The Chase Ink Business Cash® Card is a well-liked option for small businesses due to its generous sign-up bonus, absence of an annual fee, and the possibility of earning 5 percent cash back on certain categories of spending. In essence, it’s the cash-back, no-annual-fee alternative to the Chase Ink Business Preferred, which offers a points-based rewards system but has an annual fee of $95.
If you’re a small company owner who would rather not deal with a points-based rewards system but would still like to get cash back on regular expenses like office supplies, petrol, and restaurant meals, consider applying for a Chase Ink Business Cash credit card. When compared to other business credit cards that don’t charge an annual fee, this one offers one of the greatest cash-back rewards schemes.
Because there is no purchase interest for the first year, this card is ideal for making a big buy right away with no concern about the cost.
It’s possible to get Chase Ink Business Cash even if you’re a one-person show who doesn’t consider yourself a business owner. Chase just asks the principal cardholder to confirm that the card will be used for business purposes and that they are the owner or authorized representative of a legally recognized business entity, including a single proprietorship.
Important Characteristics
Sign-up Bonus
You can get a $750 cash bonus after making a minimum purchase of $7,500 within the first three months of opening your account. This bonus can be used toward anything from a statement credit to a bank account deposit to Ultimate Rewards merchandise to travel to a special experience, like a dinner cruise.
Earning and Redeeming Cash Back Rewards
If you use Ink Business Cash, you can get 5% cash back on office supply and telecommunications purchases (including cell phone, landline, Internet, and cable TV) for up to $25,000 annually, 2% cash back on gas station and restaurant purchases for up to $25,000 annually, and an unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
After the yearly maximum of $25,000 has been reached, an unlimited 1% cash back will be awarded for any further purchases made in either the 5% or 2% categories. On the day that your account was established, we will begin and conclude each “year.”
Purchases made through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards shopping site, vacation purchases, and unique experiences like cooking classes and dinner cruises are all eligible for redemption with your accrued cash back.
Employee Cards with No Fees
You may request as many Ink Business Cash cards as needed at no cost for approved workers. Primary cards and employee cards both receive points at the same rate.
Ink App
The free Chase Ink app offers several useful features, including the ability to monitor spending in real time, assign categories to transactions for easy categorization, modify spending restrictions for authorized cardholders (employees), and do historical expenditure analysis. You can get free, instant notifications detailing the location, purchase, and amount of all employee purchases.
Chase Checkout
Like Square for Business, Chase Checkout is a mobile POS solution that enables you to take credit card payments from customers anywhere there’s a Wi-Fi or 4G connection.
Mobile card swipers (dongles) that attach to your phone or tablet are included with the mobile version of Chase Checkout. Chase Checkout is a different application that requires a $25 monthly minimum and extra payment processing fees (2.75% to 3.75% of the total transaction value).
Introductory APR
The promotional APR for this card is 0% for a period of 12 months. Then, the standard variable APR kicks in, which at the moment ranges from 15.49% to 21.49%.
Important Fees
There is no yearly charge associated with Ink Business Cash. The fees for cash advances ($15) and balance transfers ($5 or 5%, whichever is larger) are fixed, whereas the fee for overseas transactions is 3% of the transaction amount.
Purchase Security
The Purchase Protection plan from Chase covers damage and theft up to $10,000 per item, redeemable for replacement or repair. There is a limit of $50,000 per account and the benefit period is 120 days from the date of purchase.
Extended Warranty Coverage
All warranties with initial lengths of three years or less are eligible for a free 12-month extension under Chase’s Extended Warranty Protection plan.
Credit Required
You need exceptional to good credit to qualify for Chase Ink Business Cash.
Benefits
- The Sign-Up Bonus Is Very Generous. The sign-up bonus for this card is $700. That’s far better than the norm in the area of small company credit cards with no annual charge.
- There is no yearly cost. There are no yearly charges with Ink Business Cash. That’s what sets it distinct from other business reward credit cards, such as Capital One’s Spark Cash for Business.
- Adaptable Procedures for Redeeming Rewards. You may use your Ink Business Cash rewards on anything you choose, including a statement credit, a bank account deposit, travel, general items, gift cards, and even exotic experiences, just like with Chase Freedom and other famous Chase rewards credit cards. Capital One Spark Classic for Business (statement credits and bank account deposits only) and U.S.
- Bank Business Edge WorldElite (statement credits, bank account deposits, and gift cards only) are two other examples of business credit cards that do not charge an annual fee but have significantly more limited functionality.
- All Purchases for the First Year Carry No Interest. In the world of company credit cards with no annual fee, Ink Business Cash’s 12-month 0% APR deal stands out as uncommon.
- Employee ID Cards are Free of Charge. There is never any fee associated with adding authorized users to your Ink Business Cash account. That’s a great bonus if you want to issue Ink Business Cash cards to a large number of workers. However, American Express’s Business Platinum Card imposes a hefty fee on additional cardholders.
- Making a payment is easy with Chase Checkout. Because it doesn’t need the use of cumbersome cash registers or payment terminals, Chase Checkout is a perfect option for small, mobile enterprises. Capital One is only one of several business card issuers that doesn’t have its own payment processing system.
Drawbacks
- The Bar for the Welcome Bonus Is Set Pretty High. To qualify for Ink Business Cash’s $750 sign-up bonus, you must spend $7,500 within three months. For successful, well-established companies, this is no problem at all, but for lean, startup operations, it may be more challenging.
- Costs associated with making payments in a foreign currency are rather high. The 3% international transaction cost charged by Ink Business Cash is greater than the fees charged by many of its rivals. There are no fees for making international purchases with either Capital One Spark Cash or Capital One Spark Miles for Business.
- High cost to transfer a balance. The balance transfer charge for Ink Business Cash is $5 or 5% of the amount transferred, whichever is larger. That’s $25 on a transfer of $500. Capital One Spark Miles Select and Cash Select, on the other hand, provide 0% intro APR on balance transfers for the first 18 months. In addition, many other corporate credit cards have far lower transfer fees, as low as 3%. This would reduce the cost of a $500 transfer by $10.
- Both the 5% and 2% categories have low spending maximums. The annual spending limit for both the 5% and 2% categories in Ink Business Cash is $25,000. In the realm of commercial credit cards, where $50,000 or $100,000 limits (or none at all) are more typical, that sum seems somewhat low. The 3% category on the U.S. Bank Business Edge WorldElite MasterCard, for instance, does not have a spending cap.
Bottom Line
Although the Chase Ink Business Cash® Card is a fantastic tool for many entrepreneurs, not all of them will qualify for this line of credit. As a result, business owners that often rack up large bills may find it difficult to make full use of the benefits offered by the Ink Business Cash credit card.
If your company’s spending is expected to consistently surpass $25,000 annually in the 5% and 2% categories, you may want to consider upgrading to the Chase Ink Business Preferred ($95 annual fee) or another business rewards card more suited to bigger enterprises.
If a business owner is currently downsizing or trying to reduce credit card use, Ink Business Cash may be an excellent option. However, extremely tiny firms or resourceful lone proprietors shouldn’t apply for the Ink Business Cash credit card because the sign-up bonus requires spending $7,500 within the first three months and the fee-free employee card feature is pointless for those without several employees.
