Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card Review

If you’re a small business owner who’s looking to get rewarded for your company-related spending and occasional travel, you can squeeze a lot out of the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card.

Along with offering valuable rewards on business expenses — including shipping, search engine and social media advertising, travel and internet, cable and phone services — you can earn a huge influx of rewards from the card’s sign-up bonus. Plus, rewards are worth 25% more when you redeem them for travel through Chase’s travel portal.

On the downside, the card does have a $95 annual fee, and you’ll have to spend quite a bit to earn its sign-up bonus: $15,000 in the first three months of account opening. If you’re not confident you could hit that threshold, you may be better off with the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card, which offers a $0 annual fee and easier-to-earn sign-up bonus.

• Huge sign-up bonus

  As a new cardholder, you’ll earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This sign-up bonus is generally valued at $1,000, but if you redeem those rewards for travel through Chase’s travel portal, it will be worth $1,250.

• Rewards in popular business spending and travel

  With the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, you’ll earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases-with no limit to the amount you can earn.

  The following purchases are eligible for the elevated rewards rates:

  • The travel category includes airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, taxis, toll bridges, parking lots and more.
  • The shipping category is defined as merchants that specialize in mailing packages, hauling freight and transporting goods or documents, such as couriers, postal and freight shipping companies, express shipping services and mailbox stores.
  • The internet, cable and phone services category includes internet, cable, satellite television and radio, cellular, wireless data and landline services purchases.
  • Social media and search engine advertising covers social media websites (such as Facebook and Twitter) and search engines (such as Google AdWords and Microsoft Bing Ads) that advertise a business, brand, products or services.

• Valuable rewards redemption options

  When you redeem your Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card points for cash or gift cards, they’re worth 1 cent each. But if you redeem them for airfare, hotel stays, car rentals, activities or cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards, they’ll be worth 25% more — boosting the value to $1.25 cents each.

  This means, if you max out the annual $150,000 spend cap on eligible shipping and advertising purchases, you’ll get $4,500 in rewards value if you redeem those points for cash or gift cards. If you redeem those points for travel through Chase’s travel portal, they’ll be worth $5,625.

  You can also transfer Ultimate Rewards points at a rate of 1:1 to several airline and hotel loyalty programs, including British Airways Executive Club, Emirates Skywards®, JetBlue TrueBlue, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®, United MileagePlus®, Marriott Bonvoy™ and more.

• Steep sign-up bonus spend requirement

  The Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card requires you to spend $15,000 in the first three months to earn the sign-up bonus. While this may be easily doable for many businesses, it can be a very high threshold if you’re a freelancer or someone just starting out your business.

• Annual fee

  With the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, you’ll be responsible for paying a $95 annual fee.

  However, the value you can get from the card’s sign-up bonus more than covers that amount during the first year of card membership.

• No introductory APR on purchases

  If you’re hoping to finance a large business purchase, such as office furniture or travel, and pay it off over time, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card isn’t your best option.

  Instead, you may want to consider a business credit card that offers an interest-free period on purchases for a year or longer, like the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card.

Compare it to the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card

 

If you’d prefer to earn cash back rewards from a business credit card that doesn’t charge an annual fee, the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card may be a better fit.

The $0-annual-fee card lets you earn 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. Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn.

You’ll also 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. While this is a less valuable sign-up bonus than that of the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card, keep in mind that the spend requirement to earn the bonus is also lower.

In addition, if you plan to carry a balance from month to month, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card lets you do so without incurring interest charges for a year. The card comes with a 0% Intro APR on Purchases for 12 months. Once the promotional period ends, a regular APR of 17.99% - 23.99% variable will apply.

For a reasonable $95 annual fee, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card is an excellent small business credit card. The card offers a hefty sign-up bonus and valuable rewards — which can help offset the cost of your business expenses.

But if you prefer a $0-annual-fee card that offers cash back at office supply stores, gas stations, restaurants and more, the Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card may be a better choice. Plus, since this card offers a long intro APR on purchases, it would be helpful if you plan to carry a balance on your card from month to month.