Chase Ink Cash Vs. Chase Ink Preferred: Which Is Better?

Link: Apply now for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card or Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

Chase Ink Business cards are among the best portfolio of credit cards you’ll find, and for that matter, are certainly among the best business credit cards.

There are three cards in this portfolio that earn points, including the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review), which has a $95 annual fee, and the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review) and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review), which have no annual fee.

Typically I’d compare the two no annual fee cards, since you’d think they’d have the most in common. However, I’d argue that the Ink Business Preferred Card and Ink Business Cash Card also have a lot in common, so in this post, wanted to compare the two cards.

Both cards have excellent welcome bonuses and are rewarding for spending in certain categories. What I find interesting is that I think some might consider the Ink Business Cash Card to be a better option, especially in the long run.

Comparison of Chase Ink Cash & Chase Ink Preferred

To start, let’s compare the basics of the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card. If you are going to apply for either of these cards, keep in mind Chase’s general application restrictions, including the 5/24 rule, though it’s not consistently enforced anymore.

Also remember that you can potentially pick up both of these cards, including earning the welcome bonuses on each card. You can even apply as a sole proprietorship. For example, I recently shared my experience getting approved for the Ink Business Preferred Card, and also wrote about application requirements.

Chase Ink Business Preferred basics

To cover the basics of the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, there are many reasons to consider this card:

• The card has a $95 annual fee, and it’s not waived for the first year
• The card has a massive welcome bonus, among the best offered by any credit card
• The card has a great rewards structure, as it offers 3x points on travel, internet, cable, mobile phone and landline, digital ads, and shipping (on up to $150,000 of spending per cardmember year)
• The card earns points that can be transfered directly to Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners, or can be redeemed for 1.25 cents each toward a travel purchase with the Chase Travel portal
• The card offers cell phone protection, rental car coverage, and more

Chase Ink Business Cash basics

To cover the basics of the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, there are several reasons you may want to consider this card:

• The card has no annual fee
• The card has one of the best welcome offers of any no annual fee card
• The card has a top notch rewards structure, as it offers 5x points on office supply stores, internet, cable, and mobile phone and landline (on up to $25,000 in spending per cardmember year), plus 2x points on restaurants and gas stations (on up to $25,000 in spending per cardmember year)
• The card earns points that can be redeemed for up to one cent each; however, in conjunction with a card earning “premium” Ultimate Rewards points, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (review) or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review), you can unlock the full value of the points
• The card offers rental car coverage, which is rare for a no annual fee card

Which Chase Ink Business card is more compelling?

Now, personally I think there’s merit to picking up both the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card. After all, the cards have huge welcome bonuses, they each have their advantages, and one card doesn’t have an annual fee, so it won’t cost you anything to hold onto. But what about if you want just one card? Let me share how I’d approach this…

Personally I’d apply for the Ink Business Preferred Card, given that it consistently has a more generous bonus. You can give it a try, and see how the perks work out for you.

However, once you’ve had the card for a year, you should be able to downgrade it to the Ink Business Cash Card, if you wanted to (assuming you didn’t want to apply outright and earn the bonus). Why do I think there’s merit to the Ink Business Cash over the Ink Business Preferred, at least for some?

To state the obvious, it’s nice to have a card without an annual fee. Furthermore, if you have the card in conjunction with one of the Chase Sapphire cards, then you can still unlock the full value of your points with the Ink Business Cash Card.

But there are also some generally great advantages to the Ink Business Cash Card beyond that, particularly surrounding the rewards structure. The card’s 5x bonus points categories are phenomenal, especially if you spend a fair amount in those categories:

• You can’t beat earning 5x points on internet, cable, and mobile phone expenses
• Being able to earn 5x points on office supply store purchases is awesome, especially given the wide variety of items that you can buy at office supply stores, including gift cards
• This is the only card earning Ultimate Rewards points that offers 2x or more points on all gas station purchases, and that’s also a significant expense for many

For some spending categories, this will be the single most lucrative card in the entire Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem, and that shouldn’t be overlooked, in my opinion.

Bottom line

You really can’t go wrong with any Chase Ink Business card, as they’re among the best out there. I think applying for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is the obvious choice if eligible, given the bonus, plus how well-rounded the card is.

However, I think there’s also merit to the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, and I think it’s quite underrated. The card has no annual fee and offers some unprecedented spending bonus categories among Ultimate Rewards cards. This is a card worth keeping on your radar, whether you apply for it directly to earn the bonus, or downgrade to it from the more premium card.

Where do you stand on the value of the Chase Ink Preferred vs. Chase Ink Cash?