The GM Business Card™ is quite a niche specimen in the business credit card space, and it’s not a good fit for the average consumer.
Yes, its return rates are fabulous. Yes, it’s got an astronomical sign-up bonus for a no annual fee card. But the rewards it earns are almost exclusively GM oriented.
If you don’t find yourself regularly swiping your card for GM parts and services, the card will underserve you. If you don’t purchase or lease a new car but once every six years (like the average American), there might be more remunerative business credit cards for you and your business.
However, if you do make these kinds of purchases with regularity, this card is hard to beat. I’ll show you why.
GM Business Card™
Annual Fee
Intro APR, Purchases
Intro APR, Balance Transfers
Regular APR
Credit Needed
$0
0% APR for 12 Months
N/A
19.24% to 29.24% variable purchase APR based on creditworthiness. Rates as of 8/1/2023
Excellent, Good
Key Features
- Best for: SMBs that own or plan to own a GM vehicle (Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac)
- Welcome offer: $750 Bonus Earnings after making $5,000 in purchases within the first five months from account opening
- Intro APR: 0% APR for 12 Months on purchases
- Rates: Excellent earning rates for GM parts or services; as well as for gas stations, restaurants, and office supply stores
- Annual fee: None for primary cardholder or employee cards
- Other features: TurboTax discounts, business assistant concierge, free ShopRunner discounts, etc.
In-Depth Analysis
Welcome Offer
The GM Business Card™ comes with a $750 Bonus Earnings after making $5,000 in purchases within the first five months from account opening.
Most no annual fee cards tend to offer bonuses worth between $100 and $250 (though there are some exceptions), so the larger welcome offer is definitely noteworthy. And the minimum spending requirement should be easily achievable for most small businesses.
Unfortunately, there’s a bit of a catch to this bonus — it’s not exactly “cash.” This detracts from the true value of the bonus, as I’ll explain in a minute.
Earning Rewards
The GM Business Card™ gives some of the best-in-class return rates for spending in the following categories:
- 5% in Earnings on GM dealership parts or services
- 3% in Earnings on purchases at gas, restaurants, and office supply stores
- 1% back on all other eligible purchases
The card’s 5% category is a bit niche and likely not a frequent spending category for even avid GM owners. But 3% back on super common expenses like restaurants and gas stations is a big win for a card with no annual fee.
Redeeming Rewards
As with the welcome offer, the return you receive for spending with your GM Business Card™ isn’t hard cash. It’s distributed as “My GM Rewards points,” which is effectively GM credit that you can use for specific GM purchases. You can redeem your points at a GM dealership or online.
At the GM dealer, points can be redeemed for:
- New GM vehicle purchases or leases
- Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, or Cadillac certified pre-owned vehicles (up to $1,000 annually)
- Certified service, accessories, GM genuine parts and ACDelco parts, and GM protection plans (up to $250 annually)
If you redeem your points online, you can use up to $250 annually for:
- GM accessories
- Most OnStar and Connected Services
- GM payment
You can redeem points at GM partner sites, as well, for a GM Financial bill payment and your SiriusXM statement. Finally, you can buy up to $250 in third-party gift cards via GM’s online gift card mall.
One saving grace concerning GM Rewards is that your points never expire as long as your account is active and in good standing. You can essentially hoard points for several years and cash them in when buying a new car.
Fees and Interest Rates
The GM Business Card™ comes with 0% APR for 12 Months on purchases for the first of account opening. After that, the ongoing rate is 19.24% to 29.24% variable purchase APR based on creditworthiness. Rates as of 8/1/2023.
You’ll also be charged APR for cash advances, and up to a $40 fee if you make a late payment.
This card does not charge foreign transaction fees.
Other Benefits
Small business credit cards can provide business owners with benefits beyond rewards on spending. For instance, using a business credit card is one of the best ways to separate your personal and business finances.
Other than that advantage (which applies to every business credit card, not just this one), this particular card isn’t exactly rich with flashy benefits. But there are a few helpful perks a small business owner can utilize for added value.
For example, you can add multiple employees to your account for no extra charge. The points they accrue will deposit into your account, so it’s a good way to earn rewards more quickly. You’ll also get helpful expense tracking tools on Marcus.com — and you can set unique limits on employee cards to ensure that nobody overspends.
Because this card is a World Elite Mastercard, you’ll get the following as well:
- Business Assistant Concierge — 24/7 assistance locating tech support, arranging dinners for clients, reserving meeting rooms, etc.
- Mastercard BIZ Cell Phone Protection — Pay your phone bill with the card and get $800 in coverage per damage or theft incident ($50 deductible). Max two claims and $1,000 in coverage per 12-month period.
- ShopRunner membership — Free two-day shipping from 100+ retailers. The typical membership cost is $79 per year without the card.
You’ll also get various discounts on business-centric apps and services such as Intuit, Salesforce, ZOHO, and Microsoft Advertising.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Generous sign-up bonus — $750 Bonus Earnings after making $5,000 in purchases within the first five months from account opening.
- No annual fee — A card this niche shouldn’t come with a price tag for ownership, and it doesn’t.
- Customizable employee cards — You can add employee cards for free and stipulate a spending range for each.
- Excellent return rates — 5% back on GM dealership parts and services, and 3% back at restaurants, gas stations, and office supply stores.
- Great intro purchase APR — 0% APR for 12 Months on purchases
Cons
- Limited redemption options — Points can be redeemed for GM-related expenses and third-party gift cards only. There are annual redemption limits with almost every redemption option.
- No outstanding ongoing benefits — The card is missing show-stopping benefits, like top-notch travel insurance, annual statement credits, etc.
- No balance transfer promo — 0% intro APR doesn’t apply to balance transfers, unfortunately.
GM Business Card™ Compared
| Credit Score Needed | Accelerated Rewards Rates | Standout Feature | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GM Business Card™ | Please visit partner website | 5% back on GM dealership parts or services; 3% on gas, restaurants, and office supply stores | $750 Bonus Earnings after making $5,000 in purchases within the first five months from account opening |
| Ink Business Cash® Credit Card | 700+ | 5% back on office supplies, internet, phone, and cable; 2% on gas and dining (spending limits apply) | $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after account opening |
| U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card | 700+ | 5% back on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the Travel Rewards Center; 3% at gas and EV charging stations, office supply stores, cell phone service providers, and restaurants | $500 cash back when you spend $4,500 within the first 150 days |
Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
The Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is one of the best no annual fee cards — let alone small business cards — on the market. It has an unbeatable high welcome offer: $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after account opening.
The card also offers up to 5% back (5x Chase points) on up to $25,000 spent in combined select bonus categories annually. This is abnormally high, as well.
It’s a bit more generous than the GM Business Card™ when it comes to restaurant and gas station spending, but the actual rewards it earns are far more useful than what you get with the GM card. You can use Chase points for:
- Cash back, gift cards, Apple purchases, and travel through the Chase Travel Portal (1 cent per point)
- Amazon and PayPal purchases (0.8 cents per point)
- Charity donations through Chase Pay Yourself Back (1.25 cents per point)
The card also caters to travelers, as it earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. If you’ve got the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you can move the rewards you earn from the Ink Business Cash® to one of these cards. This then allows you to transfer your points to valuable airline and hotel programs such as Hyatt, Southwest, United Airlines, and Singapore Airlines for (nearly) free flights.
U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card
The U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card is likely a better option for most small business owners than the GM Business Card™. It doesn’t offer a 5% return rate on GM parts and services. But it earns 3% cash back in several of the same purchase categories as the GM Business Card™ — and it throws in a couple extra 3% bonus categories, too.
Most importantly, the card earns cash back instead of GM credit, so your rewards can do everything that GM Rewards points can do and much more. You can pay your GM bill with your rewards (with no annual cap, by the way); you can pay your SiriusXM bill; you can purchase OnStar subscriptions; and you can buy third-party gift cards. Or, you can buy an infinite number of other things outside of GM and its partner brands.
This card also has a $750 intro offer. And while you’ll be required to spend a bit more to qualify for it ($5,000), you’ll also have a significantly larger window of time to meet that spending requirement (150 days).
Learn More about U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card
Who Should Apply for the GM Business Card™ ?
Let’s keep it real: There are plenty of cards on the market besides the GM Business Card™ that can net you 3% back for much of your credit card spending.
The only true reason to open this card is if you’ll lean heavily on its 5% return rate for GM service purchases or vehicle parts from the dealership. If you routinely make purchases in this category, the GM Business Card™ is a no-brainer. Otherwise, read our article listing the best business credit cards for young professionals to find a more flexible alternative.
How to Apply for the GM Business Card™
The GM Business Card™ is issued from Marcus by Goldman Sachs — not a mainstream credit card issuer like Chase, Amex, Citi, etc. If you’ve got your fair share of credit cards already, this is good news for you. Those other banks often enforce a limit to the number of cards they let you hold at once.
To apply for the GM Business Card™, head to the application page and enter your personal information. Remember, this is a small business credit card; if you don’t have a for-profit venture, you won’t qualify. Tangentially, starting your own business is easier than you think; you may even already have a qualifying business without realizing it!
If you’re a sole proprietor, don’t worry about obtaining an EIN — you’ll just use your Social Security number when you apply.
One important thing to note when applying for small business cards: If they ask you the income of your business, don’t lie. You don’t have to make a million dollars a year to qualify for a business card. I have friends who have been approved for business cards while they were still making zero dollars. Just tell the truth.
Summary
At first glance, the GM Business Card™ sounds very appealing. It’s got a large sign-up bonus and high-octane return rates. However, the card pigeonholes you into using your rewards in a very specific way, sharply devaluing it for most of us.
The bottom line is that if you regularly spend a lot with GM, the card could be just what you’re looking for. If not, there are better options to consider.