How the American Express Plum Card Helped Revolutionize Mount Olympus Awards
The American Express plum card lets you take a cash discount of 1% to 2% for early payment, or defer your balance for an additional billing cycle by paying only 10% of the statement balance. For those who are growing a business, the plum card can be a magnificent tool if handled responsibly.
A few days ago, I mentioned in The Importance of Frugality in Building Wealth that one of the ways we were able to save money was by using the American Express plum card at all of my businesses. The new product offering by American Express, which is probably most famously known for its Black Centurion and Platinum Cards, is completely unique in the financial services industry. For business owners, the plum card is a truly awesome way to handle accounts payable and cost of goods sold.
Here are the basics of how the American Express plum card program works:
- Once your business is approved, if you spend more than a certain threshold (I believe it’s $5,000 or $10,000 per month), you qualify for 2% cash rebates for early payment on the account balance. Anything below this is eligible for a 1% cash discount. That is, if you charged $100,000 to your American Express plum card and paid the bill within a few days after the account statement closed, you would see a 2% cash discount on your next bill, or $2,000 in this case. It would appear just as if you had made a payment by mailing in a check. This money works as a reduction of your expenses, effectively earning you the opportunity to lower your cost on everything your business purchases.
- You have another option for your American Express plum card balance: Instead of paying off the balance early and taking the cash discount, you can pay only 10% of the balance and defer the rest for another billing cycle.
- You get access to the American Express OPEN forum for business owners, where you can connect with other business owners in the same situation, get advice based upon their experience, and share feedback about ideas.
The Two Ways Using the American Express Plum Card Can Drastically Improve Your Business
Managed well, the American Express Plum Card program can drastically improve your business in one of two ways depending upon if you want to maximize profits or cash flow: (more…)
