Chase launches new charge card: Chase Ink Business Premier
Chase has steadily grown its portfolio of business credit cards and this time around, it’s launching the Chase Ink Business Premier card. At $195 per year, the card is designed to attract business owners whose large purchases and high monthly spending will allow them to earn up to 2.5 percent unlimited cash back.
The sleek metal design and the higher rates of cash back for larger purchases signal that this rewards card is geared toward more established business owners that will take advantage of this charge card’s features.
In essence, cardholders will pay the balance in full each month without paying interest. At the same time, they will rack up rewards that can be redeemed for cash and a number of other awards like travel, Amazon.com purchases and more. In other words, it’s a generous line of credit that also offers cash back—a win-win situation for business owners.
What does the Chase Ink Business Premier offer?
The Chase Ink Business Premier’s most attractive feature is the opportunity to earn unlimited cash back, plus there are other perks that add to the card benefits:
- Rewards rate: Unlimited 2 percent cash back on every purchase; unlimited 2.5 percent total cash back on every purchase of $5,000 or more; unlimited 5 percent total cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Welcome bonus: $1,000 cash back on $10,000 in business purchases in the first three months of account opening
- Flex for Business: Flexibility to pay for eligible purchases over time with interest—up to their Flex for Business limit
- Travel protections: No foreign transaction fees; trip cancellation/interruption insurance; trip delay reimbursement; baggage delay insurance; auto rental collision damage waiver
- Additional protections: Fraud, zero liability, purchase, extended warranty protection and cellphone protection
How is the Chase Ink Busines Premier different from other Chase business credit cards?
Earning rewards
The rewards structure is designed to help business owners earn more on larger purchases. Although you can earn 2 percent back on all purchases, you stand to earn 2.5 percent back on purchases over $5,000 or more. Then, when you spend on travel in the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, you can earn 5 percent back. There’s no limit on how much you can earn and the rewards don’t expire as long as your account is active.
Redeeming rewards
Rewards can be redeemed like those on a travel credit card in the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, as well as on Amazon.com and PayPal purchases, gift cards to over 175 brands, Apple products and more.
Chase’s first pay-in-full business card
The Chase Ink Business Premier card is a charge card—meaning the full balance must be paid at the end of each billing cycle. As Chase puts it, “Chase Ink Business Premier will be the first Pay in Full business credit card with built-in flexibility for greater spend potential and rich rewards to be offered by Chase.”
However, like many charge cards have done recently, there’s also the option to pay some purchases off over time. With the Flex for Business feature, cardholders can pay off purchases over $500, with interest, over time.
Who would benefit from the Chase Ink Business Premier card?
This card is ideal for business owners who don’t mind paying a higher annual fee for access to what essentially amounts to a line of credit with rewards. If you are a business owner who can route large amounts of expenses through your business credit card each month, the Chase Ink Business Premier card stands to provide a generous amount of cash back while saving tons on interest payments.
For these reasons, we find this card is not suited for solopreneurs or smaller businesses that have monthly and annual revenues on the lower end. In fact, the card really seems to be more of a marketing tool to get business owners into Chase’s pipeline for more sophisticated financial products that large business owners tend to need more of than smaller business owners. This isn’t a bad thing, but it means that not every business owner will be ready for this kind of business credit card.
If you feel like this card is a bit out of your league, there are plenty of other Chase business credit cards you can apply for—many with a lower annual fee or no annual fee, no requirement to pay down the balance monthly and the opportunity to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points:
Plus, there are other issuers like American Express, Bank of America, Capital One or even Citi that also offer a wide range of business credit cards to meet your needs.
However, if you meet the criteria for this card and have an existing relationship with a Chase Business Relationship Manager, you can sign up for the Chase Ink Business Premier’s waitlist for an application when the card becomes available.
