Chase Ink Plus Business Card Review

The Chase Ink Plus Business Card is a solid choice for small business owners. It offers great travel perks and consistently hefty rewards in addition to providing many useful tools to help you stay on top on your spending. Employee cards are available at no additional cost and members are not charged foreign transaction fees. The annual fee is $95 (not waived).

New account holders have the opportunity to earn 60,000 bonus points. To qualify, you must make purchases totaling $5,000 or more in the first three months that your account is open. Note: Eligible purchases do not include cash advances, balance transfers, transactions for traveler’s checks, money orders or foreign currency, interest charges, or fees of any kind – including any annual fee. Once you meet the spending threshold, it may take 6-8 weeks for the bonus points to post to your account. The 60,000 bonus points are worth $750 toward travel rewards when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

There is no introductory APR offered at this time. Members are charged an APR of 15.24% (variable based on the Prime Rate) on both purchases and balance transfers. Additionally, a balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the total amount of the transfer (whichever is greater) is applied to each transfer.

Cardholders earn points at the following rates:

  • 5 points per dollar spent at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services (capped at $50,000 in combined purchases annually – amounts over this cap earn 1 point per dollar spent for the remainder of the year)
  • 2 points per dollar spent on hotel accommodations (must be purchased directly with the hotel) and at gas stations (capped at $50,000 in combined purchases annually – additional purchases earn 1 point per dollar spent for the remainder of the year)
  • 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases (no cap)

Points do not expire as long as your account remains active and in good standing.

Members can redeem points for available rewards through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Options include:

  • Cash back – Redeem for cash back as a statement credit or get it directly deposited to most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Redemptions for cash back are at a 1:1 value starting at 2,000 points for $20 cash back.
  • Travel – Redeem for premium vacation packages, cruises, or airline tickets. Airfare redeemed through Ultimate Rewards is not subject to restrictions or blackout dates.
  • Gift cards – There are more than 70 gift card options available including iTunes, AMC Theatres, and The Home Depot.

Account holders receive a 20% discount off travel redemptions including airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises. Each point you redeem for travel booked through Ultimate Rewards is valued at $.0125 (one and a quarter cents). This means that 100 points is worth $1.25. For example, a $500 airline ticket only requires 40,000 points. But you would need 50,000 points to get $500 in cash through Ultimate Rewards.

Also available are benefits specially suited to small business owners. These include:

  • Set and change individual spending limits on employee cards (and earn even more rewards on purchases).
  • Pay in full or over time (based on the needs of your business).
  • Snap, tag, and file receipts instantly (using our mobile app designed for Ink customers).

Members also receive additional benefits from Chase such as:

  • Purchase Protection – Covers new purchases for 120 days against theft or damage up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
  • Return Protection – Allows reimbursement for eligible items that the store will not take back within 90 days of purchase. (Capped at $500 per item, $1,000 annually)
  • Extended Warranty Protection – Extends the time period on a U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by one additional year. (Eligible warranties of three years or less)

Cardholders are not charged foreign transaction fees.

This card comes with EMV chip technology. This feature, which is now being introduced across the U.S., provides greater security when paying for purchases using a chip-enabled terminal.

The annual fee for this card is $95 (not waived).

The Facts

Below we have broken down the specific details of the Chase Ink Plus Business Card to help you decide if it’s the right choice for you.

The Good:

Signup bonus:

New account holders have the opportunity to earn 60,000 bonus points. To qualify, you must make purchases totaling $5,000 or more in the first three months that your account is open. Once you meet the spending threshold, it may take 6-8 weeks for the bonus points to post to your account. Your account must be open and in good standing to be eligible for this offer. The 60,000 bonus points are worth $750 toward travel rewards when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Note: Eligible purchases do not include cash advances, balance transfers, transactions for traveler’s checks, money orders or foreign currency, interest charges, or fees of any kind – including any annual fee. Your account must be open and in good standing to be eligible for this offer.

Solid rewards program:

Cardholders earn points at the following rates:

  • 5 points per dollar spent at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services (capped at $50,000 in combined purchases annually – amounts over this cap earn 1 point per dollar spent for the remainder of the year)
  • 2 points per dollar spent on hotel accommodations (must be purchased directly with the hotel) and at gas stations (capped at $50,000 in combined purchases annually – additional purchases earn 1 point per dollar spent for the remainder of the year)
  • 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases (no cap)

Points do not expire as long as your account remains open.

Easy to redeem points:

Members can redeem points for available rewards through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Options include:

  • Cash back – Redeem for cash back as a statement credit or get it directly deposited to most U.S. checking and savings accounts. Redemptions for cash back are at a 1:1 value starting at 2,000 points for $20 cash back.
  • Travel – Redeem for premium vacation packages, cruises, or airline tickets. Airfare redeemed through Ultimate Rewards is not subject to restrictions or blackout dates.
  • Gift cards – There are more than 70 gift card options available including iTunes, AMC Theatres, and The Home Depot.

20% off travel redemptions:

Members receive 20% off airfare, hotels, cruises and car rentals when points are redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, a $625 airline ticket only requires 50,000 points.

Benefits tailored to small business owners:

  • Set and change individual spending limits on employee cards (and earn even more rewards on purchases).
  • Pay in full or over time (based on the needs of your business).
  • Snap, tag, and file receipts instantly (using our mobile app designed for Ink customers).

Benefits from Chase:

  • Purchase Protection
  • Return Protection
  • Extended Warranty Protection

No foreign transaction fees:

Members are not charged foreign transaction fees on purchases made while traveling outside of the U.S.

EMV Chip Technology:

Chip and Signature technology provides additional layers of security when making purchases using a chip-enabled terminal.

The Bad:

No introductory APR:

There is currently no introductory APR available on either purchases or balance transfers.

Annual fee:

There is an annual fee of $95 which is not waived for the initial year of membership.

The Ugly:

Bonus rewards are tied to certain categories:

Business owners whose companies do not spend a large amount on office supplies or internet, cable, and landline services may find it difficult to earn big rewards.

Spending caps:

The 5X points category (office supplies, cable, internet, and landline services) and the 2X points category (hotels and gas stations) each comes with a spending cap of $50,000 per year in combined purchases. After this threshold is met, all subsequent purchases earn just 1X point per dollar spent for the remainder of the year. If your business spends way more than the rewards cap, you might want to consider another card which better suits your needs.