There’s another excellent welcome offer available for one of the FM Team’s favorite Chase Cards: the Ink Business Cash. This one varies from recent versions in a couple of key ways. First, the 75K bonus is tiered into two levels: 35K after spending $3K within the first 3 months and an additional 40K after the spending a total of $6K within the first 6 months (which really makes it a 75k after $6k offer).
More notable is a perk that I can’t remember seeing before: if you have a Chase Business Checking account by the time that you reach your first year cardmember anniversary, you’ll earn a 10% bonus on all of the rewards that you’ve earned during the previous year (not including the 75K for the welcome offer). That’s very good and could lead to a nice first year sweetener for folks that can maximize it.
The Deal
- The Chase Ink Business Cash card has a new welcome offer for up to 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points and a 10% bonus if you have a Chase Business Checking account at your first year anniversary:
- 35K points after $3K spend in 3 months
- An additional 40K points after $6K total spend in 6 months
- 10% Business Relationship bonus if you have the Ink Business Cash and a Chase Business Checking account on your first anniversary. This does not include the 75K that you recieve for the welcome offer, but does include bonused spending categories.
- Anniversary bonus is valid for the first year only, not on subsequent years.
Offers and Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
Up to 75K points ⓘ Affiliate 35K after $3K spend in 3 months and an additional 40K points after $6K spend in 6 months. No Annual Fee Alternate Offer: If you have a household member with an Ink card, you may prefer the referral offer whereby the referrer can earn 40,000 points and the new account holder can earn 75,000 points after $6,000 in purchases in the first 3 months since it will yield more total points. Recent better offer: 90K after $6K spend in 6 monthd (expired 1/17/24 FM Mini Review: This one should be in everyone's wallet. Incredible welcome bonus for a no-annual-fee card. Great card for 5X categories. Excellent companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 5X office supplies and cellular/landline/cable (on up to $25,000 in total purchases in 5x categories annually) ✦ 2X on the first $25K in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each cardmember year ✦ 5X Lyft through March 2025 Card Info: Visa Signature Business issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
Quick Thoughts
I’ve made no secret about my love for the Chase Ink Cash. Our household has several and they’re stalwarts of our credit card portfolio, due to the 5x earning on office supply stores, internet, cable and phone services. In my opinion, this card is a must-have for anyone that’s comfortable with business cards.
But pushing that aside, this welcome offer with a 10% anniversary bonus could be very good for some folks, provided they’re interested in a Chase Business Checking account.
As a reminder, here are the earning categories for the Ink Business Cash:
- 5X at cell phone, cable, office supply stores, select streaming services, and internet on up to $25,000 in total purchases per account anniversary year
- 5x on Lyft rides through March 2025
- 2x at gas stations and restaurants
- 1x everywhere else
If all you did was max out the 5x category, you’d end up with ~125,000 points after the first year. If you activated the 10% Business Checking bonus, you’d get an additional 12,500 points, along with any cash offers for new checking account holders that Chase is running (which can be quite good). Combine that with the 75K from the welcome offer and you’d have 212,500 Ultimate Rewards points after 12 months. With no annual fee. That’s mighty tasty.
If you’re in a P2 situation, a household referral might eventually provide even more love as the referrer earns an additional 40K points, for a household total of 115,000 Ultimate Rewards points + whatever you might earn from the anniversary bonus. Currently, my referrals aren’t showing the new offer with the anniversary bonus. However, I expect that will change, so it might be worth waiting a bit to see if you can double dip. The terms and conditions on the 10% anniversary bonus state that it’s valid for anyone who is approved for a new Ink Cash between March and November, 2024. Given that, I imagine we’ll see it sticking around for at least a few months.
Chase Ink Business Cash Application Tips
Should you apply?
Even though this is a business card, it’s a great choice for anyone interested in earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points. It offers an excellent combination of a great welcome offer, no annual fee, super-valuable points, and solid bonus categories. If you are eligible (see next section), it’s worth considering.
Are you eligible?
To get this card you must have a business, and you must be under 5/24 (more on 5/24 below).
Similarly, if you have more than one business, it’s possible to get the same Chase Ink card and welcome bonus for each business you own. This is true even though the application terms state otherwise: “I understand that any new cardmember bonus offers for this product are not available to either current or previous cardmembers of this product who received a new cardmember bonus for this product in the last 24 months.” Despite those terms, it's very common for people to successfully apply for more than one of the same Ink card across multiple businesses.
Even better, experience has proven that it is possible to successfully apply for the same Ink card for a single business multiple times even if you still have the older Ink card open. As long as your application is approved, you should qualify for the welcome bonus.
| Applying for Business Credit Cards Yes, you have a business: In order to sign up for a business credit card, you must have a business. That said, it's common for people to have businesses without realizing it. If you sell items at a yard sale, or on eBay, for example, then you have a business. Similar examples include: consulting, writing (e.g. blog authorship, planning your first novel, etc.), handyman services, owning rental property, renting on airbnb, driving for Uber or Lyft, etc. In any of these cases, your business is considered a Sole Proprietorship unless you form a corporation of some sort. When you apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor, you can use your own name as your business name, use your own address and phone as the business' address and phone, and your social security number as the business' Tax ID / EIN. Alternatively, you can get a proper Tax ID / EIN from the IRS for free, in about a minute, through this website. Is it OK to use business cards for personal expenses? Anecdotally, almost everyone I know uses business cards for personal expenses. That said, the terms in most business card applications state that you should use the card only for business use. Also, some consumer credit card protections do not apply to business cards. My advice: don't use the card for personal expenses if you're not comfortable doing so. |
| Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months. To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely. |
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Does chase allow you achieve the sign up bonus with Gift Cards/Gift Credit Cards or is it best to achieve the sign up bonus without going that route? Also I am over 5/24 but I am still planning on attempting this card later this year. I have used my SS on everything so far but I have heard if you get an EIN and use that instead it may get approved. Any truth?
I have used gift cards in the past for the sub and received it no problem.