If you use the American Express® Business Gold Card for advertising or wireless phone bills, you’ll want to pay attention to some upcoming changes.

Starting February 17, 2027, Amex is limiting its qualifying merchants for the bonus four Membership Rewards® points earned per dollar spent in these two spending categories.

Here’s what’s changing and what it means for cardholders.

Terms apply.

 

What’s Changing With the American Express® Business Gold?

The card_name currently earns four Membership Rewards® points in the two eligible categories where your business spends the most each billing cycle, on up to $150,000 in combined purchases per calendar year (and then one point per dollar after that). There are six eligible categories, but beginning February 17, 2027, two will have much narrower merchant restrictions.

Advertising: Eligible online, television, and radio advertising purchases will be limited to just six companies (which must be paid directly:

• Meta
• Google
• Amazon
• Microsoft
• GoDaddy
• Yelp

Wireless services: Monthly wireless telephone service charges will only qualify for four points per dollar spent when paid directly to one of these 11 providers:

• Verizon
• AT&T
• T-Mobile
• Frontier
• Comcast
• Charter
• Spectrum Mobile
• USCellular
• Optimum
• Ultra Mobile
• Mint Mobile

The other four categories eligible to earn four points per dollar of spending, including U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, transit, and eligible electronics, software and cloud purchases, aren’t changing.

 

What Does This Mean for Cardholders?

For some business owners, these changes aren’t going to make much of a difference at all. Major advertising platforms like Google and Meta remain eligible, as well as many of the largest wireless providers. But if your business uses an advertising platform or wireless provider that isn’t on the new list, you could end up seeing a significant drop in rewards.

Take this example: $10,000 in eligible advertising purchases currently earns 40,000 Membership Rewards® points when advertising is one of your top two spending categories. Under the new changes, that same spending with an excluded merchant would earn just 10,000 points. That’s 30,000 fewer points on the same purchases!

The good news is that there’s still time to review your spending before the changes take effect. If your regular vendors are being excluded, you might want to consider another card for those purchases. A few options include the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, which earns three points per dollar spent on eligible social media and search engine advertising and phone services. And there’s the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, which earns two Membership Rewards® points on the first $50,000 in eligible annual purchases, regardless of category (and then one point per dollar after that).

Related: Can I Get a Business Card?

 

Bottom Line

The Amex Business Gold isn’t losing its advertising or wireless bonus categories, but the new merchant restrictions could make earning four points per dollar spent more difficult for some businesses.

If you rely on either category, double-check your vendors against the new lists before February 17, 2027, so you aren’t surprised by a smaller points haul.