The *Ink Unlimited* and the *Ink Cash* are two of the best no-annual-fee business credit cards on the market. If you're a small business owner (and trust us, you might be), these cards and their massive bonuses warrant a good hard look for your business.
So what's at stake? With the current offers, you can earn up $750 cash back (or 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points) with both cards. But exactly how the bonus works will depend on which version of the card you choose.
- With the *chase ink cash*, it's broken up into two tiers. You can earn $350 (or 35,000 points) after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 (or 40,000 points) after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.
- With the *chase ink unlimited* you can earn $750 (or 75,000 points) after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
So long as you can responsibly meet either card's $6,000 spending requirement, you won't find a better or cheaper way to earn a big bonus.
While these cards technically earn cash back, you can turn that into valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points so long as you hold another Chase card that earns them, including the *chase sapphire preferred*, the *chase sapphire reserve*, or even the *chase ink preferred*. That means those 75,000 points are worth over $900 in travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal or potentially much more by using Chase's transfer partners like Hyatt, United, Southwest Airlines, and more.
But remember: Whether it's a personal card or for a small business, credit cards are serious business. You should never apply for a credit card unless you can afford to pay off every dime you charge.
Read on for everything you need to know about the Ink Unlimited and Ink Cash cards.
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Racking up points in a hurry is easy with Ink Unlimited, as you'll earn 1.5% cash back (or 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points) on every dollar you spend.
When you factor in the ability to earn 1.5% cash back on the $6,000 you'll need to spend to earn the 75,000-point welcome offer bonus, you'll end up with about 84,000 points when all is said and done. That's as big of a bonus as you'll find on a card that doesn't charge an annual fee.
While this card is marketed as a cashback card rather than a points-earning card, the cashback is actually earned in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. If you also hold a personal or business credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points, like the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred, you can move the “points” over from your Ink Business Unlimited for even more redemption options.
Full Benefits of the Chase Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card
- Welcome Offer: *Ink Unlimited Bonus*
- Earn unlimited 1.5x points (1.5% cash back) on all business purchases
- Earn 5x points (5% cash back) on Lyft rides through March 2025.
- Primary rental car collision and damage waiver coverage
- Lost luggage insurance of up to $3,000 per person per trip
- Add employee cards at no additional cost
- Foreign Transaction Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction in U.S. dollars
- Annual Fee: None
Learn more about the *chase ink unlimited*.
Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
Many people think of the Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card as the small business equivalent of the Chase Freedom Flex℠. That's because like the Freedom Flex, you can earn 5% back on select business spending categories on up to $25,000 each year – although the categories don't rotate quarterly as they do on the Freedom Flex card.
Much like the Ink Unlimited card, the Chase Ink Business Cash doesn’t earn points outright. But so long as you’ve already got another Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards in your wallet, you can turn that cashback into points to use for booking travel.
That means if you earn the full bonus, you can then use the $750 cashback as 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, sending the points over to Chase transfer partners to book flights and hotels … or booking travel directly through the Chase travel portal.
Full Benefits of the Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card
- Welcome Offer: *ink cash bonus*
- 10% Relationship Bonus: Chase Ink Cash cards opened between March 17 and Nov. 17, 2024, can get a 10% bonus on all rewards earned in the first year (sign-up and referral bonus points are ineligible). In order to be eligible for the one-time bonus you also need to have a Chase Business Checking account open on your cardmember anniversary date.
- 5x points (5% cash back) on office supply purchases; internet, phone and cable service charges (up to $25,000 in combined spending each account anniversary year).
- 2x points (2% cash back) at restaurants and gas stations (up to $25,000 in combined spending each account anniversary year).
- 1x points (1% cash back) on all other eligible spending
- Primary rental car collision and damage waiver coverage
- Lost luggage insurance of up to $3,000 per person per trip
- Add employee cards at no additional cost
- Foreign Transaction Fee: 3% of the amount of each transaction in U.S. dollars
- Annual Fee: None
Learn more about the *Ink Cash*.
So Which Chase Ink Card is Best?
That’s a tough one. There's no one-size-fits-all answer: It really depends on your small business's spending patterns.
If you’re paying serious dollars every month for telecommunications or office supplies for your business, the Chase Ink Business Cash card's 5x points (5% cash back) on internet, cable, and phone service and at office supply stores is second to none.
Meanwhile, the Chase Ink Business Unlimited is about as good of an all-around spending card as you’ll find – especially for having no annual fee. If none of the spending categories above stick out but you’ll still be racking up some serious business expenses, earning 1.5x points (1.5% cash back) on all purchases is a stellar return.
Read next: Which Chase Ink card offers the best return for your business?
Keep in mind: Chase doesn't restrict you from having both cards, so that's an option.
One thing to note: Both of these cards charge foreign transaction fees. That means if you have upcoming international travel, you'll want to make sure to have a card in your wallet that won't charge those pesky foreign conversion fees.
Read our master guide to the Chase Ink Business Credit Cards!
Special Considerations with Chase Ink Business Cards
If you’ve applied for or read about Chase credit cards, you’ve likely come across the bank's dreaded 5/24 rule.
Chase won’t accept applications if you’ve opened five or more cards in the last 24 months from any bank – not just Chase. With business cards, that same rule applies … kind of.
For starters, you will need to be under the 5/24 limit to get approved for a Chase Ink Business card … but that approval won't add to your 5/24 count. So if you've opened three or four credit cards in the last two years, it might be the perfect time to apply for one of these cards. That way, it won’t hinder any applications for other future Chase cards.
And there’s one other detail that makes these cards even more alluring. While Chase restricts earning bonuses on both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve, that’s not true of the Ink Business family. You can stack welcome bonuses from several of these cards so long as you can get approved.
But Chase can be very stingy with approvals for business credit cards. Be prepared to provide business paperwork and answer a lot of questions – though that won't always be the case.
Read our master guide to credit card applications.
Bottom Line
Chase is currently offering $750 cash back (or 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points) on both the Chase Ink Business Cash and Ink Business Unlimited Cards after spending $6,000 in the first three months.
If either card makes sense for your business – and they likely do – you'll be hard pressed to find better bonus offers than these.
Learn more about the *chase ink cash*.
Learn more about the *chase ink unlimited*.
How does one turn the cash back into reward points?
You have to have a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Assuming you do, this guide walks through how to do it.
https://thriftytraveler.com/guides/points/how-to-transfer-points-between-your-chase-cards/
Still don’t understand. I have Chase Ink and Chase Sapphire already. I want to apply for another Ink. It says $900 cash back. I don’t want cash, I want 90,000 UR points. Exactly how does one go about “transferring cashback value“ into points? Do I need to call Chase? When I get this new Chase ink card, will it show 90,000 points or only $900?
It’s quite simple for me to transfer my current Ink to CSR points but I don’t understand this cash back part.
It’s the same process as your current Ink card.
Any idea how long the 90,000 bonus will last?
I wanted to take advantage of the bonus categories on the Freedom Flex this quarter before I opened a new card with a minimum spend – but now I’m not sure I should wait since this is such a good offer.
We don’t know for sure. It’s been around since last summer, but it could end at any time.
Several other sites say “scheduled to end March 21, 2023 at 9am EST.”
P2 closed their account in October 2022 but got their signup bonus in 2020. Would they still be eligible for this offer?
They should be eligible as the restriction is from when you last earned a bonus. You can’t earn another bonus if you earned the last one within 24 months. You will also need to be underneath the Chase 5/24 rule.
Applied last week 3/6/2023, but my account is showing the promotion is 75,000 points instead of 90,000. I escalated to marketing team, anyone having the same issue?
Does the $6000 spend have to be on business expenses? Does Chase look at or monitor that? I have my own business and should get approved for the card no problem and could easily spend the $6000 to get the bonus but it wouldn’t be on business expenses. I would only use it for business expenses after achieving the bonus, but would need to make non-business purchases to hit the $6000.
What if you don’t spend the $6000 in 3 months?
You won’t earn the bonus.
I’d like to apply for both cards. However, I’m waiting on one of my current CC’s to report that its balance has been paid in full. (Full payment was sent on Friday and should post by mid-week. The statement closes on 04/07). This way I can qualify for a higher credit line, which I could use. My current FICO with Experian is 839 but will be closer to 850 after my one remaining balance is brought down to zero. So, my question is how much time do I have left before this deal expires? How much longer can I wait?
I had signed up for the both the Ink Cash and unlimited over a year ago when the welcome offer was 90,000 UR.
I have since closed the ink cash and kept the ink unlimited as it was a better fit and benefits for my business at the time.
I have made a few transitions and would now get more benefits from the ink cash card now.
Is it possible to sign up for the ink cash again under the new welcome offer and receive it even if I received the last welcome offer less than two years ago? I can’t find any language like it used to state, that says you can’t earn a welcome offer again after a specific period of time?