Can You Get Approved for Multiple Chase Business Credit Cards? [2021]

Chase has a long line-up of great business credit cards so naturally many people will want to go for more than one Chase business card. But is that possible or will Chase deny you for trying? This article will look at whether or not it’s possible to get approved for multiple Chase business credit cards and give you some tips for giving it a shot.

Can you get approved for multiple Chase business credit cards?

Yes, it is possible to get approved for multiple Chase business credit cards but there are a few things that you need be aware of if you’re going to apply for multiple business cards.

Should you get more than one Chase card?

Just because you can get more than one Chase card, that doesn’t mean that you should do that. But Chase has some really great business cards so for a lot of people, getting more than one Chase business card will make a lot of sense.

If I were seeking out multiple business cards here are the four business credit cards that I would consider.

Tip: Check out the free app WalletFlo so that you can optimize your credit card spend by seeing the best card to use! You can also track credits, annual fees, and get notifications when you’re eligible for the best cards!

Chase Ink Preferred

The Chase Ink Preferred often has a high welcome bonus and also earns 3X per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on all of the following categories:

  • Travel, including airfare, hotels, rental cars, train tickets and taxis
  • Shipping purchases
  • Advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
  • Internet, cable and phone services

With its high bonus and solid bonus categories, this is the #1 business card offered by Chase and I would be looking to get the Chase Ink Preferred first and then add one of the cards below.

Chase Ink Business Cash

The Chase Ink Business Cash also often comes with a great sign-up bonus of 50,000 Ultimate Rewards or more. That’s worth $500+ which is very competitive for a no annual fee credit card but the card also has some fantastic bonus categories.

The Chase Ink Cash earns 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year at:

  • Internet
  • Cable
  • Phone services
  • Office supply stores

And it also earns 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each year at:

  • Gas stations
  • Restaurants

The Ink Business Unlimited

Ink Business Unlimited

The Ink Business Unlimited earns 1.5% back on all purchases and comes with a 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and balance transfers.

Combining the Chase Ink Preferred with either the Ink Unlimited or the Ink Cash is always a great option because not only are you diversifying your bonus categories but the latter two cards don’t come with an annual fee, so it’s a great option to add to your wallet without having to cough up a lot more in annual fees.

Chase Southwest Premier Business

  • 6,000 anniversary points
  • Earn 1,500 Tier-Qualifying Points for every $10,000 in purchases, up to 15,000 Tier-Qualifying Points each calendar year
  • Best sign-up bonus: 50,000 Rapid Rewards
  • $99 Annual fee
  • No foreign transaction fees

If you’re at all interested in the Southwest Companion Pass then the Southwest Premier Business card is hard to beat since it can get you over half way to meeting the 125,000 Rapid Rewards required for the Southwest Companion Pass (read more about that pass here).

There are of course other solid Chase business credit cards like the United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card but these are the top four business cards that I would seek out.

2/30 and 1/30 rule

2/30 rule

The first rule you need to know about is the 2/30 rule which generally means that you cannot get approved for more than 2 Chase cards within a 30 day window. There are some exceptions to this rule and people have been approved for more than 3 Chase cards in 30 days in the past but for the most part they are outliers.

1/30 rule

The 1/30 rule is a semi-official guideline that states that you should only expect to be approved for one Chase business credit card within a 30 day period. Again, there are exceptions to this as well but if you’re trying to play it safe I suggest that you follow this.

In fact, if you are really trying to play it safe you should put several months between your applications.

I would probably wait six months between applying for Chase business credit cards just to be on the safe side.

No more than one Chase business card?

Another thing to note is that some people just can’t ever seem to get approved for more than one Chase business credit card. We don’t know why some can get a second approval and others can’t but be aware that you could be a part of that unlucky bunch who does not get approved for two business credit cards.

Also, if you’re thinking about going for three or more business cards the odds may start getting stacked against you even more as you get approved for each successive card.

There are definitely some people who have been approved for 4+ Chase business cards the past, but it’s not something that I would personally count on working most of the time.

Can you get two Ink cards with an EIN and SSN?

A common question is if you can get more than one Chase Ink card if you apply for one card with your SSN and then apply for another using an EIN (plus SSN).

The answer is yes you can.

So for example, you could end up with two Chase Ink Preferred cards with this method.

Chase 5/24 Rule

You need to also be aware of the Chase 5/24 rule.

The Chase 5/24 rule means that if you have opened up five or more credit accounts (i.e, credit cards) in the past 24 months you will be denied for certain Chase cards.

This includes accounts opened up across all banks so you count all of your Chase cards opened up plus all of the accounts opened up with other credit card issuers, such as American Express, Citi, Barclays, etc.

Every Chase card is subject to the rule including the:

  • Chase Sapphire Reserve
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred
  • Chase Freedom Flex
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited
  • Chase Slate
  • Chase Ink Preferred
  • Chase Ink Cash
  • Chase Ink Unlimited
  • Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
  • Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card
  • Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
  • Southwest Priority Card
  • United MileagePlus Club Card
  • United MileagePlus Club Business Card
  • United MileagePlus Explorer Card
  • United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card
  • Starbucks Rewards Visa Card

You can read more in-depth about this rule here.

How often should you apply for Chase business cards?

I would try to space out my Chase applications so that I don’t risk getting denied for being too hungry for business credit cards.

First, I would not ever apply for two Chase business credit cards at the same time. While Chase does combine inquiries (or more accurately the credit bureaus do), your odds for getting denied are going to go way up by applying for two business cards at the same time (especially with the manual review that can take place now).

Second, I would wait at least 90 days between Chase credit card applications but more preferably, I’d space them out even further apart (6 months seems like a good minimum time frame). Again, patience is often key when it comes to getting Chase business cards.

Chase business reconsideration

There’s a good chance that you won’t be instantly approved for your Chase business card when you apply, especially if you’re going for their best business credit card the Chase Ink Preferred. If you are not instantly approved, don’t sweat it, you’ll just need to wait it out and see what happens with your application.

In the event that you are not approved, then you still have a chance to get a card by calling into the Chase reconsideration line. This is a phone line where you can plead your case on why you should be approved for the card that you’re applying for.

When you call in for a business card they are likely to ask you a few questions about your business which could include the following questions:

  • What is your business? (name, legal name, type of organization, etc.)
  • Can you describe your industry?
  • What products do you sale, how much, etc.?
  • How old is your business?
  • How long have you been in the trade?
  • What is your job title?
  • Number of employees?
  • Why does your business need this credit card?

If you are applying for your second Chase business card then you need to have a good reason for why you need that card. Is it for a second business or do you need it for your original business? Make sure you have a good reason for why you need that additional business credit card. You can read more about Chase business reconsideration here

Final word

Chase has some exceptional business cards and it’s possible to get approved for more than one of them. However, you need to be patient and not try to rush going for your second card. You also need to be ready to call recon and explain why you needed the card. If you can do those two things then you stand a good chance of getting approved for a second business card. For more on getting approved for business credit cards read on here.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Review (100,000 Points!) [2020]

The Chase Ink Preferred is one of the most popular small business credit cards on the market due its high value potential, solid travel and purchase protections, and strong bonus categories. But is it truly worth all the praise or is this card a little overhyped? 

In this review article, I’m going to break down the Chase Ink Preferred and take a look at all of the value that this card has to offer and go over the benefits like the 100,000 point sign-up bonus, bonus spending, cell phone insurance, and a few others.

Be sure to check out the YouTube video at the end as well!

Sign-up bonus

The standard sign-up bonus for the Chase Ink Preferred is 100,000 points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

This is one of the most valuable credit card sign-up bonuses available.

Other Chase Ink cards have high offers of 50,000 points and the Sapphire Reserve offers a 50,000 point offer as well. So this is a significant increase from those offers.

With that said, there have been targeted offers that have gone out for 120,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. Those were incredible offers but you pretty much just need a ton of luck to be on your side in order to receive one of those and only a small group of people received those.

Then there’s the 100K offer. This is an offer that has been available in-branch before but mostly to Business Relationship Manager (BRM) clients and only during certain times of the year (usually starting around March). BRM clients are business clients with high revenue around $1,000,000+.

I haven’t heard a lot about this recently so I wouldn’t get your hopes up for it.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

What can you do with 100,000 points?

Overall, I’d be very happy with the 100,000 point offer if that is all that I could find because that’s a lot of value. You could use those points in the Chase Travel Portal and redeem your points for $1,250 worth of travel or you could transfer them out to some of the transfer partners which are listed below.

These flexible redemption options make this one of the best travel credit card on the market!

Chase Ultimate Rewards Airlines

  • Aer Lingus
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Emirates
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • Iberia Airways
  • JetBlue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Chase Ultimate Rewards Hotels

  • World of Hyatt
  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy

You can use your Ultimate Rewards to experience some of the top business class and first class cabins in the world. Here are a few specific examples of what you could do with your points.

Related: 12 Best Chase Ultimate Rewards First Class Redemptions

United

If you’re trying to fly internationally, 65,000 miles could cover you for a roundtrip in economy to Europe for a Saver award or a one-way business class award. You’d also have enough miles for a roundtrip in economy to Asia or a one-way flight in business class on a partner like EVA (worth $3,300+).

Southwest

80,000 points transferred to Southwest could get you very far, especially if you have the Companion Pass. You could easily score a handful of roundtrips around the country if you jumped on the right Wanna Get Away fares.

Singapore

You could use Singapore miles to book two roundtrip business class tickets on United to anywhere in the domestic US or from the US to Canada (worth $1,500+).

Virgin Atlantic

After meeting the minimum spend, you’d only be 5,000 miles short of being able to redeem a roundtrip business class ticket on partner ANA from Japan to the western US (worth $5,000+)!

Hyatt

100,000 points transferred to Hyatt could get you at least 4 nights at a solid property like the Park Hyatt Bangkok, 3 nights at a category 6 property, and after meeting your minimum spend, you’d only be a few thousand points short of having 3 nights a top category 7 property like the Park Hyatt Milan (worth $2,700+).

Park Hyatt Bangkok.

Bonus earning

The Chase Ink Preferred earns 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories each account anniversary year:

  • Travel
  • Shipping purchases
  • Internet, cable and phone services
  • Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines

Travel

Travel is broadly defined and allows you to earn triple the points on all sorts of purchases. The Chase Sapphire Reserve also earns 3X on travel but it comes with a much higher annual fee of $550 so this is a strong perk for a card with a $95 annual fee.

Shipping

If your business does a lot of shipping then this is a great way to capitalize on earnings. Other cards do offer bonus potential for spending on shipping though like the new Amex Business Gold Card.

That card allows you to earn 4X points on the 2 select categories where your business spends the most each month and it applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year.

You can choose from the following:

  • Airfare purchased directly from airlines
  • U.S. purchases for advertising in select media 
    (online, TV, radio)
  • U.S. purchases made directly from select 
    technology providers of computer hardware, 
    software, and cloud solutions
  • U.S. purchases at gas stations
  • U.S. purchases at restaurants
  • U.S. purchases for shipping

The Amex Business Gold Card does come with a very high annual fee of $295, though, and it currently does not offer a standard welcome bonus of Membership Rewards.

Internet, cable and phone services

Getting 3X on internet, cable and phone services is certainly nice but there’s always the option of going with the Chase Ink Cash which offers 5X on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.

So if you really want to capitalize on these categories and your spend is somewhere around that $25,000 range, you might really consider using the Chase Ink Cash to maximize those categories.

The Ink Cash also earns 2X on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. And the Ink Cash comes with no annual fee. 

Advertising

You’ll earn 3X on advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines which is great but again consider what you might be able to earn with the Amex Gold Business Card that offers 4X on those categories.

Everyday

For every purchase that does not fall into a bonus category you’ll earn 1X on that purchase. If you can do it, you might want to think about getting another card like the Chase Ink Unlimited or the Chase Freedom Unlimited since both of those cards earn 1.5X on all purchases with no limit.

Another contender might be the Amex Business Blue Plus which earns 2X on all purchases up to $50,000. That’s one of the best everyday spending cards though it is capped at that $50K mark.

Inside tip: The Chase Ink Preferred has coded as 3X for services like Plasiq and Venmo in the past so keep an eye out for that!

Earn 3X on travel with the Ink Preferred.

Can you use the Ink for personal use?

A lot of people wonder whether or not they can use their Chase Ink cards for personal spend.

The application states the following in the terms and conditions:

I certify, understand and agree that: 1) This is a business account which shall be used only for business purposes and not personal, family or household purposes;

So according to the terms this should be used for business purposes. However, if you’ve ever ran your own business or you’re an entrepreneur you know that it’s not always so black and white and personal and business expenses can overlap.

Also, the terms allow for primary rental car coverage while “renting outside your country of residence for personal reasons” so this seems contradictory.

Thus, I think that it’s perfectly fine to use your Ink card some expenses that could be considered “personal” and many people do this.

Just keep in mind that some consumer protections don’t apply when you use a business card so you could be losing out on some of those. Also, if you’ve structured your business entity to protect your personal assets, it’s always a good idea to keep your personal and business funds and transactions as segregated as possible. 

Cell phone protection

With the Ink Preferred, you’ll get up to $600 per claim in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage for you and your employees listed on your monthly cell phone bill when you pay it with your Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card. This is good for a maximum of 3 claims in a 12 month period with a $100 deductible per claim.

That $100 deductible cuts into the value of this benefit, especially because there are other (personal) cards that offer cell phone protection with a much smaller deductible. For example, Wells Fargo phone insurance is offered by certain credit cards and it will protect you up to $600 subject to only a $25 deductible.

Primary rental car coverage

This card is one of the few that offer primary rental car coverage.

This is huge because it means that you can avoid paying for rental car coverage when renting a car and save some money. But it also means that you can avoid filing a claim with your car insurance provider and avoid seeing an increase in your monthly premium. 

It is primary coverage while renting primarily for business purposes or when renting outside your country of residence for personal reasons or if you do not have automobile insurance.

You can read more about the rental car coverage here

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

Annual fee

The annual fee is $95. In the past, some people have been able to use get the annual fee waived with in-branch offers so keep an eye out for those in the future.

Foreign transaction fees

This card has no foreign transaction fees.

Chase 5/24 rule

This card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule which means that if you have been approved for 5 or more accounts in the past 24 months you won’t be able to get approved.

However, this card does not count towards your 5/24 status which means that you want to prioritize this card and make it one of the first Chase cards (or any cards) that you apply for.

Business needed

Some ask if they can get the Ink Preferred without a real business. Well, this is a business credit card so you will need a business to qualify.

The good news it that just about anything can constitute a business, including selling things on eBay, Craigslist, and doing things like tutoring, etc. If that’s the case, you would likely want to apply as a sole proprietorship.

Chase Ink Preferred Approval odds

You’re going to need a good to excellent credit score to get the Chase Ink Preferred. I’d prefer to have a score of 720+ with a solid few years of credit history to feel comfortable applying but there are a lot of factors at play with approval decisions so the exact score needed will differ with each situation.

Chase does like to see a good credit history so if your credit profile is very thin getting the Chase Ink Preferred could prove to be difficult to get.

Tip: If you don’t have a relationship with Chase you might consider opening up a Chase business account to start building that relationship.

It probably helps to have business income/revenue for your application but there are reports out there of people getting approved for Chase Ink Cards with very little business income at times (under $2,000 and even $0). Some will resort to a good-faith projection of their income for the upcoming year but you’ll have to decide with what you’re most comfortable with.

You also need to know how to handle a Chase business reconsideration phone call since that might be needed. Note the questions about revenue and profit that will likely come up.

Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection

The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection is a network of over 900 luxury properties all around the world and it comes with the following elite-like benefits:

  • Daily breakfast for two
  • Complimentary Wifi
  • Room upgrade (based on availability)
  • Early check-in and late check-out (based on availability)
  • Special benefit at each property

This benefit is not advertised for the Chase Ink Preferred but I was able to get access to the program with my Chase Ink Preferred. If you like to stay at luxury properties this program can save you a lot of money with its benefits. To learn more about this program click here.

Travel and purchase protections

For a card with only a $95 annual fee, the travel and purchase protections on this card are fantastic.

Trip cancellation and interruption

If your trip is cancelled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per trip for your pre-paid non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.

This can be a life-saver when you’ve booked prepaid hotels or cruises or any type of tours and you’re forced to miss out on the trip due to something unexpected.

Trip delay

Covers you up to a maximum of $500.00 for each purchased ticket for reasonable expenses, on a one-time-basis, incurred if your Covered Trip is delayed by a Covered Hazard for more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay.

Getting compensation for flight delays is never guaranteed and if the source of the delay is something like bad weather, you have very minimal chances of getting covered for things like lodging with most airlines. And even when you do get some benefits, it can often be for a hotel stay limited to about $100 per night and only a meal or two.

With this protection you can choose which hotels you want to stay at and have $500 to work with which is pretty generous.

Baggage delay

This covers you up to $100.00 per day for a maximum of five days and is limited to emergency purchases of essential items needed as a result of the delay including but not limited to: clothing, toiletries, and charging cables for cellular telephones.

Some Chase cards only provide coverage for three days so it’s great to get full coverage for up to five days with this card.

Purchase protection

Covers your new purchases for up to 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account. Many cards limit this protection to only $500 or some other low amount so getting covered up to $10,000 per claim is pretty significant.

Extended warranty

Extends the time period of U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.

If you want to find out more about these protections, you can check out the benefits PDF.

YouTube

Final word

The Chase Ink Preferred stands out to me because of its high sign-up bonus, strong bonus earning categories, low annual fee, and solid protections. I think that it’s one of the best small business credit cards because of all of those reasons.

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Chase Ink Cash: Which is Better? [2020]

Two of the most popular credit cards issued by Chase are the Chase Ink Cash and the Chase Sapphire Preferred. These cards have some similarities in that they both offer a lot of value but there are some key distinctions to be made between these cards, too.

Here’s a comparison of the Chase Ink Cash vs the Chase Sapphire Preferred and many of the key considerations that you’ll want to review before making your decision on which one to apply for.

Business vs personal cards

The first thing to consider when choosing between these cards is that the Chase Ink Cash is a business credit card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a personal credit card.

This means that you’ll need to have a business in order to apply for the Chase Ink Cash.

But that doesn’t mean you have to have a traditional business — there are lot of different types of businesses and even things like selling items on eBay could be a sufficient business. You can read more about how to get approved for business credit cards here.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Sign-up bonus

Chase Ink Cash

The Chase Ink Cash comes with a very solid sign-up bonus of $500 in cash back after spending $3,000 in the first three months.

The Ink Cash earns cash back for its sign-up bonus. Basically, you’ll earn 50,000 Ultimate Rewards which can be cashed out at a rate of 1 cent per point for a total of $500.

However, if you have a premium card like the Chase Ink Preferred, Sapphire Preferred, or Sapphire Reserve then you’ll take home 50,000 Ultimate Rewards which can be transferred to a lot of travel partners (more on that below).

The Chase Ink Cash also comes with 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases, which adds a lot of value for many people.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 60,000 Ultimate Rewards after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred has two major advantage over the Ink Cash when it comes to using your points. First, you get a 25% bonus on your points when using the Chase Travel Portal which means your points will be worth 1.25 cents per point when using the travel portal.

The travel portal is great for booking flights and not having to worry about open award inventory, black out dates, etc.

Getting that extra bit of value will allow you your points to last longer and it can be a good way to cover the cost of cheaper flights which would usually offer poor value for your miles.

The other advantage that the Sapphire Preferred has over the Ink Cash is that you can transfer your points out to the various travel partners. Transferring your points out to these partners means that you’ll be getting a lot more in value from your points.

For example, you can use your Ultimate Rewards to fly on some amazing first class and business class products like the new Singapore Airlines first class product.

Here’s a list of all of the transfer partners.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Airlines

  • Aer Lingus
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Emirates
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • Iberia Airways
  • JetBlue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Chase Ultimate Rewards Hotels

  • World of Hyatt
  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy

So while the sign-up bonuses are very similar, the Sapphire Preferred wins out due to the increased value when using the Chase Travel Portal and for the added flexibility of being able to transfer points to travel partners. It is much more of a true travel credit card than the Ink Cash.

Singapore Airlines first class.

Bonus spending

The bonus categories for these cards are quite different, so you’ll want to make sure that you put proper value on the categories that line up with your spending.

Chase Ink Cash

The Chase Ink Cash will earn you 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year at:

  • Internet, cable and phone services
  • Office supply stores

Getting 5X is great especially considering that the Chase Ink Plus no longer is available to new applicants.

This is really where the “special value” of the Chase Ink Cash is in my opinion. Earning 5X adds up remarkably quickly so being able to pay your everyday bills like internet, cable, and phone services is a great way to supplement your point earnings.

5X at office supply stores can also be very lucrative if you can maximize that as well. Just keep in mind that the $25,000 spending limit is combined for these categories, so if you do whole lot of spending each year, your rewards may be capped (the rewards for the Sapphire Preferred are not capped).

Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year at:

  • Gas stations
  • Restaurants

Getting 2X on dining is the same as the Sapphire Preferred and while 2X on gas is nice, it’s not the most rewarding card for spend on gas purchases.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns the following rates:

  • 2X on dining
  • 2X on travel

The 2X back on dining is basically the same as the Ink Cash but it’s worth more since you can get more value from your Ultimate Rewards than with the Ink Cash.

But besides that, the 2X on travel is where the Sapphire Preferred is most different from the Ink Cash. These aren’t bad earning categories but keep in mind that the Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3X on both of those categories.

Overall, the bonus categories are very different so this is a situation where it makes sense to pick up both of the cards so that you can have a well-rounded way of earning rewards.

The Ink Cash definitely has the more diverse bonus categories but for someone primarily concerned with travel (and using points for travel), the Sapphire Preferred could still be the better option.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the overall better card for travel.

Primary rental car coverage

Both of these cards come with primary rental car insurance which can save you a lot by allowing you to avoid filing any kind of claim with your insurance provider.

But you should note that the Chase Ink Cash offers primary rental car coverage when renting for business purposes and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most cars in the U.S. and abroad.

The fact that you can get primary rental car coverage with a no-annual fee credit card is huge in my opinion but the restriction on travel for business purposes could mean that the protection is not as valuable as the protection offered by the Sapphire Preferred which covers personal use. (The Ink Cash offers personal coverage for international trips.)

Other protections

The line-up of additional protections is very similar between these cards but there’s at least one key difference.

Baggage delay

The Chase Ink Cash provides baggage delay coverage for delays over 6 hours up to $100 a day for three days. Meanwhile, the Sapphire Preferred provides coverage for delays over 6 hours up to $100 a day for five daysIt’s pretty rare for baggage delay to (need to) extend to over 3 days but it’s a good idea to be aware that there’s a difference in coverage here.

Lost luggage

Both cards cover up to to $3,000 per insured person per covered trip with a $500 limitation for coverage for jewelry, watches and electronics.

Extended warranty

Both cards extend the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by one additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

Annual Fee

Chase Ink Cash

  • No annual fee

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • $95 annual fee

Again, the Chase Ink Cash stands out as being one of the most rewarding credit cards with no annual fee. Meanwhile, the Chase Sapphire Preferred has a pretty standard annual fee of $95.

Chase application rules

Both of these cards are subject to the Chase 5/24 rule and because of that you will be denied for these cards if you’ve opened up 5 or more accounts within the past two years.

One positive thing about the Chase Ink Cash is that it won’t count toward your 5/24 status with Chase. This means that if you have 3 cards opened up in the past 24 months right now and then you open up an Ink Cash, Chase will still view you as someone who has only opened up 3 cards. Thus, it could make sense to apply for the Chase Ink Cash now and then to get on board with the Chase Sapphire Preferred later on.

In addition to 5/24 there are some other Chase application rules you might want to read up on to make sure that you’re not violating any of these rules. If you want to find out your 5/24 status, you can use the new app WalletFlo to help you out!  

Chase Refer a Friend

Both of these participate in the Chase Refer a Friend program, but currently the Chase Ink Cash does not pull up referral offers. This means that with the Sapphire Preferred you’ll be able to earn many more points with referrals which is definitely something to consider.

Also, it’s probably easier for the average person to refer someone to a personal card than it is to refer someone to a business card so that’s another consideration. You can read more about the referral program here.

Chase Ink Cash

The Chase Ink Cash is known for offering referrals although currently you might not be able to pull them up. But typically, the Chase Ink Cash referral allows you to earn 10,000 Ultimate Rewards per approval up to a maximum of 50,000 points per calendar year.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred referral allows you to earn 10,000 Ultimate Rewards per approval up to a maximum of 50,000 points per calendar year.

Chase Shopping Portal

Both of these cards will give you access to the Chase Shopping Portal. The Chase Shopping Portal is a special website open only to Chase cardmembers that allows you to earn additional bonus Ultimate Rewards when making purchases at various online retailers. It’s a fantastic way to increase your earnings and rack up points — you can learn more about this portal here

Approval odds

Both of these credit cards are going to require you to have good to excellent credit scores. And beyond that, you’ll want to have established credit history spanning at least a couple of years before applying.

I wouldn’t apply for either one of these cards if I was brand-new to credit cards and lacked a proven credit profile. If you want to read more about approval odds for the Sapphire Preferred you can do that here. 

Since the Ink Cash is a business card you might need to call in to Chase business reconsideration to try to get your application approved. I’ve got an article on how to deal specifically with Chase business reconsideration, which you can read about here.

Final word

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Ink Cash are a duo that can really make sense to pursue. They’ve both got great sign-up bonuses but they have very different bonus categories, making them a good pair to utilize. I think the decision for which cards to choose will often come down to:

  • Spending habits and limits
  • Travel goals (redemption goals)
  • Travel habits and purpose (business vs personal)
  • 0% APR
  • Annual fee
  • 5/24 status
  • Referral potential 

If you get a good grasp on those factors, you should be able to make a sound decision on which card is best for you.

American Express Business Gold Card Review [2020]

Offers contained within this article maybe expired.

The American Express Business Gold Card is a very interesting small business card. It has tremendous (and innovative) bonus earning potential but it is somewhere between a standard card and a premium card when it comes to its annual fee and benefits. 

In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know about the American Express Business Gold Card. I’ll cover the welcome bonuses, bonus categories, and also get into things like travel and purchase protections.

 Business Gold Card overview

The American Express Business Gold Card is one of the best points-earning cards available and offers an innovative and flexible bonus category system that makes up for its at times lackluster welcome bonus.

Other perks like a special bonus on points redeemed on air travel help to make this card a fantastic travel credit card but given its high annual fee you want to at least consider other options.

Charge card

It’s worth pointing out right from the beginning that this is a charge card and not a credit card.

A charge card is a card that is designed to be paid off in full each month while a credit card is designed for you to carry a balance over to the next month if you desire to do so.

Credit cards have clear credit limits but charge cards offer no pre-set spending limits. That doesn’t mean you have an unlimited credit limit, it really just means that your spending limits will be determined based on your spending habits.

If you start spending a lot each month, your preset spending limit will increase rapidly and accordingly. While you are building a higher spending limit, you can check your spending power so that you will know if you are currently capable of making a large purchase.

This type of structure allows for more flexible spending when you need to put substantial expenses on your card, which is great for businesses and high spenders

You just need to make sure that you don’t spend more than you can pay off.

With that said, it is possible to take advantage of something called Pay Over Time which is an American Express program that allows you to carry a balance on a charge card for purchases that are usually over $100. Sometimes when you enroll in this program you can also receive a special bonus as well but if you would like to learn more about Pay Over Time just click here.

Eligibility (once per lifetime)

Since the Business Gold Card is a charge card, it comes with the standard once per lifetime American Express rule and not any of the credit card rules.

If you don’t already know, the once per lifetime rule states that if you have opened this card before you are not eligible for its welcome bonus again — subject to certain exceptions.

This is one of the Amex cards that comes with targeted offers without the once per lifetime language meaning that sometimes it is possible to get the bonus for this card multiple times.

The once per lifetime rule does not cross over to personal cards. So it is possible to get the personal Gold Card and also to get the American Express Business Gold Card.

One great thing about the Business Gold Card is that it will not report to your personal credit report, which means that it will not count towards Chase 5/24!

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Welcome bonus

The welcome bonus for the American Express Business Gold Card can come in many forms. 

At one point, the Business Gold Card was offering G Suite Basic, a ZipRecruiter membership, and it also at one time offered $500 back for qualifying services with FedEx.

Now, you can actually earn Membership Rewards when you sign up, which makes it much more attractive to the public.

The Membership Rewards offers that you will find can vary but the standard offer you might find is for 35,000 Membership Rewards after you spend $5,000 in the first three months after account opening.

That offer is okay but It’s also possible to find offers of 50,000 Membership Rewards or potentially targeted offers up to 75,000 Membership Rewards.

The 75,000 point offer is one of the best offers you will ever find for a business card so I would definitely jump on that if I were targeted but that is the key: you must be targeted.

Also, those high offers may also come with higher minimum spend requirements, such as spending $10,000. So that’s just something to note.

If you are really trying to earn a lot of Membership Rewards then you might want to look into the American Express Business Platinum Card. That card comes with a much higher bonus of 75,000 Membership Rewards although the spend requirement is higher (50,000 points after you spend $10,000 and an extra 25,000 points after you spend an additional $10,000 in three months).

The American Express Business Platinum Card is more of a benefits card that is great for frequent fliers who value having airport lounge access.

Another great business card option for tons of upfront value is the Chase Ink Business Preferred. The Ink Preferred comes with a super valuable 80,000 point bonus after you spend $5,000 in the first three months.

Utilizing your points for flights

The American Express Business Gold Card has an interesting option when it comes to using your points for flights and I will talk more about that special option below. But generally for maximum value, you will want to transfer your points as discussed below.

Membership Rewards

The way to get the most value out of your Membership Rewards is to transfer your points out to some of the different transfer partners.

American Express has some of the best airline transfer partners out of any bank program.

I’ve use my Membership Rewards in the past for some truly unforgettable airline experiences and have circled the globe numerous times largely funded by my American Express points.

You can find all of the transfer partners below.

Airline ProgramRatio (MR to airline)Transfer wait time
Aer Lingus1:1Instant
AeroMexico1:1.6 24 Hours
Air Canada1:1Instant
Alitalia1:1Instant
ANA1:148 Hours
Avianca1:1Instant
British Airways1:1Instant
Cathay Pacific1:148 Hours
Delta1:1Instant
El Al1000:20 Instant
Emirates1:1Instant
Etihad1:1Instant
Flying Blue1:1Instant
Hawaiian Airlines1:1Instant
Iberia1:124 to 72 hours
JetBlue250:200Instant
Qantas1:1Instant
Singapore Airlines1:124 to 72 hours
Virgin Atlantic1:1Instant
Hotel ProgramRatio (MR to partner)Transfer wait time
Choice1:1Instant
Hilton1:2 Instant
Marriott1:1Instant

It is possible to redeem your points for other uses like a statement credit or for gift cards. But the value that you will get for those redemptions will pale in comparison to the options above.  

Bonus categories

The bonus categories is where the American Express Business Gold Card becomes a unique card.

The American Express Business Gold Card earns 4X Membership Rewards on the 2 categories where you spent the most each billing cycle.

So you will always be able to optimize your earnings based on your spending patterns. That is a cool feature that I don’t think this card gets enough credit for.

Here are the categories that you are eligible to earn bonus points on:

  • Airfare purchased directly from airlines
  • U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
  • U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
  • U.S. purchases at gas stations
  • U.S. purchases at restaurants
  • U.S. purchases for shipping

You do need to take note that the 4X points applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year. After you max out that limit, you will only be earning one point per dollar spent.

But that is still some crazy valuable earning potential.

You could earn a total of 600,000 points if you maxed out your spending caps. And if you value Membership Rewards at 1.75 cents per point that comes out to $10,500 worth of points. Imagine putting that put back into your wallet/business!

Below I will provide a little bit more detail about the bonus categories so you can have a clear idea as to what types of purchases will trigger the bonus earnings.

Airfare purchased directly from airlines

  • Charter flights and private jet flights are excluded

U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)

Advertising is such a huge expense for many businesses and this is a great way to capitalize on those expenses with the following types of advertising:

  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Yahoo
  • NBC National Broadcasting
  • CBS Radio

U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions

Here is a list of eligible technology providers:

  • Apple
  • CDW
  • Dell
  • HP
  • IBM
  • Intuit
  • Lenovo
  • Microsoft
  • Newegg
  • Oracle
  • Rackspace
  • Sage Software
  • Salesforce.com
  • Symantec
  • Tiger Direct

U.S. purchases at gas stations

  • Superstores, supermarkets and warehouse clubs that sell gasoline are not considered gas stations

U.S. purchases at restaurants

  • Unlike the personal Gold Card, the business gold card only earns 4X at restaurants located in the US.

U.S. purchases for shipping

Here are some examples of qualifying vendors:

  • FedEx
  • UPS
  • United States Postal Service

These categories are pretty similar to the Chase Ink Preferred, which earns 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories each account anniversary year:

  • Travel
  • Shipping purchases
  • Internet, cable and phone services
  • Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines
Earn 4X on dining.

25% Airline Bonus

Another unique perk of this card is the 25% airline bonus — Business Gold Card Members will receive 2.5 extra points for every 10 points they redeem.

What does this mean practically?

Basically, when you use your Membership Rewards to book certain flights through Amex Travel you will receive a 25% rebate on your points.

This allows you to effectively redeem your points at a rate of 1.33 cents per point which is actually pretty competitive and makes this card attractive for those who want to use their points for air travel. (The Business Platinum Card  has a 35% bonus which comes out to 1.54 cents per point.)

As another point of comparison, the Chase Sapphire Reserve allows you to redeem points at 1.5 cents per point but on all sorts of different travel.

Redeeming your points this way is nice because you don’t have to worry about transferring your points out and finding award availability. It just offers a much more simplified approach to award travel.

The catch is that you can’t get this 25% bonus on all of your flights.

You can only get the 25% rebate for either a First or Business class flight on any airline, or for flights with your selected qualifying airline.

Here some of the airlines you might be able to choose:

  • Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Airlines
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • JetBlue Airways
  • Spirit Airlines
  • Southwest Airlines
  • United Airlines

Note: there is a limitation on your rebate as you will only be able to receive up to 250,000 bonus points per calendar year.

Purchase Protections

The Business Gold Card comes with average purchase protections, all things considered.

Extended warranty

The Business Gold Card will add one year on to warranties of five years or less for eligible purchases. This is the standard extended warranty offered across most American Express cards and is one of the most competitive extended warranties offered by any credit card.

Purchase protection

The Business Gold Card can provide you with purchase protection up to 90 days after you made your purchase and you will be covered up to $1,000 per item. This is not great purchase protection considering that many premium cards like the Platinum Card offer purchase protection up to $10,000 per item. Therefore I would not rely on this benefit.

Return protection

You try to return a purchase within 90 days of the purchase, and the store does not except your return, you can get reimbursed for up to $300 per item.

Travel protections

The Business Gold Card does not come with impressive travel protections.

Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance

You can get up to $50,000 per claim with the Business Gold Card. But keep in mind that this protection will be secondary which is a departure from other cards like the Chase Ink Business Preferred which will offer you primary rental car insurance which is much more viable.

The difference is that if you have primary rental car coverage you can turn down the rental car company’s offer for coverage and save money and and often avoid submitting a claim with your insurance which also saves you time and money.

Baggage Insurance Plan

If your package is lost or damaged you can get reimbursed up to $500 for checked baggage and $1,250 for carry-ons.

Trip Delay insurance

You can get reimbursed for meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and other personal use items if your trip is delayed 12 or more hours. Your reimbursement will be limited to $300 per trip.

Once again, you can find premium cards offering trip delay insurance that kicks in after six hours so this coverage is not that great. Also, you can find reimbursement limits that are higher than $300, usually around $500.

Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance

This card does not offer trip cancellation or trip interruption insurance.

American Express Business App

With the American Express Business App you can keep close tabs on all of your business expenses. It allows you to do things like add photos of your receipts and and put special notes regarding your purchases.

Year-End Summary

The Year-End Summary provides you with an overview of all of your spending for the year which is great for record keeping.

Annual fee

The annual fee is $295 for this card.

That sort of puts this card in a bit of a no man’s land as it isn’t quite as expensive as a premium card but still definitely much more expensive than a standard card. 

As shown above though, if you are able to capitalize on the bonus earnings, you could be earning thousands and thousands of dollars worth of points so it could be extremely easy to cancel out this annual fee with your bonus earnings alone.

Final word

I actually am a huge fan of this card if you can utilize the bonus earning potential. If you are not able to catch this card with a high welcome bonus of 50,000 points or more, then you really need to make sure you are going to be putting a lot of spend on it to justify the annual fee.

I would still give the Chase Ink Business Preferred a very close look if I were interested in this card since it has a much lower annual fee but still earns fantastic rewards and comes with a great welcome bonus.

Chase Ink Business Cash Review (Bonus Categories Explained) [2020]

For a card without an annual fee, the Chase Ink Business Cash is a great card with its high sign-up bonus and unique bonus categories like 5X on office supplies stores and cell phone plans.

In this article, I’m going to break down the Chase Ink Business Cash and take a look at all of the value that this card has to offer and go over the benefits like $500 cash back sign-up bonus, bonus spending, insurance perks, and a few others.

Sign-up bonus

The standard sign-up bonus for the Chase Ink Cash was $500 bonus cash back after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. However, higher offers are available at times like $750 after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

What can you do with $500 cash back or 50,000 points?

As a cash back card, you can use the cash back as a statement credit or direct deposit into any bank account.

However, you can convert cash back into more valuable points by transferring the cash back to another Chase card that earns Ultimate Reward Points like the Chase Ink Business Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

So, $500 cash back equals 50,000 Ultimate Rewards Points. Once transferred into Ultimate Rewards, you will get more value out of the points versus straight cash back. You can use the points in the Chase Travel Portal and redeem your points for up to $750 worth of travel when holding the Chase Sapphire Reserve. You can also get greater value when transferring to some airlines or hotels that are partners with Chase.

Here is the list of airlines and hotels you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards Points to at a 1:1 ratio.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Airlines

  • Aer Lingus
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • Iberia Airways
  • JetBlue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Chase Ultimate Rewards Hotels

  • World of Hyatt
  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy

Here are a few examples of what you could do with 50,000 points.

Related: 12 Best Chase Ultimate Rewards First Class Redemptions

United

United is a unique transfer partner for Chase. While the recent changes to United award charts are somewhat random, you can still get great value out of flights, especially if you use the excursionist perk, which allows you to add another city for free without any extra miles.

Southwest

50,000 points transferred to Southwest could get you very far, especially if you have the Companion Pass. You could easily score a handful of roundtrips around the country if you jumped on the right Wanna Get Away fares.

Singapore Krisflyer

You could fly round trip economy to Hawaii from anywhere in North America for 35,000 KrisFlyer miles. If economy isn’t your style, you could fly to/from Hawaii for 30,000 KrisFlyer miles in business class.

Virgin Atlantic

After meeting the minimum spend, you’d have enough to fly Delta One (Delta’s name for business class) to Europe for only 50,000 Virgin Atlantic miles for nonstop routes.

Hyatt

50,000 points transferred to Hyatt could get you 2 nights at a solid property like the Park Hyatt Bangkok, with 10,000 points to spare or 3 nights at a category 6 property for 25,000 points per night, like the Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya. However, if you want to maximize your nights, you could stay 10 nights at the Hyatt Regency Kuantan beachfront resort.

Nearby public beach with the Hyatt Regency Kuantan Resort off in the distance.

Chase Ink Cash bonus categories

The Chase Ink Business Cash bonus categories earns 5% cash back per $1 on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories each account anniversary year:

  • Office supplies stores
  • Internet, cable and phone services

Office supplies stores

Office supplies stores like Staples, Office Max, etc. will trigger the 5% cash back. It’s a pretty narrow category, but as long as it’s an office supply store, you can earn 5% cash back making it a very valuable card for office supplies stores.

This is especially true because you can purchase gift cards at many office supply stores! So instead of earning a standard 1X on many purchases (or even 2X or 3X), you can head to an office supply store and buy a gift card to that establishment and potentially quintuple your earnings! Just take a look at all of the gift cards you can purchase from Staples so see how you can earn 5X on purchases like groceries, travel, and shopping

Internet, cable and phone services

Out of all the cards out there, this is one of the best for your return for internet, cable, and phone services. It’s best to make sure you use this card for anything related to those categories to maximize the 5% cash back.

Some examples would be paying your cell phone bill at Verizon or T-Mobile to trigger the 5% cash back. Your Comcast/AT&T/etc. internet and TV bill will also trigger the 5% cash back too. Tripling up on 5X earnings each month in these categories is a great way to supplement your Ultimate Rewards balance.

Other bonus earnings

You can earn 2% cash back per $1 on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories each account anniversary year:

  • Gas stations
  • Restaurants

Gas Stations

Gas stations are pretty specific, similar to office supplies stores. However, this card isn’t the best as it only earns 2% cash back at gas stations. If you want a better earning card, maybe the Amex Business Gold Card is better.

That card allows you to earn 4X Membership Rewards points on the 2 select categories where your business spends the most each month and it applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year.

You can choose from the following:

  • Airfare purchased directly from airlines
  • U.S. purchases for advertising in select media 
    (online, TV, radio)
  • U.S. purchases made directly from select 
    technology providers of computer hardware, 
    software, and cloud solutions
  • U.S. purchases at gas stations
  • U.S. purchases at restaurants
  • U.S. purchases for shipping

The Amex Business Gold Card does come with a very high annual fee of $295, though with a 35,000 Membership Rewards Points welcome bonus after spending $5,000. You’d need to do a lot of number crunching to see if those extra earnings and additional benefits like 1 year free of both G Suite Basic for up to 3 users and ZipRecruiter Standard would be worth paying an annual fee. 

Everyday

For every purchase that does not fall into a bonus category, you’ll earn 1% cash back on that purchase. If you can do it, you might want to think about getting another card like the Chase Ink Unlimited or the Chase Freedom Unlimited since both of those cards earn 1.5X on all purchases with no limit.

Another contender might be the Amex Business Blue Plus which earns 2X on all purchases up to $50,000. That’s one of the best everyday spending cards though it is capped at that $50K mark.

Can you use the Ink for personal use?

A lot of people wonder whether or not they can use their Chase Ink cards for personal spend.

The application states the following in the terms and conditions:

I certify, understand and agree that: 1) This is a business account which shall be used only for business purposes and not personal, family or household purposes;

So according to the terms this should be used for business purposes. However, if you’ve ever ran your own business or you’re an entrepreneur you know that it’s not always so black and white and personal and business expenses can overlap.

Also, the terms allow for primary rental car coverage while “renting outside your country of residence for personal reasons” so this seems contradictory.

Thus, I think that it’s perfectly fine to use your Ink card some expenses that could be considered “personal” and many people do this.

Just keep in mind that some consumer protections don’t apply when you use a business card so you could be losing out on some of those. Also, if you’ve structured your business entity to protect your personal assets, it’s always a good idea to keep your personal and business funds and transactions as segregated as possible. 

Related: Chase Credit Card Application Status Guide

Purchase protection and extended warranty

Any purchase you make it will be protected against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account up to 120 days after the original purchase date.

Along with the protection against damage and theft up to 120 days, you also have an extended manufacturer’s warranty for one extra year (up to a total of 3 years).

Primary rental car coverage

This card is one of the few that offer primary business rental car coverage. If you are renting your car for business use, you have primary rental car coverage.

This is huge because it means that you can avoid paying for rental car coverage when renting a car and save some money. But it also means that you can avoid filing a claim with your car insurance provider and avoid seeing an increase in your monthly premium.

It is primary coverage while renting primarily for business purposes or when renting outside your country of residence for personal reasons or if you do not have automobile insurance. You can read more about the rental car coverage here

Annual fee

The annual fee is $0. No annual fee is always good.

Foreign transaction fees

This card has 3% foreign transaction fees on every purchase. This card won’t be worthwhile to carry in your wallet when you travel outside the United States. It’s best to have another card with you like the Chase Ink Preferred.

Chase 5/24 rule

This card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule which means that if you have been approved for 5 or more accounts in the past 24 months you won’t be able to get approved.

However, this card does not count towards your 5/24 status which means that you want to prioritize this card and make it one of the first Chase cards (or any cards) that you apply for.

Business needed

Some ask if they can get the Ink Cash without a real business. Well, this is a business credit card so you will need a business to qualify.

The good news is that just about anything can constitute a business, including selling things on eBay, Craigslist, and doing things like tutoring, etc. If that’s the case, you would likely want to apply as a sole proprietorship.

Chase Ink Preferred Approval odds

You’re going to need a fair to good credit score to get the Chase Ink Business Cash. I’d prefer to have a score of 700+ with a solid few years of credit history to feel comfortable applying but there are a lot of factors at play with approval decisions so the exact score needed will differ with each situation.

Chase does like to see a good credit history so if your credit profile is very thin getting the Chase Ink Business Cash could prove to be difficult to get.

Tip: If you don’t have a relationship with Chase you might consider opening up a Chase business account to start building that relationship.

It probably helps to have business income/revenue for your application but there are reports out there of people getting approved for Chase Ink Cards with very little business income at times (under $2,000 and even $0). Some will resort to a good-faith projection of their income for the upcoming year but you’ll have to decide with what you’re most comfortable with.

You also need to know how to handle a Chase business reconsideration phone call since that might be needed. Note the questions about revenue and profit that will likely come up.

Travel and emergency assistance services

While this isn’t insurance, it’s always nice to have an extra like this. If you run into any trouble, you can call the Benefit Administrator for legal and medical referrals or other travel and emergency assistance. Do note, you are responsible for any costs as this is a concierge-like service.

Chase Ink Business Cash FAQ

How much is the bonus worth for the Chase Ink Business Cash?

If you catch the bonus at 50,000 points then your bonus will amount to $500 in cash back.

However, if you have a premium Chase card you can transfer those points out to various travel partners and get even more value.

What kind of bonus points can you earn with the Chase Ink Business Cash?

You can earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories every year:

Office supplies stores
Internet, cable and phone services

You can also earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases for gas and restaurants.

Does the Chase Ink Business Cash have an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee.

Can I upgrade from the Chase Ink Business Cash?

Yes, you can upgrade to the Chase Ink Business Preferred.

Typically, it is recommended to wait 12 months before requesting an upgrade.

Does the Chase Ink Business Cash have primary rental car insurance?

You can get primary business rental car coverage with the Chase Ink Business Cash.

This is designed to cover you for business travel while in the US but you can get coverage for personal reasons when traveling outside of your country of residence.

Is the Chase Ink Business Cash subject to Chase 5/24?

Yes, This card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule which means that if you have been approved for 5 or more accounts in the past 24 months you won’t be able to get approved.

You can use WalletFlo to help you find out when you might be eligible.

What kind of credit score do I need to get approved?

It’s recommended that you have a good to excellent credit score which generally means a credit score over 700.

It also helps to have a solid few years of credit history.

Final word

The Chase Ink Business Cash is a great business starter card and keeper as it has no annual fee along with a solid sign-up bonus equal to the Reserve. Plus, if you couple this card up with an Ultimate Rewards earning card, you can get great value out of your cash back turning them into points.

This article was originally published by Steve Smith.