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Chase is an attractive option for both new and existing business owners. The bank offers four business credit cards, all of which offer unique opportunities for earning rewards.
The Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is a great choice for office-based businesses. It has no annual fee, a strong intro bonus, and offers high rewards on popular spending categories. Better yet, despite its name, the points you earn are not limited to cash back.
Let’s take a look at everything the Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card has to offer.
- Best for: Cash Back on Business Expenses
- Annual Fee: $0
- Regular APR: 17.99% - 25.99% (Variable)
- Reward Rate: 1X - 5X
- Recommended Credit: 670-850
Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
$750 Cash-Back
Offer Details:
Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.
Why we like it
The Ink Business Cash Card pulls attention with its big intro bonus, currently sitting at up to $750 of cash back. The card has no annual fee and reward spending categories like 5% cash back (5x points) on purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services (up $25,000 per year).
Also, you can supercharge the Ink Cash’s rewards if you have a companion Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred. You can pool your points and make them more valuable by transferring them to Chase’s travel partners like Hyatt, United Airlines, British Airways and more.
Reward details
5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services each account anniversary year
2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year
1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn
Pros & Cons
Pros
$750 welcome bonus
No annual fee
If you have another Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred, you can pool your points and make them more valuable. You’ll be able to transfer your points to Chase’s travel partners like Marriott, Air Canada, Southwest, United, and more.
Cons
It does lack some of the juicier benefits attached to other business credit cards likes the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. But with no annual fee, it’s hard to argue with its value proposition.
It’s subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule. So if you’ve opened five cards in the last two years, you’re most likely not going to be accepted.
Qualifying for a small business credit card may be easier than you think
When you think of a “small business,” you may envision a revenue amounting to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, multiple employees, a storefront, etc. But in fact, none of these things are required to get a small business card. You can qualify for the Chase Ink Cash if you perform services such as babysitting, driving for Uber or DoorDash, tutoring, freelance writing, selling items on eBay or Etsy and more — the list goes on.
A small business doesn’t even have to be your main job. As long as you’ve got a for-profit venture, you qualify for the card—though whether you’re approved will depend on additional factors.
Welcome Bonus
The Ink Business Cash is currently running a strong intro bonus offering up to $750 in cash back after meeting spending requirements. The bonus has two tiers:
- Earn $350 in cash back after spending $3,000 within three months of opening the account
- Earn a further $400 after spending $6,000 within six months of opening the account
Note that the second segment is cumulative, not separate, meaning you only need to spend $6,000, not $9,000, to earn the full $750 bonus.
Many are worried about how to earn the $750 bonus with their business spend, but this article explains why it’s not as challenging as you might think.
While $750 in cash back is a strong offer, representing a 12.5% return on your first $6,000 of spending, the Ink Business Cash boasts a quirk that some cardholders can exploit for even more value.
If you also own one of Chase’s three Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards (the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card), you can turn the $750 bonus (and other cash back earned from the card) into 75,000 transferable points. With the ability to transfer points to travel partners, it’s possible to squeeze out well over $1,500 in travel from the bonus. And with very minimal effort, you can redeem those same 75,000 points for over $930 to $1,125 of travel through the Chase Travel℠ Portal.
Annual Fee
The Ink Business Cash has no annual fee, adding to the card’s already impressive value. Avoiding an added expense, however small, is a win for any business and makes maximizing points a breeze.
Naturally, the lack of fees means there aren’t a ton of ancillary perks attached to the card.
Earning Rewards
For the right business, the Chase Ink Business Cash can be a serious rewards-earning machine. Businesses with office-based setups, in particular, can enjoy the high-value spending categories, as well as those with significant travel and dining expenses.
Huge earnings on office, internet, cable and phone costs
The card offers a whopping 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services each account anniversary year. That’s one of the best cash-back rates out there and represents up to $1,250 in potential rewards each year. If you’re also an Ultimate Rewards-earning cardholder, you’re looking at up to 125,000 points per year.
Considering a points haul that large could get you 25 nights at a Hyatt property or as many as 15 domestic flights, it’s not an exaggeration to say it could fund your business’s entire travel schedule.
Double up on travel and dining
If your business requires a significant amount of travel or maybe the occasional client lunch, you’ll also grab 2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year (this cap is separate from the $25k cap on 5% categories). While this might not be as impressive as some other business cards, its pairing with the 5% office supply earning–rate makes it incredibly attractive.
1% on everything else
If you hit those $25,000 caps on either elevated spend category, your earnings will drop to 1% cash back. Spending on any other category will also earn 1% cash back, with no cap on how much you can earn.
Redeeming Rewards
As with other Chase cash-back products, your redemption options are not limited to mere cash back. With the right partner product, the value of your points are far more than what they seem.
Redeem for cashback
The simplest way to redeem your rewards is for cash back. For many, this will be the only redemption option, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While the value of transferrable points may stretch further, cash back is incomparably flexible. From a special purchase to a way to save money on groceries, there’s no limit to what your earnings can do.
If you’re maxing out the $25,000 office supplies bonus spending category, you’ll be sitting with $2,000 in cash back after your first year, including the intro bonus. That’s more than enough to make a big difference.
You can redeem the cash back as a statement credit for anything purchased on your card or have it deposited into any U.S. bank account. The latter option allows you to withdraw it as cash or even pay off another credit card account.
Redeem as Ultimate Rewards points
If you also own one of Chase’s three Ultimate Rewards earning cards, you have another option: turn your cash back into points. The three cards that earn transferrable Ultimate Rewards points and allow you to enact this strategy are the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and the Chase Ink Business Preferred.
If you’re unfamiliar with the world of points and miles, this might seem like a strange decision. But those versed in points will know it’s possible to gain massively outsized value by transferring your points to travel partners. The same $750 of cash back can be redeemed for $937 to $1,125 on the Chase Travel Portal or more than $1,500 (or more!) by transferring points to a partner airline or hotel.
Chase’s Ultimate Rewards is widely regarded as one of the most valuable reward programs. Despite a smaller list of transfer partners compared to rivals, you can transfer Chase points to programs like Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, World of Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways, KLM/Air France Flying Blue, and more.
One example of how to maximize the value of your bonus would be transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards to Air Canada Aeroplan and redeem 70,000 Aeroplan points for a one-way business class flight on airlines like United, Lufthansa, and Swiss Airlines from many major U.S. cities to Europe.
These flights are regularly priced at $3,000-$7,000 one-way, meaning you could redeem your Ultimate Rewards points for up to 10x more value than you would have gotten if you simply redeemed your rewards for cash back.
Benefits and Perks
As a no-annual-fee card, the Chase Ink Business Cash is devoid of many significant perks outside of its rewards-earning, but does have some handy benefits to help with your business.
Free employee cards
If it would be beneficial for your employees to have their own card, you can do so for free with the Ink Business Cash. You can request multiple employee cards, earn rewards for spending on each of them, and even set spending limits on individual cards.
Insurance and purchase protection
The Chase Ink Business Cash card offers some strong insurance and purchase protections. Eligible purchases are covered for up to 120 days against damage or theft, up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 per account. Plus, the warranties of U.S.-made products are extended another year.
You’ll also get rental car insurance, protection for fraudulent purchases, and even a service that offers legal advice abroad.
Who’s this card for?
The Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card is perfect for businesses that make significant purchases at office supply stores or on internet, cable and phone services. With no annual fee and earnings heavily geared towards office costs, it represents a strong opportunity for a young or seasoned company to maximize its big-spending categories.
Companies with a remote setup or that have different types of expenses may want to check out some of Chase’s other options.
The Point
The Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card is a high rewards–earning product with no annual fee. While the cash back earning is strong, combining it with an Ultimate Rewards earning card can bring you significantly more value.
- Best for: Cash Back on Business Expenses
- Annual Fee: $0
- Regular APR: 17.99% - 25.99% (Variable)
- Reward Rate: 1X - 5X
- Recommended Credit: 670-850
Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
$750 Cash-Back
Offer Details:
Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.
Why we like it
The Ink Business Cash Card pulls attention with its big intro bonus, currently sitting at up to $750 of cash back. The card has no annual fee and reward spending categories like 5% cash back (5x points) on purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services (up $25,000 per year).
Also, you can supercharge the Ink Cash’s rewards if you have a companion Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred. You can pool your points and make them more valuable by transferring them to Chase’s travel partners like Hyatt, United Airlines, British Airways and more.
Reward details
5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services each account anniversary year
2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year
1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn
Pros & Cons
Pros
$750 welcome bonus
No annual fee
If you have another Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred, you can pool your points and make them more valuable. You’ll be able to transfer your points to Chase’s travel partners like Marriott, Air Canada, Southwest, United, and more.
Cons
It does lack some of the juicier benefits attached to other business credit cards likes the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. But with no annual fee, it’s hard to argue with its value proposition.
It’s subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule. So if you’ve opened five cards in the last two years, you’re most likely not going to be accepted.
by your friends at The Daily Navigator
