Chase Ink Business Premier℠ Review: Is It Actually Worth It?

Small business owners looking to earn rewards on their purchases can apply for the Chase Ink Business Premier Credit Card. High-spending companies may benefit from its earning rates. Additionally, the $195 annual fee shouldn’t be a problem if you spend enough.

However, in a significant departure from prior Chase business cards, your rewards cannot be transferred to other Chase credit cards or travel partners. Let’s examine the specifics of this Chase Ink Business Premier Credit Card review to determine whether this card is appropriate for your company.

Is the Chase Ink Business Premier credit card for you?

The Chase Ink Business Premier makes sense if you frequently incur significant business expenses of more than $5,000. This is because purchases totaling $5,000 or more qualify for 2.5% cashback.

However, not every business owner makes purchases worth $5,000 or more, so not everyone will find this card and its $195 annual fee useful. Even though other credit cards can offer comparable earning rates at lower annual fees, the 2% cashback earning rate on all other business purchases is relatively decent.

Chase Ink Business Premier credit card benefits

• Spend $10,000 in the first three months on purchases to receive a $1,000 bonus cash back.
• Earn 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more, 2.5% cash back on all other business purchases, and 5% cash back on travel purchases made through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
• Utilize your Flex for the Business limit to make interest-bearing payments on eligible purchases over time.
• Redeem points for cash back, travel, gift cards, Apple products, online purchases through PayPal and Amazon, and cash back.
• Avoid paying foreign transaction fees when making purchases abroad.
• When you use your Chase Ink Business Premier card, you’ll get protection for your cell phone, extended warranty, and purchases.

Cons to the Chase Ink Business Premier Credit Card

• The annual cost of the Chase Ink Business Premier is $195. Whether this annual fee is justified will depend on how much use you make of this card. The best business credit cards frequently have low or no annual fees.
• It’s a charge card, this one. Charge cards don’t let you carry a balance and don’t have a set spending limit. You must pay all charges with your Chase Ink Business Premier card in full each month to avoid incurring late fees. The only exception is using the Flex for the Business feature to make eligible purchases.
• The Chase Ink Business Premier Credit Card allows users to accumulate Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Still, they cannot transfer these bonus points to other Chase credit cards or travel partners. This restricts the range of redemption possibilities.

How to earn and redeem cash back

Best ways to earn

The best way to earn rewards with the Chase Ink Business Premier is to use it as frequently as possible in the bonus categories with the highest payouts. This includes receiving 5% cash back on trips booked using Chase Ultimate Rewards.

When you make large purchases with your Chase Ink Business Premier card for business purposes, you can earn 2.5% on purchases of $5,000 or more. For instance, using this rate, you can get $250 in rewards when you spend $10,000.

It’s important to remember that some other Capital One and American Express credit cards offer comparable earning rates with a lower annual fee. These cards consist of:

• Capital One Spark Miles for Business: Offers 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel for $95 (the first year is waived) and 2X miles on all purchases made daily.
• Capital One Spark Cash Plus: Offers 2% cash back on all daily purchases for a $150 annual fee, plus 5% cash back on lodging and rental cars reserved through Capital One Travel.
• The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express: Offers 2X Membership Rewards points on regular, qualifying business purchases up to $50,000 annually (terms apply), and 1X points on qualifying purchases above that. There is no annual fee.

Getting the most of redemptions

The Chase Ink Business Premier has several redemption options:

• Cash back: Obtain a statement credit or a deposit into a checking or savings account that qualifies.
• Travel: Utilize your points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards website to book travel-related purchases like trips, lodging, rentals, activities, and cruises.
• Online shopping: Use your points to pay for items with PayPal and Chase for Apple or Amazon product purchases.
• Gift cards: A gift card or certificate can be obtained from one of the participating businesses.

Generally speaking, regardless of the redemption option you select, you receive a value of 1 cent per point for your cashback rewards. Therefore, 10,000 points typically equal $100.

One exception is making use of Amazon’s Shop with Points program. For each point, this program only offers 0.8 cents. In this case, 10,000 points are worth $80, which is a much lower value. To avoid losing value, it may be more reasonable to use the cashback redemption option and make purchases on Amazon with cash.

Chase Ink Business Premier Credit Card FAQs

Does getting a Chase Ink Business Premier credit card cause a hard pull?

Absolutely, if you apply for one of Chase’s credit cards, including the Chase Ink Business Premier, they will typically run a hard pull on your credit report. According to consumer data, Chase obtains credit report data from all three major credit bureaus, but Experian is typically used the most. Nevertheless, depending on where you live, Equifax or TransUnion data may be retrieved.

Do Ink cards appear on credit reports?

The majority of the time, business credit cards, including Ink cards, do not show up on personal credit reports. You probably won’t find any Chase Ink business cards on your personal credit report unless you’ve missed payments or the debt was sent to collections, though there may be a few exceptions to this rule.

Is it difficult to get Chase business cards?

Your credit score and other factors determine how difficult it is to get a Chase business card. To be eligible for a Chase business card, you typically need to have at least a 670 FICO score, which is considered good or excellent credit. All Chase credit cards also adhere to the Chase 5/24 rule. This unwritten rule states that if you have opened five or more personal credit card accounts with any issuer in the previous 24 months, Chase may not approve any new card applications from you.

Can I add employees to my Ink Business Premier card?

Yes, you can add employees at no additional cost to the Chase Ink Business Premier and other Chase Ink business credit cards. Any employee that you add to a Chase Ink business credit card is referred to as an authorized user. This implies that unless you set up individual limits, they will all have access to the card’s credit limits equally.

What credit bureau does Chase report to?

For prospective customers, Chase obtains credit reports from all three credit bureaus. This includes Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, but according to consumer data, Chase tends to use Experian most frequently. However, depending on where you live, Chase may use a different credit bureau for hard pulls.

Other cards to consider

You can compare credit cards and their offers to find a better choice if the Ink Business Premier doesn’t seem to be the best fit for your small business. The two cards listed below can serve as suitable substitutes:

In comparison to the Ink Business Premier’s $195 annual fee, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a lower $95 annual fee. For travel redemptions through the Chase travel portal, this card’s points have a 25% higher value. Additionally, you can transfer your points to airline or hotel partners and combine points from other Chase credit cards onto the Ink Business Preferred.

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases and has a $0 annual fee. If you want a lower annual fee and don’t frequently make purchases that are more than $5,000, the Ink Business Unlimited is more beneficial than the Ink Business Premier. The rewards you receive from the Ink Business Unlimited can also be combined with those from other Chase credit cards, such as the Ink Business Preferred and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.