it off. It’s not quite as dramatic as “Sophie’s Choice” (available for rent on Amazon Prime). But we’ll take any opportunity to invoke this 1982 classic starring Meryl Streep in a credit card review.

thumb_up Likes

  • Choice of cashback (3%) or more time to pay on Amazon-y purchases
  • 2% on dining, gas and gab (cell services)
  • $100 gift card upon approval, no spending requirement
  • $0 annual fee
  • Amazon Prime membership not required
  • No foreign transaction fee
  • Potential referral bonus
  • Includes Amex perks

thumb_down Dislikes

  • 3% rewards/60-day no-interest apply only to Amazon purchases
  • Choose the 60-day financing and you forgo cashback rewards
  • Default cashback rate is just 1%
  • $120,000 annual cap on 3% eligible spending
  • Redemption minimums revealed upon approval. Weird.
  • Balance transfers not allowed


Category Default Rate Bonus Rate Bonus Spend Cap Bonus Spend Period (Months)
Cell Phone 2.00% - - -
Dining 2.00% - - -
Gas 2.00% - - -
Travel 1.00% - - -
Office Supplies 1.00% - - -
Other Purchases 1.00% - - -

Is the Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit good?

Need some breathing room on paying off new purchases and have less-than-stellar credit? The 12-month interest-free purchase window on this card is a handy cashflow tool, and a 1.5% no-limit cashback rate on purchases sweetens the deal.

thumb_up Likes

  • 1.5% cash back on everything, no caps, no categories
  • 5% cashback on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
  • Rewards redeemable at any time for any amount
  • $0 annual fee
  • 0% intro APR for 12 months
  • Offers basic business tools and protections
  • No foreign transaction fees

thumb_down Dislikes

  • A 1.5% rewards rate is table stakes among biz rewards cards
  • No higher cashback tiers = limited earning potential
  • Offers no sign-up bonus
  • Punishing penalty APR (30%-plus)


Category Default Rate Bonus Rate Bonus Spend Cap Bonus Spend Period (Months)
Cell Phone 1.50% - - -
Dining 1.50% - - -
Gas 1.50% - - -
Travel 1.50% - - -
Office Supplies 1.50% - - -
Other Purchases 1.50% - - -

More Comparisons

Amazon Business American Express Card vs Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Amazon Business American Express Card vs U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa Business Card Amazon Business American Express Card vs Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select Amazon Business American Express Card vs Truist Business Cash Rewards Credit Card Amazon Business American Express Card vs Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Amazon Business American Express Card vs American Express Plum Card Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit vs American Express Plum Card Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit vs American Express Blue Business Cash Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit vs Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit vs Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit vs Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit vs Capital on Tap Business Credit Card

Show all

compare_arrows Compare cash back credit cards

Select and compare two credit cards head to head to see which offers the most bang for your buck.


Select Credit Cards

↓×
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxAmazon Business American Express Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxAmazon Business Prime American Express Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxAmerican Express Blue Business Cash
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxAmerican Express Plum Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxBank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxBank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxCapital on Tap Business Credit Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxCapital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxCapital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select for Good Credit
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxCapital One Spark 1% Classic for Business
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxCapital One Spark 2% Cash Plus
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxChase Ink Business Cash Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxChase Ink Business Unlimited Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxCostco Anywhere Visa Business Card by Citi
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxTD Business Solutions Credit Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxTruist Business Cash Rewards Credit Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxU.S. Bank Business Leverage Visa Signature Card
  • check_box_outline_blankcheck_boxU.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa Business Card

Compare

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Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Business Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

  • Tiered rewards rates: Some business cards pay a flat cashback rate on all purchases. Others pay higher cashback rates on purchases that fall under specific spending categories. The investor.com algorithm incorporates each issuer’s unique reward’s program to determine the “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
  • Spend category inputs: Based on the rewards cards in our database, cell phones, dining, gas, office supplies, travel and "other" are the categories most often used by business credit cards that feature tiered rewards programs. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
  • Monthly spend: The default dollar amounts for each spend category in the Business Credit Card Calculator are based on average small-business spending data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources. Click the arrow on the “Spend Categories” to customize the monthly spend inputs and find the business card with the highest payout rate for your small-business spending.
  • Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on office supplies on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
  • Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
  • Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)



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