There are lots of businesses that leave rewards on the table by not using the most rewarding business credit cards. In this post, I’d like to take an in-depth look at the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card — this is a credit card that I personally have, and it’s one that I love.
Of Chase’s excellent collection of Ink business cards — including the Cash, Preferred, and Unlimited — the Ink Cash is the card with the biggest bonus categories, and which can potentially earn you huge amounts of Ultimate Rewards points.
Much like with the Chase Ink Unlimited, there’s a trick to maximizing the rewards you earn on this card, though. The “Cash” part of the card’s name can be deceiving, since you’ll get the most value out of the card by not choosing to earn cash as your reward.
Link: Learn more about the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card with 75,000 points ($750 cash back)
Chase Ink Business Cash Card basics
There are so many great reasons to get the Chase Ink Business Cash, from the fact it has no annual fee, to its excellent welcome bonus, to the valuable purchase protection it offers. While some credit cards are straightforward, the Chase Ink Cash requires you to know what you’re doing. But if you do know what you’re doing, this card will prove hugely useful.
Chase Ink Cash welcome bonus: $750 or 75,000 points
At the moment, the Chase Ink Business Cash is offering a welcome bonus of 75,000 bonus points (or $750 cash back) when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months after account opening. I consider this to be the best welcome bonus offered by any no annual fee card out there.
On the surface this is a cash back card, meaning that the 75,000 points are worth $750 cash back. However, you can potentially convert these rewards into “full” Ultimate Rewards points, which I value at 1.7 cents each, so to me that bonus is worth $1,275. Yes, on a no annual fee card. That’s incredible.
Chase Ink Cash no annual fee
The Ink Business Cash has no annual fee. Getting a no annual fee card that’s super rewarding is rare, especially when you consider the value of the welcome bonus. This is a card that you can keep long term, and it won’t cost you anything.
I’d argue that this is one of the two most compelling no annual fee business cards, along with The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express ((Rates & Fees)), which offers 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 spent each calendar year (and 1x points after that).
Chase Ink Cash rewards: Up to 5% cash back or 5x points
What really sets the Chase Ink Business Cash apart is the incredible points earning rates that the card offers. The Chase Ink Cash offers 2-5% cash back (or 2-5x points) in select bonus categories:
- The Ink Business Cash Card offers 5% cash back (or 5x points) on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per cardmember year on office supply stores, internet, cable TV, mobile phones, and landlines
- The Ink Business Cash Card offers 2% cash back (or 2x points) on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per cardmember year on restaurants and gas stations
- The Ink Business Cash Card offers 1% cash back (or 1x points) on all other purchases
Those are potentially some really awesome bonus categories — there are plenty of businesses that spend a lot on things like internet, cable TV, mobile phones, office supplies, etc. Below I’ll get into more details on how you can earn either cash back or points with the Chase Ink Cash.
If nothing else, earning 5x points on your cell phone and cable bill is huge, in my opinion. However, I should note that some may prefer the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review), which offers 3x points on your cell phone bill, but also offers a great cell phone protection plan.
Chase Ink Cash cardmember year definition
There’s an annual cap on Chase Ink Cash bonus categories, of $25,000 of combined purchases in the 5% and 2% categories.
For those of you not familiar with the cardmember year term, this is different than a calendar year. That means the Chase Ink Cash bonus cap resets on your account anniversary, which is 12 months from when you opened your card.
Chase Ink Cash 3% foreign transaction fees
While the Chase Ink Cash Card is a top notch card for purchases within the United States, the card does have 3% foreign transaction fees, so I don’t recommend using this card for purchases abroad. If you’re looking for a similar card with no foreign transaction fees, consider the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.
How to maximize the value of Chase Ink Cash rewards
The Chase Ink Business Cash is marketed as offering cash back. As you can see, the card offers anywhere from 1-5% cash back, depending on the category that you’re spending money in. Earning 5% cash back on purchases is excellent, while earning 1% cash back isn’t nearly as exciting.
That’s potentially valuable in the categories in which the card offers bonus points, since 2-5% cash back on a no annual fee card is solid. However, for base spending you’re only earning a return of 1%, which isn’t terribly competitive.
But if you value points similarly to how I do, there’s a way to increase the value of all of your rewards by 25-70%. This makes the bonus categories offered by the Chase Ink Cash particularly exceptional.
How to convert cash into Ultimate Rewards points
The Chase Ink Business Cash is marketed as being a cash back card, though in reality, the card earns points. As mentioned above, you can earn 1-5x points per dollar spent, and then you can ordinarily redeem each point for one cent cash back. That’s how Chase arrived at the valuation of 1-5% cash back with this card.
Fortunately there’s a trick to greatly increasing the value of your Chase Ink Cash rewards. If you have the Ink Business Cash in conjunction with another card that earns “premium” Ultimate Rewards points, then you can do significantly better. These cards include the following:
If you have the Chase Ink Cash in conjunction with one of those cards, suddenly your points are much more valuable, and can be redeemed as follows through Chase Travel℠:
- If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, points can be redeemed for up to 1.75 cents each toward a travel purchase with Points Boost
- If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, points can be redeemed for up to 2.5 cents each toward a travel purchase with Points Boost
That increases the value of your rewards significantly, and you can potentially get even more value out of your points by transferring them to one of the Ultimate Rewards airline or hotel partners, which include the following:
I value Ultimate Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that increases the value of the points earned on this card by 70%. Transferring points between Chase cards is easy and can be done online.
Chase Ink Business Cash card benefits
The Chase Ink Business Cash offers an incredible welcome bonus and generous rewards structure, especially for a no annual fee card. On top of that, there are some other perks that are potentially quite valuable.
Chase Ink Cash rental car coverage
The Ink Cash offers primary collision damage waiver coverage for rentals of most types of vehicles in most countries, except where it is prohibited by law, by individual merchants, or is in violation of the territory terms of the rental agreement. There aren’t many no annual fee cards offering rental car coverage, so I think that’s pretty remarkable.
This is valid when renting globally for business purposes, and you just have to decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card.
Prior to renting, you should check with the benefits administrator (call the number on the back of your card) to verify your coverage. Keep in mind, you’re only eligible for coverage when renting for business purposes. For personal rentals, look to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review).
Chase Ink Cash travel & purchase protection benefits
In addition to rental car coverage, the Ink Cash offers other purchase and travel benefits, including (but not limited to) the following:
- Trip cancelation and interruption coverage, of up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip
- Purchase protection for up to 120 days against damage or theft
- Extended warranty protection, for up to a year on eligible purchases
You’ll want to read the cardmember agreement for exact terms, but this has the potential to be extremely valuable for purchases as well. Tiffany wrote about her experience with this benefit on a Chase card.
The Ink Business Cash offers an extended warranty protection program, where you can extend the time period of the United States manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
Chase Ink Cash card eligibility & how to get approved
Every credit card comes with its own eligibility terms, and if you look at the offer terms for the Ink Business Cash, you’ll see the following rules:
The new cardmember bonus may not be available to you if you have ever had this card or any other Chase for Business card without an annual fee. We may also consider factors pertinent to your business in determining your bonus eligibility.
If you want to be approved for a Chase Ink card, there are some general restrictions to be aware of:
- The Ink Cash is subjected to Chase’s “5/24 rule,” meaning you typically won’t be approved for the card if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months (many business card applications don’t count toward that limit); that being said, there are increasingly data points that this is no longer enforced
- You may not be eligible for the Ink Cash bonus if you have another no annual fee Chase business card, like the Ink Unlimited; however, you are eligible if you have any other Chase business card, including the Ink Preferred
- You can apply for this card if you have a corporation or a sole proprietorship; many people don’t realize that a sole proprietorship makes you eligible for a business card
- While there’s no hard limit to how many Chase credit cards you can have, there is often a limit to how much total credit Chase will extend you
- Generally, I recommend only applying for one Chase business card every 30 days at most
Is the Chase Ink Business Cash right for you?
The Chase Ink Business Cash is one of the most rewarding business credit cards out there. The key is that I wouldn’t recommend using this as your primary business credit card for everyday spending. Rather use this as a complement to your overall card portfolio.
The 5x points categories on the Chase Ink Cash are really spectacular, so use those as much as possible. In conjunction with Ultimate Rewards, I value the 5x points at a return of 8.5%.
The other thing that’s amazing about the Chase Ink Business Cash is the welcome bonus — earning $750 cash back or 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points for a no annual fee card is simply incredible.
Complement the Ink Cash with other Chase cards
In many ways the best complements to the Ink Business Cash are two other Chase business cards that can earn points — the Ink Business Preferred and Sapphire Reserve Business, and you can also earn the welcome bonuses on all of those cards:
- The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review) has a $95 annual fee, and offers 3x points on the first $150,000 spent each cardmember year on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable, phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
- The Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (review) has a $795 annual fee, and offers 4x points on direct airfare and hotel purchases, 3x points on select advertising purchases, and up to thousands of dollars in credits annually, plus lounge access
Bottom line
The Chase Ink Business Cash is an incredible business credit card. It has no annual fee, some phenomenal bonus categories, valuable perks like rental car protection, and a fantastic welcome bonus of 75,000 points. If you’re eligible for the card then I’d highly recommend applying, especially if you spend a lot in the bonus categories that the card offers.
On top of that, being able to earn 2-5x points on a card that complements other Ultimate Rewards cards is an excellent opportunity. Add in the fact that the card offers great benefits, and this is a no annual fee card you’ll want to keep long term.
If you’re looking for a card that’s really well-rounded for your everyday business spending, consider the Chase Ink Business Unlimited, which offers 1.5x points on all purchases. Lastly, the Chase Ink Business Preferred is one of the most well-rounded business credit cards out there, in my opinion.
If you have the Chase Ink Business Cash, what has your experience been with the card?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees).
