Ink Business Cash® Credit Card review

The Ink Business Cash Credit Card is a decent card for small-business owners who don’t want the hassle of trying to earn enough rewards to cover an annual fee and who spend heavily on office supplies and other typical business expenses like internet, cable and phone services. The cash back rate on the Ink Business Cash card is hard to beat in these categories and the card also boasts a generous rewards rate in the popular categories of gas and dining.

The card also comes with a next-level sign-up bonus and charges no annual fee, making this a solid choice for business owners looking to add a worry-free option to their wallet.

Why you might want the Ink Business Cash Credit Card

The Ink Business Cash Credit card carries a generous rewards rate in multiple popular business spending categories and can be especially valuable when paired with another Chase Ultimate Rewards card that earns highly in everyday spending categories. On top of that, the card has no annual fee and you have a chance to secure a very generous sign-up bonus and intro APR.

Impressive sign-up bonus

The Ink Business Cash card is currently offering a terrific bonus – $350 if you spend $3,000 in your first three months and an additional $400 if you spend $6,000 in your first six months as a cardholder. Although that’s a $150 drop from the card’s all-time high bonus, it’s still quite generous. It’s also a more flexible improvement over its most recent bonus, which required you to spend $6,000 in your first three months to earn the same $750 bonus.

Generous cash back for business expenses

The Ink Business Cash card offers 5% cash back on internet, cable and phone services and at office supply stores (on up to $25,000 in purchases per year), making it a great choice for small-business owners who spend heavily in these categories. The card also offers 2% cash back on gas and dining (up to $25,000 in purchases per year) and 1% cash back on other purchases.

This is a top-tier rewards rate for a card with no annual fee – as long as it matches your business spending. The 5% rewards category can be incredibly lucrative, even with a spend cap, but be careful not to increase your spending just to earn more rewards. While the cash back is generous, it should not encourage you to spend more than is reasonable to keep your business afloat.

See related: Make the most of the Chase Ink cards’ bonus categories

Most redemption options retain value

Once you’ve earned cash back with the Ink Business Cash card, you have a few different redemption options. Beyond the traditional statement credit or direct deposit, you can use your rewards for travel purchases, Apple products and more. Just keep in mind that you might not get as much value out of your rewards depending on how you redeem them.

Ink Business Cash redemption options

You also have the option to transfer rewards earned on the Ink Business Cash card to another Chase Ultimate Rewards card to potentially boost their value. For example, the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card offers a 25% higher point value when redeemed for travel through Chase Travel. If you transfer points earned on the Ink Business Cash card to the Ink Business Preferred, you can boost their value to up to 1.25 cents per point.

See Related: Best ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points

Useful for financing large expenses

On top of a great rewards rate, the Ink Business Cash card comes with a 0% introductory APR on new purchases for the first 12 months (17.99% to 25.99% variable thereafter). This is a huge perk for cardholders looking to finance a bigger purchase over time without racking up interest charges, and isn’t ubiquitous among business cards. Of course, don’t take on more debt than you can pay off in the introductory period, or you could end up paying quite a bit in interest. While the intro APR can be a great way to slowly pay off larger expenses, you should avoid using it in place of a loan to fund your business.

Chase point-transfer is flexible

Chase has a very flexible point-transfer policy, allowing Ink Business Cash cardholders to transfer any rewards they earn on their card to another Ultimate Rewards card. This is a particularly valuable perk, as transferring your points can potentially increase their value. For example, transferring your Ink Business Cash Rewards to the Ink Business Preferred card and redeeming them for travel through the Chase Travel portal gives them a 25% higher point value, and if you transfer to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, your points can be worth as much as 50% more redeemed for travel through Chase Travel.

See Related: Why are Chase Ultimate Rewards points so valuable?

Plus, premium Ultimate Rewards cardholders (Ink Business Preferred, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve) have the option to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to a varied list of travel partners. Since many airline and hotel loyalty programs have a point value higher than 1 cent, this is another way to potentially stretch your rewards.

A handful of noteworthy perks for small-business owners

In addition to the bank’s normal app, Chase offers an app designed specifically for Ink cardholders. It comes loaded with helpful perks for small business owners, including the ability to visualize purchases and set purchase alerts, create your own purchase categories, save receipts in-app and update employee spend limits.

Another benefit to the Ink Business Cash card is that additional employee cards are issued at no extra cost. You can also set individual spending limits on each employee card to ensure you are keeping control of your funds.

The Ink Business Cash card also offers a variety of other perks that can save you money when shopping and traveling. Here’s a quick look at some of the most valuable benefits:

• Purchase protection – If an item you purchase with your Ink card is damaged or stolen in the first 120 days, you can be covered up to $10,000 per claim (max $50,000 per account).
• Extended warranty – For purchases made with your card, you can extend eligible manufacturer’s warranties of three years or less by an additional year.
• Car rental insurance – When you book and pay for a car rental with your Ink Business Cash card, you’ll receive primary coverage in the case of damage or theft.
• Travel and emergency assistance services – If you are on a business trip in an unfamiliar location and need medical referrals or other emergency assistance, you can call the benefits administrator for your card for quick help.

To take full advantage of these protections, put all major purchases on the Ink Business Cash card.

Why you might want a different business rewards card

The Ink Business Cash card is a solid no annual fee rewards card that will help you earn cash back on many common business expenses, but if you don’t spend heavily in its bonus categories, it will likely fall short of many flat-rate business cards due to its unimpressive rate on general purchases. Like most business cards, the Ink Business Cash card also comes with strict approval odds, requiring good to excellent personal credit to qualify.

Not ideal for general spending

We estimate the average business doesn’t spend enough in the Ink Business Cash card’s bonus categories to boost its overall rewards value. In fact, we estimate that the typical business owner who used the Ink Business Cash card for all of their spending and spent $4,000 per month would earn an average cash back rate of 1.47%, which falls short of the rock-bottom rate you’ll find on most flat-rate business rewards cards.

While it’s true that businesses that spend more than average on office supplies, internet or cable can significantly boost this rate, businesses that don’t spend heavily in these categories might be better off opting for a flat rate option like the Capital One Spark Cash Plus card. And though the Spark Cash Plus has a $150 annual fee, it earns a best-in-class 2% flat rate, which should give it an edge in rewards value even over no annual fee cards if you use it for most of your spending.

Requires good personal credit

The Ink Business Cash card is designed for users with good to excellent credit (670 – 850 FICO score), so you’ll want to ensure you meet those qualifications before you apply. Additionally, since the card is a small business credit card, you’ll be required to provide information such as annual revenue, number of employees and tax identification number (or SSN if you are a sole proprietorship) in addition to personal information.

Since the Ink Business Cash card is issued by Chase, you’ll also be subject the 5/24 rule to qualify. That means if you’ve opened five or more credit cards with any issuer in the past 24 months, you likely won’t be approved for this card.

How does the Ink Business Cash card compare to other business cards?

Though the Ink Business Cash card is very rewarding for users who spend heavily on office supplies, internet, and cable and phone services, it might not be the best option for every small business owner. Here’s a quick look at some of our most popular alternatives:

Ink Business Cash vs. Capital One Spark Cash Plus

If you don’t spend heavily in a particular category, the Capital One Spark Cash for Business card offers one of the best flat cash back rates you can get on a business rewards card. It comes with a $150 annual fee, but that should be fairly easy to offset with steady rewards on all business spending. And since it’s a charge card, the Spark Cash Plus comes with no preset spending limit (though, on the other hand, you also can’t carry a balance with the card and it features no intro APR offer).

Ink Business Cash vs. Ink Business Unlimited card

Another card in the Ultimate Rewards family, the Ink Business Unlimited card offers a flat rate of cash back on all purchases, rather than bonuses in particular categories. Cardholders earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase. If you don’t weigh your spending heavily to one category, but still want to earn Ultimate Rewards, the Ink Business Unlimited is a great alternative to the Ink Business Cash card.

See related: Chase Ink Business Cash vs. Ink Business Unlimited

Ink Business Cash vs. Blue Business Plus card from American Express

The Blue Business Plus card from American Express also offers a flat rewards rate on all purchases, but it comes with a spend cap of $50,000 per year before the rate drops to 1 point per dollar. While 2 points per dollar is generous for a card with no annual fee, the Blue Business Plus is best suited for businesses with a lower annual spend who won’t meet the cap early in the year.

How to use the Chase Ink Business Cash card:

• Use the card for all gas, dining, internet, cable and phone service and office supply store purchases to earn bonus points.
• Set individual spend limits on employee cards to manage your funds.
• Consider pairing the card with another Chase Ultimate Rewards card to take advantage of easy point transfers and a potentially higher point value.
• Avoid carrying a balance after the introductory APR for new purchases ends, so as not to accrue interest.
• Shop through the Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal to earn extra points.

Is the Ink Business Cash card right for you?

For businesses that spend a lot on office supplies, cable and phone services and internet, you can’t beat the rewards rate on the Ink Business Cash card – especially since it doesn’t charge an annual fee.

If you don’t spend heavily in the bonus categories, however, you might be better off opting for a flat-rate card. This will earn you the same rate on all purchases without the added hassle of managing category-specific purchases – giving you more time to focus on running your business.