Money Saving Tips for Small Business Owners
July 29, 2009

I Love My Plum Card!

 


Or do I?

Update 6pm 7/29: no joke, just hours after writing this post, I received a call from American Express and my otherwise hassle-free Plum Card experience has ended.

Our regular monthly spending, which is lower than what it was 12 months ago, has been deemed "too high" and they are stating we need to lower it by 70%. This for a charge card that gets paid in full - hardly a credit risk unless payments get missed. Is this an example of more credit crunch stupidity? I've been an AmEx customer since literally the day I turned 18 without issue and I've never had better credit than today.

So be it. After arguing with the poor folks on the phone, all I can do is laugh at the irony and take my business elsewhere. Time to find a new card to love! Stay tuned...

I jumped on the American Express Plum Card the moment I first heard about it and have used it religiously since. It has two great features that make it significantly better than your average card:

1. You get 1.5% cash back if you pay your bill within 10 days.
2. If you don't pay your bill within days, pay 10% of it and the rest gets deferred for 2 months at 0% interest.

The 1.5% straight cash back (no points, no gimmicks) is good by itself. So is the "trade terms" financing ability. The 2 months option may spare you a receivables line of credit, for example.

It's a good, solid American Express card otherwise with features like no pre-set spending limit, free extended warranties, emergency services and the always-underrated OPEN Savings.

I also like the fact that when I signed up the cash back was 2% and they're continuing to honor that despite cutting back slightly for new signups.

So what's your favorite business card?