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https://content.fortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Recommends_Ink_Business_Preferred_CC_Review.jpg?w=2048Why we like this card: Despite charging an annual fee, the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is an excellent choice for small business owners due to its rewards program and generous credit card benefits. If you or your employees travel for business often, this card also offers added protection and rewards.
Pros
- Includes cell phone coverage
- Robust travel and purchase benefits
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Charges an annual fee ($95)
- No promotional APR offer
- Higher rewards rate only applies to specific categories
Chase Ink Business Preferred: Overview
APR
- Intro: N/A
- Purchase: 21.24%–26.24% variable
- Balance transfer: 21.24%–26.24% variable
- Balance transfer fee: $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
- Cash advance: 29.99%
- Cash advance fee: $15 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater
- Penalty: up to 29.99%
Annual fee: $95
Foreign transaction fee: None
Returned payment fee: $40
Late payment fee: $40
With the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you’ll earn 3 points for every dollar (up to $150,000 combined) spent on purchases like shipping purchases, internet, cable, phone, and advertising and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. As a result, this card is best for small business owners who spend significant amounts of money in those specific categories.
The card has an annual fee but provides added perks and benefits that could justify the cost for many business owners, particularly those who frequently travel for work. It provides benefits like travel cancellation or interruption insurance and auto rental damage collision waiver coverage. And here’s a plus: When you redeem points through Chase Ultimate Rewards to book travel arrangements, your reward points are worth 25% more.
Chase Ink Business Preferred: Rewards
The Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card doesn’t have rotating categories to track. Instead, cardmembers always earn three points per $1 spent on the first $150,000 of combined purchases in the following categories:
- Advertising through social media or search engines
- Internet, cable and phone services
- Shipping purchases
- Travel
Cardholders will earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Until March 2025, you’ll also earn five points per $1 spent on Lyft rides.
Does Chase Ink Business Preferred offer a bonus?
You may be eligible for a generous bonus if you don’t yet have the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card. New customers can earn 100,000 points after spending $8,000 in the first three months of card opening. The bonus could be worth between $1,000 and $1,250, depending on how you redeem those points.
How to redeem Chase Ink Business Preferred Card points
If you are a Chase Ink Business cardholder, you have several redemption options for your rewards points:
Cash
To redeem your points for cash rewards, opt for statement credits or electronic deposits. Redeeming points for a statement credit will pay some of your outstanding credit card balance, while an electronic deposit will transfer the cash value to your checking or savings account. With this redemption method, points are worth one cent each, so 100,000 points would be the equivalent of $1,000.
Gift cards
You can redeem your points for digital or physical gift cards from major retailers and restaurant chains like Staples, Starbucks, and Target. Points are generally worth one cent each, but there are occasional sales where your point values can get a boost. For example, you can sometimes purchase a $20 gift card with just 1,800 points.
Shop with points
You can use your points to pay for purchases from select retailers at checkout, such as Amazon or Apple. However, this redemption method gives you less value for your points, so exploring other options may be a good idea first.
Travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards
Redeeming your points to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards platform will give you the most value for your points. When redeemed for travel arrangements, your points are worth 25% more, helping stretch your rewards further.
For example, let’s say you accrued 10,000 points. Typically, those points are worth one cent each, so 10,000 points are worth about $100 in rewards. But if you redeem points for a flight through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, your points are worth 25% more, bringing your travel reward to a $125 value.
Additional benefits
The Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers a variety of valuable benefits that are particularly useful for business travel:
- Auto rental collision damage waiver: When you or your employees rent a vehicle using your card and decline the rental company’s coverage, you’re backed by primary auto rental collision damage protection. The rental vehicle is insured against damages or theft resulting from a collision.
- Cell phone protection: You and your employees are covered by cell phone protection if you pay the monthly bill with your card. This perk reimburses you up to $1,000 per claim against theft or damage. You’re allowed up to three claims per year, each with a $100 deductible.
- Extended warranty protection: The card extends the warranty by one year on eligible purchases with manufacturer warranties of three years or less.
- Purchase protection: When you make purchases with your card, they’re protected for 120 days against damage or theft, up to a maximum of $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
- Roadside dispatch: Your card includes roadside assistance, allowing you to get help when your car breaks down and you need a towing service or a tire change. However, this benefit doesn’t include the cost of provided services; you are responsible for paying for any services provided.
- Travel cancellation/interruption insurance: If a trip booked with your Chase card is canceled or interrupted by illness, severe weather, or other eligible circumstances, you’ll be reimbursed up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip for your nonrefundable, prepaid travel expenses.
- Free employee cards: You can request additional cards for your employees at no extra cost and earn rewards on their transactions.
Is the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card right for you?
The Chase Ink Business Preferred Card offers significant value despite its annual fee. Owners of thriving small businesses with substantial recurring expenses can earn a relatively high reward rate on their purchases. If you redeem those rewards for travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can get even more value for your points.
However, you only earn the higher rewards rate—three points per $1 spent—on up to $150,000 in combined purchases in select categories, such as shipping costs. If most of your business’s expenses don’t fit within those categories—for example, if your biggest expenses include vehicle maintenance, software, computers, or dining out at restaurants with clients—you may not get as much value from the card. Other options, such as business credit cards with a flat rewards rate for all purchases, might be a better choice.
The card does have a high bonus offer for new cardmembers, but freelancers and microbusiness owners may not reach the spending threshold required to earn it. Other cards with more attainable bonuses may be more suitable for smaller businesses with lower expenses.
Credit cards similar to the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card
To get the most out of the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card, you need to be a small business owner who spends substantial amounts of money in specific categories and travels enough to maximize this card’s features. If you tend to have expenses outside those categories or rarely travel for work, one of the following cards may be a better fit.
Chase Ink Business Unlimited vs. Chase Ink Business Preferred
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has $0 annual fee and a more straightforward rewards structure than the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card. Instead of earning three points per $1 spent in certain categories, you’ll earn a flat cash-back rate of 1.5% on every purchase, with no caps on how much you can earn.
The Business Unlimited card also includes perks like auto rental collision damage waiver protection and roadside dispatch. However, it doesn’t include benefits like travel cancellation or interruption insurance and doesn’t offer cell phone protection. Plus, if your travels frequently take you outside the U.S., the Chase Ink Business Unlimited also charges foreign transaction fees. Therefore, the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card is likely a better choice if you frequently complete transactions outside of the U.S.
American Express Business Green Rewards vs. Chase Ink Business Preferred
Like the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card, the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express has a $95 annual fee. However, it has a simpler rewards structure; you’ll earn two points per $1 spent on travel booked through AmexTravel.com and one point per $1 spent on all other purchases, with no limit on how much you can earn.
The Business Green Rewards Card from American Express includes some added travel benefits that the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card doesn’t, such as insurance for lost luggage and access to the American Express global assist hotline. But it also has a new cardmember bonus that small business owners can earn more easily; you can get 25,000 Membership Rewards points by spending at least $3,000 within the first three months of account opening.
All information about the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.
Frequently asked questions
What is the limit on the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card?
If approved for the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card, the minimum credit limit is $5,000, but you could qualify for a much higher limit. Chase may require additional information and documentation for credit limits of $25,000 or higher.
How much are points worth on the Chase Ink Business Preferred?
Point valuations vary based on the redemption method. When you redeem your points for statement credits, electronic deposits, or gift cards, they’re worth one cent each. But if you use your points to pay for purchases at checkout, they may be worth less.
Does Chase Ink Business Preferred allow balance transfers?
The Chase Ink Business Preferred Card does allow you to transfer balances onto the card, but it doesn’t have an introductory APR offer for balance transfers, so you can’t take advantage of a lower rate to pay down your balance.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date but are subject to change at any time at the issuer’s discretion. Before applying, please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits.