Rakuten offering up to $100 / 10K Bilt points for Chase Unlimited cards

For several months, Rakuten has been offering rewards after you apply through Rakuten’s link and are then approved for the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card. Now, another Chase card is in the mix: the Ink Business Unlimited®.

The current rate for Freedom Unlimited is $90 in cashback or up to 9,000 Bilt points for new Chase customers, or $ 50 in cashback or up to 5,000 Bilt points for existing Chase customers. There aren’t any tiers on the Ink Business Unlimited, with a bonus of $100/up to 10K Bilt points.

This offer isn’t available if your Rakuten account is set to earn Membership Rewards, and the earning rate of Bilt points depends on whether or not you have Bilt elite status. If you do, it’s converted from cashback at a rate of 1 cent:1 point. If you don’t, it’s 2 cents:1 point, making cashback more appealing.

The Deal

• Rakuten is offering up to $90 cashback or 9,000 Bilt points after being approved for a Chase Freedom Unlimited card if you’re a new Chase customer, or $50 cashback or up to 5,000 Bilt Rewards points if you’re an existing customer.
• Direct link to offer

• Rakuten is also offering up to $100 in cashback or up to 10,000 Bilt points after approval for a Chase Ink Business Unlimited.
• Direct link to offer

If you’re new to Rakuten

Key Terms

• Expiry date unknown.
• Cash Back provided by Rakuten, not Chase.
• Cash Back only available for new, approved Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card holders who keep the account open for a minimum of 3 months after approval.
• Only one cash back bonus per Rakuten member account. Applying for a new credit card may impact your credit score.
• Members who don’t have a current Chase credit card or Chase consumer banking or checking account may be eligible for higher cash back rates during certain periods. Chase customer status is determined by Chase.

Quick Thoughts

When Rakuten first started offering rewards for the Freedom Unlimited card a year or two ago, the bonus from Rakuten was $150. This latest Freedom Unlimited offer isn’t as good, but $90 cashback or 9,000 Bilt points is as good as it’s been recently, but only if you’re a new Chase customer.

The Ink Unlimited has no such restriction and is slightly higher, at $100. Note that both Rakuten bonuses are in addition to the current welcome offer on the Freedom Unlimited card, so you can get rewarded twice.

If you’re looking to apply and someone else in your household already has a Freedom card, you can have them refer you to the Freedom Unlimited card, and they’ll earn 5,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points. That’s obviously less appealing when Rakuten is offering $90/9,000 Bilt points, but it becomes more interesting when Rakuten’s bonus drops lower.

The Ink cards are a much, much better opportunity for household referrals, as Chase is currently offering a whopping 40K per referral. Unfortunately, to get that bonus, the person you’re referring must never have been a Chase Ink customer. There’s obviously no such restriction to earn the Rakuten bonus.

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