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Ever since I published a way to earn 5 points per dollar everywhere with Chase Ink cards (see “One card to rule them all“), many people have become interested in signing up for these cards. Interest seems to have swelled recently thanks to all of the hubbub regarding the new Bluebird card (see “Bluebird takes flight and changes the game” and “Bluebird lands. Questions answered“). With Bluebird and a Chase Ink card its possible to earn 5X not just for all credit transactions, but for virtually all payments of any kind. So, its no surprise to see increased interest in Chase Ink cards!
In this post I’ll try to cover everything you need to know about the process of getting an Ink card, including what is likely to happen after you are approved.
Types of Ink
Chase offers four different Ink cards, all of which work with the 5X everywhere technique. The Ink Bold and Ink Plus cards are identical except that the Bold is a charge card (which must be paid off in full each month) and the Plus is a credit card. The Bold and Plus cards offer 50K sign-up bonuses (after $10K in spend), are limited to $50K in 5X spend per year, and have a $95 annual fee after the first year. The Ink Classic and Ink Cash cards offer 25K sign-up bonuses (after $5K in spend), are limited to $25K in 5X spend per year, and have no annual fee. All four cards earn 5 points per dollar at office supply stores and cell phone, landline, and cable bills. Points earned on the Bold or Plus can be transferred directly to airline miles and hotel programs. Points earned on the Classic and Cash can only be transferred indirectly to those programs. To do so, you would need to first transfer points to a card that can do the transfer (such as the Bold, Plus, or Sapphire Preferred cards).
Do I need a business?
Chase Ink cards are business cards intended for small business owners. I get asked often if one can get an Ink card if one doesn’t have a “real” business. The answer is yes, most likely. You just need to be creative about what you consider to be your business. Good examples include selling items at yard sales or online, writing a novel, writing a blog 
, owning rental property, consulting, etc. When determining whether to approve your application, Chase will consider your entire income, not just the income (if any) from your business.
How do I fill out the application?
There are some questions on the application that might not be obvious as to how to answer. Examples include “Type of business” and “Tax ID”.
Please see my post “How to sign up for the Ink Bold (or Ink Plus)” for step by step instructions.
Despite the title of the post, the instructions show how to signup for any of the Ink cards (Bold, Plus, Classic, or Cash). The tips in that post can even be helpful for signing up for other non-Chase business cards, but the specific screen shots and options shown are specific to Chase.
What if I get turned down?
After applying, you are likely to get a message saying that your application is under review. At that point you could simply wait a few weeks to see what happens, or you can proactively call the reconsideration line to get an instant decision. Whether you’re anxious to get a quick answer, or if your application was declined, your next step should be to call the business reconsideration line. They generally answer quickly (Monday through Friday during business hours).
Here is an example of such a call (contributed by a reader who was initially turned down):
Rep: I see that the original decision was declined, but I can see if we can be of any further help by asking few business related questions.
Me: Yes, please.Rep: What kind of business are you in?
Me: Online sales.Rep: What kind of goods do you actually sell?
Me: Electronics, housewares, etc.Rep: How long have you been in this business?
Me: Almost an year.Rep: What were your sales for the past 1 year?
Me: $9000Rep: Source of income on application shows XXX USD. Do you confirm?
Me: I do.Rep: I see you currently owe balances on two personal cards. How much of the balance do you pay on these cards each month?
Me: The minimum payments for both of these cards together is $130, but I pay a total of $350 every month to clear the balances faster.Rep: I am now able to assure you that your application has been approved with an initial spend reserve of $5000. The more you use the card, the higher the reserve will go.
Me: Thank you so much.
Quick soapbox aside: Note that while this reader was approved despite having balances to pay down on other cards, I don’t generally recommend getting new cards until you have paid off all existing balances and have proven to yourself that you can pay balances in full each month.
The scary follow-up call
Once you’ve had your Ink card in-hand for a week or two you are likely to get a call from Chase. They’ll ask you lots of questions about your business and how you intend to use your card. Some people get scared by this call because it seems like Chase is “on to you” (as if you’re doing something wrong). In reality, they’re just trying to understand their customer better, and they’re making sure that the allowed amount of spend is big enough for your needs. After a recent call like this, the agent doubled my spending limit!
Online account access
Another issue people face when they get their Ink card is that the card doesn’t show up on their online account (if they already have a personal account with Chase). When you first get a business card, you need to setup a new business account with a different ID than your personal account. Once that is done, you can optionally call Chase and ask them to add your personal cards into your business account so that you can see everything in one place. For some reason, Chase doesn’t allow you to go the other way: you can’t add your business cards into your personal online account.
More about Ink
- See “Preparing for Miles” for a list of cards that offer special category bonuses (including the Ink cards) and elite status perks.
- See “How to sign up for the Ink Bold (or Ink Plus)” for step by step instructions.
- For tips on how to meet Ink minimum spend requirements, see “How to spend $10,000 in three months, and earn 90K Ultimate Rewards along the way.” Note that this was written before Bluebird. It’s even easier now with that new card!
- For a complete explanation of how to earn 5X everywhere, see “One card to rule them all.” Also note that the bottom of that post has a complete set of related links that will (hopefully) tell you everything you need to know about 5X everywhere techniques.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
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Ugh, just got denied for Ink Bold. First, online app was pending, then called reconsideration, and she asked me a bunch of questions like the ones in this post. When I said I’d had the business for about 6 months, she said, well, how long have you been filing taxes on the business. At that point I had to say not yet. Then she checked my credit report and said, you have X cards, Y in your name and Z as an authorized user. Is there a reason why you have too many credit cards open? I said we get them because they fit our travel needs, and get us benefits with the hotels and airlines that we frequent. That didn’t seem to be the right answer. She then told me that my application had been denied. 🙁 ugh, no 5x for me. I was thinking of HUCA, but I think I may just leave it and apply again in 6 mo, since the app always asks if you’ve been denied from chase within the last 6 mo.
Ouch, sorry to hear that. HUCA sometimes does work in these situations, but I think that has become rare lately with the Ink cards. Thank you for telling your story here, though, so others can learn from it!
Yeah, it was kind of a rough call. But also my first reconsideration call, so I was a bit nervous. I wasn’t lying, but pretty unclear in my own head about what the correct answers were. So, it may have sounded that way. As I was describing the reselling that I do (which would be my business), she said, “that sounds like a hobby”. I’m sure it depends very much on the person that you get, but it’s probably not a quick walk in the park kind of call. The woman was nice enough, but she also was serious about getting specific answers to her questions. So, be prepared, and if it’s a brand new business, you may have a harder time. And at least this person balked at having around 10 new accounts in 2013. So, if the business isn’t a slam dunk, they seem to delve further into your personal credit report.
Oh well, I had to get my first denial some day. I followed it up with an instant approval from amex on another card I really wanted. So, ended on a positive note.
I got instant approval for Chase Sapphire Preferred. I called the reconsideration line for Ink Business and they decreased my other personal Chase card by $3,000. But I don’t care, I got approved!!! Doing the happy dance!!! Woot!!!! I used your referral links because you are my favorite site!
monacutest: Congrats and thanks!
Miles: congrats!
Wow. I just applied 7/7/2013 and was automatically accepted.
ak: this is the first I’ve heard of that issue. Anyone else experience it?
Not sure if anyone is following this thread anymore – I have tried for the Ink Bold card twice now, both from the credit app and phone call follow up and every time, everything is great until they ask me if the business a Sole Proprietorship or Corporation, etc. They say if my company is not registered with the state, they cannot process to set my card up.
Am I the only one who has this issue?
I was approved on 10/23 (or so I thought) but card has not arrived a week later. Today I called Chase to check on the delivery status and was told that I had not been approved last week, but rather “recommended for approval”. It could take up to 2 more weeks to receive my card if I make it through the next hurdle.
Anita: Once you are approved for real, simply ask them to rush the card out to you. In my experience, they’ll overnight it at no cost to you.
Lucy, I will let you all know if I try for the classic and cash. I am not sure if I am going for it because I been pushing my luck lately with these 5X and also with the other cards. I might even just wait for the new Ink Bold to come out.
FM.. What is your advice on this?
I have the Ink Plus ( just got it a week ago)
and the United Explorer, which both are biz and are on FEIN #.
I would like to pick up some more bonus miles/points and/or hotel points. Looking at doing another Chase Ink or Amex Hilton, Amex SPG, Visa Hilton. Thoughts?
I like the idea of instant Gold on Hilton but not the yearly fee. I’m silver already on Hilton.
Traveling Joe: I would recommend waiting a few months before getting another Ink. If you haven’t gone for any Chase personal cards for a while, it might be time. They have tons of good options for hotels: Priority Club, Hyatt, Marriott, etc. Each of these has no annual fee first year and then pays for itself in out years by giving you a free night. Of course, Sapphire Preferred is a great way to get 40K UR points quickly. For Amex, I love the SPG card, but if you’re not in a hurry for one, you could wait till August to see if they repeat the 30K offer that they’ve done each year. The Amex Hilton card currently has a nice signup bonus and no annual fee, so that’s a great choice. Plus it gives you access to discounted AXON awards. Alternatively, get the Hilton Surpass for the first year Gold access and then downgrade it to the regular Hilton card at the end of the year. With Citi, the best deal is the AA two browser trick with which it is possible to get as much as 100K AA miles. Email me if you want personalized recommendations.
Thanks Lucy…what about me trying for all 4 inks?
I have 3 of them , the no fee Ink Classic which limits the x5 category to 25$k , Ink Cash no fee, and Ink Bold, the 1st 2 i have had for many years, if you decide to try please let us know how it goes. Thanks.
MeLovesVanilla, there are toooo many bloggers and it is very overcrowded, most of these bloggers have very few leaders, and only very few are successful . To have referral links you must have high traffic and or many readers , and as for the Ink cards Visa versions do not exist, Krusty,s info is not correct.
FM, how do I get referral bonus links for the inks? I have a couple people interested in applying, and I would like to earn some extra cash for refering them to the inks. Also, I would like to start my own blog detailing the results of my experiments with several rewards credits cards and prepaid cards. FM, how do I start my own blog so that I can earn some extra cash? Thanks in advance. I would like to do what you do part-time. I have a couple of not-so-well-known ideas to share to people (but for a price). I Love Vanillas 🙂
Krusty, I would love it if they have the visa versions of the inks (like everyone else, i have MC). Where did you find out that there may be visa versions? I am running out of spend in my two inks, and desperate to have some more.
Looking for clarification on this: I’m seeing posts on FT alleging that one can get both a MC *and* Visa versions of any of the Ink cards. I’ve only heard of/seen MasterCard versions. Has anyone actually confirmed that there are Visa-branded versions of these cards? The cards are actually depicted on Chase’s website with neither logo, and makes no mention of whether it’s MC or Visa. If it’s possible to get both – and if it’s possible to get the sign-up bonus for both…a lot of us would double our pleasure.
Me, I have the Ink Bold MC – like everyone else, I think. I just finished refinancing my home loan a few days ago (with Chase!) so now am free to acquire the Ink Plus, too (I’m hoping that lowered spend requirement that popped up briefly a week ago comes back). When I do, I’d like to try getting it as a Visa, if such things exist – but I don’t think they do.
Anybody really know for sure if there’s a Visa flavor of these?
Krusty: It’s certainly the case that the Sapphire Preferred card comes in both flavors (MC and Visa), but I hadn’t heard that about the Ink cards. Can you point me to a Flyertalk thread that says that?
I have the bold and and plus…is it a good idea to go for the classic and cash?. Is it possible to have all four kinds of inks? I have an almost unlimited supply of vanillas…my only problem is the 50K cap on the bold and plus…I am almost at the cap. I Love Vanillas 🙂
I have the Ink Classic and Ink Cash for many years now, as you mentioned i transfer the Ink Classic points to Sapphire Preferred, but uoi mention you can transfer the Ink Cash points to Sapphire -UR- and get them as UR points instead of cash back? thank you
Lucy: It was my understanding that you could transfer points from Ink Cash to other cards, but I don’t have a Cash card to try it with. Care to try and let us know if it worked?