Which credit card earns more cashback overall?
Based on identical spending inputs, you’ll earn $510.84 cashback per year with American Express Blue Business Cash and $464.40 with Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select. 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 American Express Blue Business Cash and Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select incorporate bonus rewards rates, spending caps, default rewards rates and annual fees, where applicable.
Is the American Express Blue Business Cash good?
Amex is the classic car of business credit cards. This is a newer addition to the fleet, with a straightforward 2% cashback setup (with rewards automatically credited to the cardholder's statement), and a $0 annual fee. Other terms make it a reliable starter card for small business owners who need some cash flow flexibility.
thumb_up Likes
- 2% cashback on eligible purchases (basically everything)
- Rewards automatically applied as statement credit
- Flexible spending limit
- 0% APR on purchases for first 12 months
- Plays nice with QuickBooks
- $0 annual fee
- Access to Amex travel perks/protections
thumb_down Dislikes
- 2% cashback rate capped after $50,000 in spending each year
- A lowly 1% base rewards rate applies after you hit the annual spending cap
- Only one cashback redemption option (statement credit)
- 2.7% foreign transaction fee
| Category |
Default Rate |
Bonus Rate |
Bonus Spend Cap |
Bonus Spend Period (Months) |
| Cell Phone |
1.00% |
2.00% |
$50,000 |
12 |
| Dining |
1.00% |
2.00% |
$50,000 |
12 |
| Gas |
1.00% |
2.00% |
$50,000 |
12 |
| Travel |
1.00% |
2.00% |
$50,000 |
12 |
| Office Supplies |
1.00% |
2.00% |
$50,000 |
12 |
| Other Purchases |
1.00% |
2.00% |
$50,000 |
12 |
Is the Capital One Spark 1.5% Cash Select good?
Only those with excellent credit need apply for this $0-annual-fee card. With that you’re eligible for a $500 sign-up bonus, which, like the 1.5% cashback rate, is good but not 🤯.
thumb_up Likes
- 1.5% cashback on everything, no caps, no category restrictions
- $500 cash bonus up for grabs
- Cash back is redeemable at any time for any amount
- $0 annual fee
- No foreign transaction fees
- 5% cashback on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- Plays nice with QuickBooks, Quicken and Excel
thumb_down Dislikes
- Requires “excellent” credit in exchange for just “OK” terms
- To clarify, 1.5% rewards rate is just “OK” in the biz card world
- High sign-up bonus spending requirement
- No purchase or balance transfer introductory APR offering
- Punishing penalty APR (north of 30%)
| 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% |
- |
- |
- |
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Select and compare two credit cards head to head to see which offers the most bang for your buck.
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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.)
