Chase Ink Business Premier Review: $1K Bonus, 2.5% Cash Back

Small business credit cards are incredibly competitive nowadays, and there are amazing cards for every kind of consumer. The Chase Ink Business card portfolio is known for being excellent, though one card in the collection is talked about less than the others.

I’m referring to the Ink Business Premier® Card — it’s the issuer’s best cash back business credit card, but it’s not for those looking to earn travel rewards. If you have a business that spends a lot on credit cards and want to earn cash back, then this card might deserve a spot in your wallet. Let’s go over all the details of this product, including the welcome offer, annual fee, rewards structure, how to redeem rewards, and benefits.

Link: Learn more about the Ink Business Premier® Credit Card

Chase Ink Business Premier Card basics

The Ink Business Premier® Credit Card is potentially an extremely lucrative business card, though it’s totally different than the rest of the Chase Ink Business card lineup.

Here’s the card’s value proposition, in a nutshell:

• The card has a $195 annual fee, and there’s no extra cost to add authorized users
• The card has a welcome bonus of $1,000 cash back after spending $10,000 within the first three months; you’re eligible for the card (including the bonus) even if you have other Chase Ink cards
• The card offers 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more, and 2% cash back on all other purchases, with no foreign transaction fees
• Unlike other Chase Ink Business cards, the rewards on this card can’t be converted into Chase Ultimate Rewards points, so you can primarily redeem the rewards as cash

Chase Ink Business Premier welcome bonus: $1,000 cash back

The Chase Ink Business Premier Card has a massive welcome bonus of $1,000 cash back after spending $10,000 within the first three months. That’s a solid bonus, especially for those looking to earn cash back.

Chase’s standard application rules apply. Many are aware of the Chase 5/24 rule, though in practice, this isn’t consistently enforced anymore. Note that eligibility for this card (including the welcome bonus) is unrelated to having any other Chase card, including any of the other Chase Ink Business products.

Chase Ink Business Premier $195 annual fee

The Chase Ink Business Premier Card has a $195 annual fee, and you can add authorized users at no extra cost. While this is one of the higher annual fee business cards out there, you should quickly be able to recoup the annual fee on the card if you have a lot of business spending.

Chase Ink Business Premier rewards: 2-5% cash back

The Chase Ink Business Premier Card offers 2-5% cash back on all purchases, all with no foreign transaction fees. Let’s go over how that’s structured.

2.5% cash back on $5K+ purchases

The Chase Ink Business Premier Card offers 2.5% cash back on all purchases of $5,000 or more. There’s no limit to how many purchases you can make where you earn 2.5% cash back, as long as each transaction is at least $5,000.

While there are lots of great cash back credit cards, we’ve never before seen a “no strings attached” 2.5% cash back business card feature on large purchases. Obviously this won’t be for everyone, but I know all kinds of people who have businesses where they spend millions per year on cards (typically in large transactions), so earning 2.5% cash back on those purchases is going to add up quickly.

2% cash back on other purchases

The Chase Ink Business Premier Card offers a minimum of 2% cash back for all other purchases. That’s typically in line with the best return on spending you’ll find on most cash back cards, so that’s still really good.

5% cash back on Chase Travel portal purchases

The Chase Ink Business Premier Card offers 5% cash back for purchases through Chase Travel℠. You can use this to book flights, hotels, and rental cars, so it’s a good way to rack up extra rewards.

Redeeming Chase Ink Business Premier rewards

How does the cash back earned with the Chase Ink Business Premier Card actually work? Well, it’s super easy. You can redeem your cash back as a statement credit, apply it to your card balance, or get cash deposited directly to checking and savings accounts. There are no minimums to redeem your rewards.

Now, you can also redeem your rewards for gift cards, travel, or purchases with retailers, though you won’t be getting outsized value that way. In other words, $1,000 cash back will still only get you at $1,000 worth of travel or gift cards. Therefore it seems easiest to just redeem your rewards as cash back straight into your account (it’s not like cash back rewards from spending are going to be taxed), and then you can use that however you’d like.

An important thing to understand is that the Chase Ink Business Premier is in no way in the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem. So unlike other Chase Ink Business cards, you can’t transfer these rewards to Chase airline and hotel partners. This card is most valuable for those who want to earn cash back that they can redeem however they’d like.

Chase Ink Business Premier purchase & travel protection

The Chase Ink Business Premier Card offers a variety of valuable purchase and travel protection, including:

• Auto rental collision damage waiver coverage (CDW)
• Trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance
• Travel and emergency assistance services
• Purchase protection
• Cell phone protection
• Extended warranty protection

You’ll want to consult the cardmember agreement for full details, but in general this is some useful protection (especially the rental car coverage, cell phone protection, and purchase protection).

Is the Chase Ink Business Premier worth it?

With the basics of the Chase Ink Business Premier Card out of the way, is this a card you should be considering for your small business? First of all, this card is for those who want to earn cash back. That’s a large percentage of the population, though admittedly in the miles & points world, many of us prefer to earn travel rewards.

If you have a business that spends a ton on credit cards (especially large transaction amounts) and you want to earn cash back rewards, then the Chase Ink Business Premier Card is incredible. Being able to earn 2.5% cash back on business purchases of over $5,000 is unrivaled. It used to be that a card offering 2% cash back was industry leading, so to see a 2.5% cash back card on large purchases is exciting.

In fairness, the card has a $195 annual fee, so you have to make sure you’re recouping that. To crunch the numbers:

• Let’s assume you could earn 2% cash back with a card that has no annual fee
• Here you’re earning an incremental 0.5% back on purchases of $5,000+, so you could earn back that $195 annual fee with $39,000 in spending on purchases of $5,000+
• For businesses that spend a lot, the math very much checks out here, in my opinion

I know there are so many people who have businesses where they spend millions per year on supplies, so getting 2.5% back on that is sweet. So yes, for the right type of consumer, this card is a no-brainer. Let me just share a couple of other considerations.

How do other Chase Ink Business cards compare?

The Chase Ink Business Premier Card is the fourth product in the Chase Ink Business card lineup, so how do the other options compare?

• The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review) has a $95 annual fee, and offers 3x points on the first $150,000 of combined purchases per account anniversary year on travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
• The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review) has no annual fee and offers 5x points on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per account anniversary year on office supply stores, internet, cable TV, mobile phones, and landlines, and 2x points on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per account anniversary year on restaurants and gas stations
• The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review) has no annual fee and offers 1.5x points on all business purchases

For those looking to earn travel rewards, I’d say picking up a combination of the Ink Business Preferred and either the Ink Business Cash or Ink Business Unlimited would make a lot of sense. Meanwhile for those looking to earn cash back, the Ink Business Premier is better.

Personally, I greatly value being able to earn travel rewards, so I prefer the strategy of earning Ultimate Rewards points, rather than cash back. However, understandably a lot of others would rather just earn cash back that they can spend however they’d like.

Chase Ink Business Premier vs. Capital One Spark Cash Plus

I’d say the closest competitor to the Chase Ink Business Premier Card is the Capital One Spark Cash Plus (review).

The card has a $150 annual fee, and offers a flat 2% cash back on all purchases, with no foreign transaction fees. On top of that, spend $150,000 annually and Capital One will refund this fee every year, so that bonus will offset the annual fee for big spenders.

While this is also a cash back card, the benefit is that cash back can be converted into travel rewards in conjunction with another Capital One travel card, like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review).

If you ask me, the Chase Ink Business Premier Card makes a lot more sense if you spend hundreds of thousands a year on credit cards, and frequently have transactions of over $5,000. Meanwhile if you spend a fair bit but don’t typically have transactions of over $5,000, I think the Capital One Spark Cash Plus could be a better bet.

Bottom line

The $195 annual fee Ink Business Premier Card is Chase’s lucrative cash back business card. The card has a welcome bonus of $1,000 cash back upon completing minimum spending, and offers up to 2.5% cash back on purchases, which is almost unheard of.

This is the best business credit card for those looking to earn cash back, who also make large purchases, as earning 2.5% cash back is unrivaled. However, for those of us who like to collect points, rewards on this card can’t be transferred to Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners.

What do you make of the value proposition of the Chase Ink Business Premier Card?