American Express offers one of the widest lineups of business cards on the market — charge cards, revolving credit cards, and co-branded travel cards all under one roof. That variety matters more than most business owners realize, because how a card is structured determines what happens to your credit when you close it.

Before you cancel any Amex business card, it helps to know three things: whether it reports to your personal credit, whether it’s a charge card or a revolving credit card, and how old the account is.

Does an Amex Business Card Report to Personal or Business Credit?

This is the most common point of confusion, and here’s the general pattern: Amex mostly reports ongoing business card activity — balances, utilization, payment history — to the business divisions of Experian and Equifax, not to your personal file. Dun & Bradstreet is often mentioned alongside those two, but with Amex specifically, D&B typically only receives negative activity — like delinquency — not the routine positive tradeline data that helps build a PAYDEX score. So, a well-managed Amex business card usually won’t build your D&B profile the way it can with Experian Business and Equifax Business. Applying for the card does trigger a personal hard inquiry, but day-to-day use typically stays off your personal credit as long as the account is in good standing.

The exception is serious delinquency or default. Most Amex business cards carry a personal guarantee, so if an account goes unpaid, that negative history can surface on your personal credit report through Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion.

Reporting practices can still shift over time or vary by product, so if this matters to your credit strategy, it’s worth confirming current details with Amex directly. And regardless of what should be reported, it’s always smart to pull a free copy of your personal credit reports at annualcreditreport.com periodically to confirm what’s showing up. Having a monitoring product like the FICO 3B advanced product is also a good idea.

Charge Card or Credit Card? The Distinction That Matters Most

Charge cards require the balance to be paid in full each cycle and don’t carry a preset spending limit. Because they aren’t revolving credit, they generally aren’t factored into balance-to-limit (B2L) ratio calculations the way a credit card is, which means closing one is less likely to spike your utilization.

Revolving credit cards carry a preset limit and can carry a balance month to month. These do count toward your B2L ratio, so closing one reduces your available limit and can push your utilization higher on the cards that remain.

Amex’s business lineup includes both types, and which category a given card falls into — along with fees, terms, and reporting — can change over time. The safest way to know what you’re holding is to check your card’s terms and conditions or ask Amex directly whether it’s a charge card, revolving credit card and the reporting details before you decide to close it.

Why the Balance-to-Limit Ratio Matters

For revolving cards, your B2L ratio — the percentage of your available credit you’re using — is one of the biggest factors in your personal credit score and can impact business credit as well. Both your ratio on that specific card and your aggregate ratio across all revolving accounts affects scores.

Example: If your total revolving limits are $100,000 and your total balances are $50,000, you’re at a 50% B2L ratio. Close a revolving card with a $50,000 limit and no balance, and your aggregate limit drops to $50,000 while your balance stays at $50,000 — pushing you to a 100% ratio. Personal scores can drop sharply, sometimes hundreds of points, because a maxed-out ratio signals higher risk to lenders.

Charge cards generally sidestep this problem entirely since they aren’t revolving credit in the first place. That’s one reason some business owners prefer to hold their oldest or highest-limit accounts as charge cards rather than revolving ones.

Average Age of Credit Still Applies to Every Card Type

Regardless of whether it’s a charge card or a credit card, closing an old account can shorten your average age of credit when it falls off due to inactivity or time — another scoring factor that rewards longevity. Closed accounts typically stay on your personal credit report for up to10 years before dropping off; once they do, if the account was one of your older ones, its removal can pull your average age down.

Before closing any Amex business card, check its open date on your credit report and weigh how much that account is contributing to your overall credit history.

The Bottom Line

Not all Amex business cards affect your credit the same way when you close them. Charge cards and revolving credit cards behave differently, reporting practices vary by card and account status, and account age always factors in. Before closing anything, check your personal credit report, identify what type of card you’re holding, and weigh the age of the account — a few minutes of review can save you from an unexpected score drop.  It is also a good idea to check the business Experian and Equifax reports for more clarity as well.

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Call 914-524-8300 or fill out the form on this page to speak with a Certified Credit Expert about how closing or converting a card could affect your credit profile.