Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Review

The Ink Business Preferred Credit Card from Chase is one of the best business credit cards today. Ever since starting Financial Samurai in 2009, I've always had a Chase Ink Business Credit Card to charge all my expenses. And during this time, I've racked up hundreds of thousands of cash credit to spend in the Chase Ultimate Rewards program or use as statement credit.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Review

I've got both my business checking and savings accounts with Chase. In addition, I also have my business credit card with Chase. Plus, my personal Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card. I'm a fan and highly recommend using their products as well.

Chase is one of the largest banks with America, especially after merging with J.P. Morgan, one of the most venerable investment banks in the world. Year after year, they also have one of the best suite of business and personal credit cards on the market.

Let's first discuss why it's important to have a small business credit card if you are an entrepreneur. Then we'll do a deep dive into the benefits of the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.

Reasons To Own A Business Credit Card

When you first start a business, whether as a sole proprietor or as an official corporation or partnership, there are so many things to do. It's hard to keep track of everything you should be doing behind the scenes when you're so preoccupied with the client-facing side of your business.

Thus, you may not even realize how important and beneficial it is to open a small business credit card account. Whether you're opening your very first business account or looking for a new one, there are several benefits you should know when it comes to having a reliable small business credit card. They are:

  • Earn rewards that best fit your needs: cash back, travel, gift cards, etc.
  • Improves organization and separates business expenses from personal
  • Builds credit history for your business
  • Responsible use can help you get approved for business loans
  • Easier to set and monitor limits on employee spending
  • Business cards typically have higher credit limits
  • Some small business credit cards offer longer billing cycles up to 60 days

Owning a small business takes a lot of work. But the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card helps make running your business easier. You not only get cash back, you also get buyers protection, and an easy way to track all your business expenses.

Reasons To Own The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

Now that we understand the importance of owning a business credit card, let's look at the specific benefits of owning the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is the most comprehensive rewards shopping program today. They have almost everything you want.

With the Ink Business Preferred card, you receive three points per dollar spent on the following categories (up to $150,000 in combined spending annually)

  • Travel
  • Shipping purchases
  • Internet, cable, and phone services
  • Advertising purchases (ex. Google Ads, Facebook ads, and other online advertising platforms)

Plus, you’ll earn one point per $1 on all other purchases.

The Chase Travel Portal

The base value of Chase Ultimate Rewards (CUR) points is typically 1 cent per point.

But, when you have the Ink Business Preferred and use the CUR portal to book travel, you get a 25% bonus in the value of your points, or 1.25 cents per point.

Purchase Protection And Insurance

As a business owner, you're likely constantly buying a lot of supplies and expensive equipment. The last thing you want to worry about is dealing with defective merchandise that you need to operate your business or equipment getting stolen.

What's great is the Ink Business Preferred card offers purchase protection that covers new purchases against damage or theft for 120 days. This benefit also covers up to $10,000 per claim with a maximum of $50,000 per year. Terms apply, so be sure to read up on all the details.

Cell Phone Protection

We've all become so reliant on smart phones it's hard to imagine functioning without them. But accidents happen all the time – cracked screens, water damage, losing them on a business trip, etc. What's great about the Ink Business Preferred card is it comes with cell phone protection.

This benefit will protect your cell phone, plus the cell phones of those employees listed on your monthly bill, against loss or damage. To activate this benefit all you need to do is pay your phone bill with your Ink Business Preferred. And if you do, you'll also be earning 3X points.

Note that each claim has a $100 deductible. Claims are capped at $600 each and you can submit up to 3 claims per year. A $100 deductible is not bad given a new iPhone 11+ costs $1,000+.

Always make sure you backup all your data regularly in the cloud just in case your phone is lost or stolen!

Business Trip Insurance

Business trip insurance is another nice perk provided by the Ink Business Preferred card. It offers both trip cancellation and interruption insurance.

In other words, if your trip is cancelled due to inclement weather, engine malfunction, or a rowdy passenger, you can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per pre-paid, non-refundable expense like tickets, tours, and hotels.

$5,000 is a healthy amount for domestic business travel. For international business travel, $5,000 can go much quicker since ticket prices are higher. However, even flying to Asia or Europe in economy class usually costs at most $1,500 roundtrip. So $5,000 is typically a good enough amount to cover travel expenses for any type of business trip.

Car Rental Insurance

Having primary rental car insurance is huge if you get in an accident because you avoid having to make a claim on your auto insurance policy. Once you make a claim, your auto premiums will go up for at least the next six months.

The primary car rental insurance coverage offered to Ink Business Preferred cardmembers provides reimbursement for theft or damage for most rental cars up to the actual cash value of the car.

To activate this coverage be sure to pay for the entire rental with your Ink Business Preferred card, and decline the collision insurance provided by the rental agency.

Free Employee Cards

If you are a small business owner who has multiple employees, each of your employees can get an Ink Business Preferred for no additional charge. You can also take advantage of great card features like individualized spending caps per employee and get detailed reporting to keep track of who is spending, how often, and how much.

However, due note the annual fee for this card is $95 per card.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Benefits

More Chase Ink Business Preferred Sign-Up Benefits

Sign-Up Bonus

You can get a fantastic 100,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 in the first 3 months (that’s $1,250 in redemption value in the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal.)

Ultimate Rewards Points

Your Chase Ultimate Rewards points accumulate quicker towards travel with the Ink Business Preferred at 1.25 cents per point instead of 1 cent per point.

Further, Chase has a fantastic list of travel partners where you can often get 2, 3, or more cents per point in value when transferring to a hotel or airline partner.

Below are the Chase airline and hotel partners.

Chase Airline Transfer Partners

Chase Airline Transfer PartnerMin TransferTransfer Ratio
(Chase > Airline)
Transfer Time
Aer Lingus AerClub1,0001:1Almost Instant
British Airways Executive Club1,0001:1Almost Instant
Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
1,0001:11 hour
Emirates Skywards1,0001:1New, pending reports
Iberia Plus1,0001:1Almost Instant
JetBlue1,0001:1Almost Instant
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
1,0001:11-2 days
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards1,0001:1Almost Instant
United Airlines MileagePlus1,0001:1Almost Instant
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club1,0001:1Almost Instant

Chase Hotel Transfer Partners

Chase Hotel Transfer PartnerMin TransferTransfer RatioTransfer Time
World of Hyatt
1,0001:1Almost Instant
IHG Rewards Club1,0001:11 day
Marriott Rewards1,0001:12 days

Given the fantastic partnership with so many airlines and hotels, your Ink Business Preferred credit card gives you many more options and flexibility to travel in style.

And if you don't want to redeem for travel, no problem. You can also use your points for cash back, statement credits, gift cards, and more. Points also don't expire as long as your account is open.

How Much To Spend To Make Up For Annual Fee

If you have a smaller business and don't like to pay annual fees, you can always sign up for the Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card.

However, if you have a larger business and plan to utilize your credit card often for more rewards, the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card is an optimal choice.

To make up for the Ink business Preferred card's $95 annual fee, you can do the following:

  • Spend $7,600 in non-bonus categories each year to earn 7,600 Ultimate Rewards points, which are worth $95 in travel rewards. That’s only about $633 in spending each month.
  • Spend $2,534 in any of the 3x bonus categories (travel, shipping, cable, internet, phone, and select advertising) yearly to earn 7,602 Ultimate Rewards points, which are worth $95 in travel rewards. That’s only about $211 in spending per month.
  • Spend like you normally would. Spending between $2,534 – $7,600 is a low hurdle for most small businesses. I have an expense-light online business and easily spend in that range.

Take a look at the profit and loss statement below. The cupcake company generates $100,000 in revenue and has to buy $10,000 worth of cupcakes and has $25,000 worth of operating expenses.

It's easy to rack up 50,000+ rewards points after spending $35,000 in expenses. 50,000 rewards points is worth around $625 in CUR travel rewards right there, not to mention the travel protection, insurance, cell phone protection, primary car rental insurance and more.

How to reduce taxes for a business

Bottom line: The hurdle to get your money's worth for the $95 fee is quite low.

Who Should Own The Chase Ink Business Preferred Card?

Still on the fence about getting the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card? I completely understand as I've spent hours going through hundreds of credit card to highlight only the best. It's overwhelming!

Here are some attributes that make owning the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card a great fit. If you relate to at least three of the attributes, then I think this is the business credit card for you.

  • Your business is over one year old and growing
  • Each year, your business generates at least $50,000 in revenue
  • Over 12 months, you plan to spend at least $10,000 a year in business expenses on your card
  • You like to keep business expenses all in one place
  • The flexibility of redeeming rewards for travel, cash, gift cards or other rewards is important to you
  • You need or like to travel since you get 3X points
  • Chase is your business's bank already
  • You've got a credit score above 690
  • Minimizing your taxable income with legitimate business expenses is a priority

Start Earning Rewards Today

If you fulfill at least three of the above, and hopefully a lot more, the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card is a great choice.

I've been a happy Chase business cardholder for over 10 years and I plan to keep the card for hopefully another 10 years.

Pay Off Your Debt Faster

If you don’t have enough cash, getting a personal loan from Credible is a good place to start.

Personal loan rates are lower than the average credit card interest rate. Thus, if you have expensive credit card debt, consider consolidating your debt into a lower interest-rate personal loan.

Credible has a comprehensive marketplace for personal loans. Lenders compete for your business to get you the best rate. Get personalized prequalified rates in just two minutes after you fill out an application. Check out Credible today and see how much you could save.

Prequalified rates are based on the information you provide and a soft credit inquiry. Receiving prequalified rates does not guarantee that the Lender will extend you an offer of credit. You are not yet approved for a loan or a specific rate. All credit decisions, including loan approval, if any, are determined by Lenders, in their sole discretion. Rates and terms are subject to change without notice. Rates from Lenders may differ from prequalified rates due to factors which may include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in your personal credit circumstances; (ii) additional information in your hard credit pull and/or additional information you provide (or are unable to provide) to the Lender during the underwriting process; and/or (iii) changes in APRs (e.g., an increase in the rate index between the time of prequalification and the time of application or loan closing. (Or, if the loan option is a variable rate loan, then the interest rate index used to set the APR is subject to increases or decreases at any time). Lenders reserve the right to change or withdraw the prequalified rates at any time.

For further suggestions on saving money and growing wealth, check out my Top Financial Products page.

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About the Author: 

Sam worked in investment banking for 13 years at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from The College of William & Mary and got his MBA from UC Berkeley. In 2012, Sam was able to retire at the age of 34 largely due to his investments that now generate roughly $250,000 a year in passive income.

Financial Samurai was started in 2009 and is one of the most trusted personal finance sites on the web with over 1.5 million pageviews a month.