Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Review 2024

Right now, the Ink Business Preferred is offering a welcome bonus of 100,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That makes it one of the best credit card offers available for small business cards.

• Introduction
• Ink Business Preferred Quick Facts
• Ink Business Preferred Is Best For
• Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Rewards
• Chase Ink Business Preferred Benefits
• How To Maximize Chase Ink Business Preferred Rewards
• Chase Ink Business Preferred Fees
• Chase Ink Business Preferred Requirements
• How The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Stacks Up
• Compare Chase Ink Business Preferred With Other Cards
• Is The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card For You?
• Methodology
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

If you’re considering a card for your small business spending, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is a tempting option. For starters, it offers generous rewards in several appealing categories for businesses. You’ll earn 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. Currently, bonus business categories include shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines. You’ll also earn 5 points per dollar spent with Lyft through March 2025.

For a typical business, these categories cover at least some of the key expense areas. Earning three points per dollar on the first $150,000 of spending toward select categories makes this one of the most rewarding credit cards you can find.

The large welcome bonus only sweetens the card’s appeal: 100,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. The rewards earned on the Ink Business Preferred are Chase Ultimate Rewards®, which are uber-flexible. Your points can be redeemed for cash back, a statement credit, gift cards, merchandise or travel. One other tantalizing option is to transfer your points earned on the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card to one of its participating travel partners at a 1:1 value.

There’s some icing on this tasty treat of a card: It comes with cellphone protection when you pay the bill with the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, and you’ll get travel perks like primary car rental insurance when you decline at the counter and pay with the card, trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance plus extended warranty and purchase protections.

But no card is perfect, and the Ink Business Preferred does have some potential drawbacks. For a business that has minimal expenses that can be charged to a credit card, the $95 annual fee might not be worth it. And a business that spends above and beyond the $150,000 bonus rewards cap or that simply doesn’t spend much in the elevated rewards categories may fare best with a card that offers simple, flat-rate rewards on all purchases.

• $95 annual fee
• Earn 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
• New cardmembers can earn 100,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
• Rewards are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Ultimate Rewards can be transferred to airline and hotel partner programs including United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Hyatt
• Travel benefits including car rental insurance and trip cancellation insurance

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is one of the best credit cards in these categories:

1. Best Business Credit Cards
2. Best Credit Cards for Startups and New Businesses
3. Best Business Credit Cards for Travel
4. Best Credit Cards for Home Improvement
5. Best Ultimate Rewards-Earning Credit Cards

Earning Rewards

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.

Redeeming Rewards

The Ink Business Preferred card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards, which can be redeemed in multiple ways.

The bad news first: When using Pay with Points on Amazon and other participating retailers, your points are worth only 0.8 cents each when redeemed. However, you can redeem at a value of a penny a point for:

• Cash back (as a deposit into most U.S. checking or savings account)
• Statement credit
• Gift cards
• Select merchandise

Travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards redeems at a value of 1.25 cents per point. You can pay for all or part of your trip with points and charge the rest to your card. Another travel-related option is to transfer your points at a 1:1 value in increments of 1,000 points to one of Chase’s travel partners, which might offer more than 1.25 cents per point in value depending on the redemption. Some Pay Yourself Back categories may also increase your value per point to 1.25 cents each.

There is no minimum redemption amount required and points never expire as long as your account is active. Additionally, Ultimate Rewards can be combined between this card and your other Ultimate Rewards-earning card(s) or transferred to another household member.

All redemptions may be done via the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, which can be done by logging into your card account and selecting “Ultimate Rewards” or by calling a Chase representative.

Rewards Potential

To determine the rewards potential of the Ink Business Preferred card we calculated what a sole proprietor or small business might spend in the bonus categories. Forbes Advisor uses data from various government agencies in order to determine both annual expenses and spending averages across various categories. Based on the data, we calculated the following rewards potential for a small business with the following spending scenarios:

In addition to the rewards potential, new cardholders can also earn a welcome bonus of: 100,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s enough to justify your annual fee multiple times over.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Travel Benefits

For a mid-range business card, the Ink Preferred bundles some valuable travel benefits. Trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance are both included when you use your card to pay for eligible travel plans. If needed, you can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours and hotels if your trip is canceled or cut short due to sickness, weather or another covered scenario.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Car Rental Benefits

Another perk of the Ink Business Preferred is auto rental collision damage waiver (CDW). Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Protection provided with the Ink Business Preferred is primary car rental insurance 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.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Cellphone Benefits

When you pay your qualifying monthly cellphone bill with your Chase Ink Preferred, you’re eligible for cellphone insurance. Get up to $1,000 per claim in cellphone protection against covered theft or damage for you and your employees listed on your monthly cellphone bill. You can file a maximum of three claims in a 12-month period with a $100 deductible per claim.

Although there are several ways to redeem your Ink Business Preferred rewards, you can potentially get more from your points by transferring Ultimate Rewards to partnering loyalty programs. Then, you have the ability to redeem those rewards (as branded frequent flyer miles or hotel points) toward travel through that program. When done strategically, this can yield more than 1.25 cents per point—which is otherwise the highest redemption value possible.

Transfer Partners

Chase’s travel partners include:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Flying Blue Air France-KLM
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• IHG One Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt

Get more high-value ideas on how to spend your Ultimate Rewards with these ideas.

Alongside an annual fee, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card’s may charge additional fees:

Chase Ink Business Preferred Foreign Transaction Fee

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card does not charge a foreign transaction fee.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Annual Fee

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card charges a moderate annual fee.

Chase Ink Business Preferred APR

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card charges the following interest rates on purchases and balance transfers:

• Good or better credit. Though Chase doesn’t publish the specific credit and income requirements you’ll need to receive an approval for a Chase Ink Business Preferred card, we expect any applicant will need a good or better credit rating. FICO defines a “good” credit score as 670 or above. Generally speaking, the higher your credit and income, the better your chances of approval.
• A personal guarantee. Like most business credit cards, the Chase Ink Business Preferred is likely to require a personal guarantee if your business doesn’t have long-established credit.
• Annual fee. The Chase Ink Business Preferred charges a $95 annual fee.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card vs. Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

If your business doesn’t spend much in the Ink Business Preferred’s bonus categories, take a look at the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card. It earns 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year and 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Although it doesn’t offer a 25% rewards boost for travel redemptions, the Ink Business Cash card also doesn’t carry an annual fee, and it has a more attainable welcome bonus: $350 bonus cash back after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card vs. The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card

Time-pressed proprietors who don’t care to fuss with various rewards categories may appreciate the simple structure of The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card (Terms apply, see rates & fees). With this no annual fee card you’ll get 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1%. Cash back earned is automatically credited to your statement, making it easy-peasy to take advantage of your earnings.

It also offers a 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a 18.49% - 26.49% variable APR applies. That might be the breathing room you need to pay down a big buy for your business.

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card vs. American Express® Business Gold Card

The American Express® Business Gold Card (Terms apply, see rates & fees) automatically earns 4 Membership Rewards® points per dollar on the 2 select categories where a business spends the most each month (up to $150,000 combined purchases per calendar year), 3 points per dollar on flights and prepaid hotels booked on Amex Travel and 1 point per dollar is earned for other purchases.

This card comes with a much steeper $375 annual fee. However, if your spending is varied and you don’t want to do the work of tracking categories, the American Express® Business Gold Card does the work for you.

If you’re looking for a small business card that combines points-earning potential with money-saving perks, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card may fit the bill. The welcome bonus alone more than makes up for the annual fee, at least the first year. But if your card usage doesn’t align with the bonus categories or the spending cap, look to another option that better suits your spending patterns.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors, including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points or miles
• Included travel or merchant credits
• Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors came together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards

To view rates and fees for The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for American Express® Business Gold Card please visit this page.