Credit score needed for the Amex Blue Business Plus Card

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express card is one of the most rewarding travel credit cards available. It offers 2 points per dollar spent on up to $50,000 in purchases each year, and 1 point per dollar spent afterward. These Membership Rewards points can be redeemed for gift cards or merchandise, but they can be even more valuable when transferred to frequent flyer miles and hotel points. However, you will need to have a relatively high credit score to get your application approved and take advantage of Amex’s rewards program.

What credit score do I need to get the Blue Business Plus Card?

As with most card issuers, American Express doesn’t specify a minimum credit score that’s required to be approved for any of its cards. Therefore, we can only speculate about the credit score required based on reports of people who have applied. Most of these indicate that people with excellent credit have a very high likelihood of being approved for the Blue Business Plus Card, and there are some accounts of people with good credit being approved. With FICO scores, excellent credit is considered to be a score of 740 or above, while good credit is a score of 670 to 739.

What can I do if my application is declined by American Express?

No matter how high your credit score is, there’s always a chance that you may not be approved for a new credit card account. Thankfully, you can always contact the card issuer to discuss your application, which is sometimes referred to as a reconsideration call. To do so with American Express, contact the reconsideration department at (800) 567-1083 and ask to speak with a representative.

Often, there are small problems with your application that can be easily fixed. For example, credit card applications can be declined due to inaccurate personal information or even something as insignificant as a typo. For example, American Express may decline your application if the address you entered wasn’t the same as the one it has on file. This can often happen to applicants who have recently moved and who haven’t updated their accounts online. Your application can also be denied due to an incorrect birthdate or a mistyped Social Security number.

When you call American Express, you can also use this opportunity to update your financial information, such as your annual income. Many credit card applicants don’t realize that they’re able to list all available sources of household income including alimony, child support, disability and retirement benefits. There’s also a law that says you can include the income of your spouse or domestic partner, so long as you can reasonably expect to have access to the income for the purpose of repaying a loan. This law exists specifically to offer non-working spouses the ability to qualify for new accounts in their own name.

Another reason you may be declined for an American Express card is that you already have too many open accounts. As a rule, American Express doesn’t allow customers to have more than five personal accounts with preset credit limits at one time. If this is why your application for the Blue Business Plus card was denied, then you can request that one or more unused accounts be closed.

Another issue that may come up is your total credit line. If American Express doesn’t want to extend any additional credit to you, then you can request that some of your existing lines of credit be reallocated from one or more existing accounts to your new Blue Business Plus card account. Alternatively, you can close an unused American Express card account, which will also free up credit that can be used to open your new Blue Business Plus account.

But if you try all of these things and you still aren’t approved, American Express requires that you wait at least 30 days before reapplying.

How can I improve my score to get this card?

There are several ways you can improve your score to increase your chances of being approved for the Blue Business Plus card. One of the fastest ways is to pay down your outstanding balances as much as possible. Since 30% of the FICO credit scoring system is based on the amounts you owe, this will have the greatest effect.

By paying down or paying off your existing balances, you’ll reduce your credit utilization ratio. Your credit utilization ratio is the total amount of debt you have divided by the total amount of your outstanding balances. Credit experts often recommend keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30%, and having a lower ratio can raise your credit score even more.

Having fewer accounts with outstanding balances is also better for your credit than having more. If you’re unable to pay off all of your existing balances, then try paying off your smaller balances first, leaving you with outstanding balances on as few accounts as possible.

Once you’ve taken those steps, then you’ll need to wait until each account’s statement period ends in order to have your credit history and your credit score reflect your new balances. That’s because your new statement balances will be reported to the major consumer credit bureaus only after each account’s statement period concludes.

Keep in mind that your credit card statement balances are always reported to the credit bureaus as debt, even if you eventually avoid interest charges by paying it in full. So if you have a high account balance, then you can reduce what’s reported by making a payment before your account’s statement period ends. That way you can have a smaller statement balance on your credit report – or none at all.

The most important credit scoring factor is your payment history, so you should take every step possible to ensure that you make all of your payments on time. An effective way to do this is to enable the autopay feature on all of your accounts. Autopay is offered by nearly all credit card issuers.

It’s also important to take the time to review your credit reports and check for errors or any fraudulently opened accounts. Disputing these kinds of errors or fraud in your credit reports and getting them removed can also improve your credit score.

Lastly, you can sign up for free services such as Experian Boost and UltraFICO, which both provide lenders with additional financial information from sources such as utility accounts and your banking data.

Bottom line

By offering double points on up to $50,000 in purchases each year, the American Express Blue Business Plus can be a very rewarding card for small business owners. By understanding the approximate credit score range you need to be approved and the steps you can take if your application is denied, you can decide when’s the best time to apply for this card.