Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card review: Best for unlimited 1.5% cash back on business purchases
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Snapshot
4.2
Bottom line
The Ink Business Unlimited credit card is a great option if you’re an entrepreneur who doesn’t want complicated bonus categories on your cash back card. The card also offers an intro APR, making it an ideal choice if you need to pay off new business purchases over time. However, if you want to maximize rewards and you frequently spend in common business categories, you might find bigger value with a different business card.
Intro offer
Earn $900 bonus cash back
Rewards Rate
1.5%
Annual fee
$0
Regular APR
18.49% - 24.49% Variable
Bankrate Score
Rewards value
APR
Rewards flexibility
Features
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Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card Overview
The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card stands out in Chase’s lineup of business credit cards thanks to its helpful benefits, top-tier welcome bonus, unlimited flat-rate rewards and terrific redemption flexibility for no annual fee.
That said, it may not be the most rewarding option for your business if you frequently spend in specific categories. Cards with higher base reward rates in these categories could prove far more valuable even with an annual fee.
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Rewards
- Unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases
- 5 percent cash back on Lyft rides through March 2025
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Welcome offer
- $900 cash back when you spend $6,000 within three months of opening your account.
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
0% APR offer
- 0 percent intro APR on purchases for 12 months
- No intro APR on balance transfers
- 18.49 percent to 24.49 percent variable ongoing APR
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
Rates and fees
- No annual fee
- 3 percent foreign transaction fees
- 5 percent balance transfer fee (or $5, whichever is greater)
- Late/returned payment fee: $40
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis -
Other cardholder perks
- Free employee cards
- Account alerts
- Cell phone protection
- Travel and purchase protections, including roadside emergency service and primary rental car insurance
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis
Ink Business Unlimited pros and cons
Pros
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This card does not charge an annual fee, making it a solid choice for businesses with smaller budgets.
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You can combine your earned points with other Chase cards to unlock more value.
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It offers a solid intro APR on purchases and a relatively low ongoing APR afterward, which can help you save on interest.
Cons
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Depending on your spending, other cards with bonus categories may earn more rewards than the Ink Business Unlimited.
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It doesn’t offer an intro APR on balance transfers, so it won’t be very helpful if need to pay off debt.
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The welcome offer’s spending requirement may be tough to reach for smaller businesses.
Why you might want the Ink Business Unlimited
The Ink Business Unlimited is a good no-annual-fee option if you’re a business owner with varied expenses. Since it earns unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases, you won’t have to track bonus categories or spending caps to maximize rewards. It also comes with a solid welcome offer, a decent intro APR offer on purchases and flexible redemption options. While you may want to upgrade to a card that offers higher reward rates eventually, this card is a great starting point.
Welcome offer: A great offer for a no-annual-fee card
The Ink Business Unlimited card’s latest sign-up bonus offers $900 in cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases within your first three months. This can be a great payoff for a business card with no annual fee, especially if you have large upcoming purchases for your business and could use the extra cash back in your pocket.
Intro APR for purchases: Rare for a business card
This card comes with a 0 percent intro APR offer for 12 months on purchases, reverting to 18.49 to 24.49 percent after. Business cards usually offer a short period of between six and nine months if they offer an intro offer at all, which means the Ink Business Unlimited pulls ahead on all fronts.
Paired with the welcome offer, the intro APR gives you time to earn and fully pay off the $6,000 required for the welcome bonus with no interest. Plus, the ongoing variable APR rate of 18.49 percent to 24.49 percent is slightly lower than other business cards, making the card more forgiving if you need to carry a balance.
Redemption: Various ways to reap rewards
One of the key perks of the Ink Business Unlimited is that it earns Chase Ultimate Rewards, which you can combine with other eligible Ultimate Rewards cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. This can boost the value of your points by up to 25 or 50 percent, respectively, when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
Other redemptions include travel, gift cards and purchases through Shop Through Chase and select online merchants (like Amazon.com and PayPal) using Shop with Points.
If you opt for cash back, you can redeem your rewards as a statement credit or have cash back deposited directly into qualifying U.S. checking or savings account. There’s also no minimum threshold to redeem your rewards and your rewards won’t expire as long as your account remains open and in good standing.
Why you might not want the Ink Business Unlimited
While earning rewards can be easy with the Ink Business Unlimited card, it may hinder you in other ways. The rewards rate is lower than most competing cards, and the card has limited overall value due to the lack of additional perks. If you manage an established business with recurring expenses or you’re looking for a card for a corporation, there are better card options on the market.
Cash back rate: Falls short of competing cards
This card earns a flat-rate cash back of 1.5 percent on all purchases, which makes it ideal if you value simplicity and ease of use. So, if you spend $12,000 in your first year, you will earn a total of 18,000 points, worth up to $180.
However, if you spend heavily on common business categories like internet, phone services and travel, you may miss out on the opportunity for greater rewards available competing cards. Look for a business card that aligns with the maximum earnings potential for your specific spending needs.
Perks: Limited to basic Visa benefits
The Ink Business Unlimited features a solid lineup of benefits to help your business run smoothly. This card offers travel protections including 24/7 pay-per-use roadside emergency service and primary rental car insurance that reimburses you for up to the cost of the vehicle for theft or collision (if you decline the rental company’s insurance). There are also purchase protections, account alerts and free employee cards with which you can set individual limits.
However, these features are standard on no-annual-fee business cards, and the Ink Business Unlimited doesn’t include any uniquely valuable perks to entice you to apply.
Bankrate staff experience
Bankrate credit cards writer Ryan Flanigan pairs his Ink Business Unlimited with other Chase cards as part of a larger rewards credit card strategy.
This card really helps me earn extra points on my business expenses. The sign-up bonus was very generous and I immediately had a high credit line. I use this for a lot of my ongoing business spending every year, which tends to get high at busier times of the year. Combining the points I earn with this card with my other Chase cards becomes a nice piece of the overall puzzle, and helps me keep my business transactions organized all in one place.
— Ryan Flanigan, Writer, Credit Cards
How the Ink Business Unlimited compares to other business cards
The Ink Business Unlimited is one of the best cards in Chase’s catalog for startups, side hustles and small businesses. The unlimited flat rewards rate with no spending limit means you could still use it as an everyday card even if your business expenses increase or you get a specialized rewards card.
However, a card with higher-rate bonus categories is more rewarding if your spending focuses on specific business expenses.
![Image of Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card](http://cdn.prodstatic.com/shared/images/cards/120x76/c16ef160-f077-11eb-99d8-ddd3faec9ad4.png?auto=webp&fit=bounds&width=120&height=76)
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Rewards rate
Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
![Image of Ink Business Cash® Credit Card](http://cdn.prodstatic.com/shared/images/cards/120x76/5ce82980-f079-11eb-99d8-ddd3faec9ad4.png?auto=webp&fit=bounds&width=120&height=76)
Annual fee
Intro offer
Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.
Rewards rate
Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year. Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
![Image of Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit](http://cdn.prodstatic.com/shared/images/cards/120x76/b5e64fa0-ff6d-11eb-97b1-37a1bb7c2537.png?auto=webp&fit=bounds&width=120&height=76)
Annual fee
Intro offer
$500 cash back once you spend $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
Rewards rate
Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back for your business on every purchase, everywhere — with no limits or category restrictions.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Best cards to pair with this card
The best card to pair with the Ink Business Unlimited depends on your business spending since maximizing your flat-rate cash back card rewards relies on pairing it with a Chase bonus category credit card.
Who is the Ink Business Unlimited right for?
The Ink Business Unlimited could be a strong pick for you if you fall into one of the following categories:
Bankrate’s take — Is the Ink Business Unlimited worth it?
The Chase Ink Business Unlimited credit card is an all-around good card for business owners. It offers decent rewards, benefits and first-year offers, especially for a card with no annual fee. A 1.5 percent flat-rate cash back isn’t the highest reward rate available, but the card’s versatile redemption options, compatibility with Chase travel cards and intro APR on purchases make it an especially handy card if you run a startup, side hustle or small business.
However, if you want to earn more on purchases, you might find a higher reward rate with a different card. Review your projected business spending and compare the best business card options to find one that best serves your business needs.
How we rated this card
Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring business credit cards, including each card’s rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more.
We analyzed over 50 of the most popular business credit cards and scored each based on how its key features stacked up compared to those of other cards in its category.
Here are some of the key factors that gave this card its score:
Frequently asked questions
What cardholders think
![Image of Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card](http://cdn.prodstatic.com/shared/images/cards/240x151/c16ef160-f077-11eb-99d8-ddd3faec9ad4.png?auto=webp&fit=bounds&width=240&height=151)
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
In May 2024, Bankrate collaborated with third-party SliceMR to survey 6160 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are based on individual cardholder’s product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own reviews of these cards.
Community Reviews
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.