American Express introduced a new commercial credit card on Wednesday as part of an effort to deepen relationships with small- and mid-sized companies. The move comes alongside plans to bring a second corporate cashback card to market later this year as the company seeks to broaden its foothold among business customers that typically generate substantial spending volume.
Under the new offering, the Graphite Business card carries a $295 annual fee and provides 2% cashback on eligible purchases. Cardholders will receive an elevated 5% cashback on airline tickets and prepaid hotel reservations when booked through American Express' travel platform. The company said it will unveil a separate corporate cashback card in the fall and that fee information for that product will be revealed closer to its launch.
Raymond Joabar, group president of American Express' global commercial services, framed the two new cashback products as an extension of an ongoing strategy. "The two new cashback cards are a continuation of a strategy that we’ve been executing for a long while," he said, adding that customers need partners who understand the complexities of their business as they grow from small operations to mid-sized firms and potentially, multinational companies.
The announcement arrives after a notable transaction in the business-card and fintech space: in January, Capital One agreed to acquire Brex for $5.15 billion. That deal is expected to expand Capital One's presence in the market for corporate spending. American Express' chief executive, Stephen Squeri, noted on an earnings call that the company remains "three times larger than anybody else."
Addressing another trend, American Express said it would subsidize up to $300 per year of ChatGPT Business subscription fees for holders of its U.S. Business Platinum and Business Gold cards, a move linked to rising demand for AI tools. The company also plans to introduce new expense management software later this year designed to help companies oversee and control spending.
The combination of a paid cashback card, an upcoming corporate product with undisclosed fees, a subsidy for business AI subscriptions, and new expense management software underscores American Express' multi-pronged push to capture more business spending across payment, travel, and corporate software touchpoints.
Beyond product details, several practical questions remain open. Pricing and specific features for the corporate cashback card will be disclosed at a later date. How the market responds to the Graphite Business card and the forthcoming software will shape the competitive dynamics among card issuers targeting small- and middle-market businesses.
Separately, financial research and advisory tools referenced to evaluate American Express stock highlight analyst frameworks that consider fundamentals, momentum, and valuation across thousands of companies. One such AI-driven product cited evaluates AXP using more than 100 financial metrics and notes past winners across its model, though readers and market participants weigh such outputs alongside broader company announcements and industry transactions.