Chase's newest Ink card is now available to the public - The Points Guy

Apply now: New Business Card! Ink Business Premier Credit Card

Chase has just unveiled a big update to one of its business cards, the Chase Ink Business Premier Credit Card. Previously only available to existing Chase for Business customers when it launched in December 2021, the card is now open to the public.

This card is a niche element in Chase’s fairly diverse business card lineup, targeted at high-spending businesses that value flexibility in their payment options. The Chase Ink Business Premier is a solid earner that businesses with significant expenses can use to supercharge their return on spending.

So let’s take a closer look at the card’s features.

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At a glance

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Annual fee

The Ink Business Premier charges a $195 annual fee, and while that squarely fits in the mid-tier price spectrum, the card is really intended for high-spending businesses, which we’ll explain later. It’s $100 more per year than the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, which only charges $95 per year.

Sign-up bonus

Chase Ink Business Premier cardholders can earn $1,000 cash back (or 100,000 non-transferable Ultimate Rewards points) after making $10,000 in purchases in the first three months of account opening.

Earning rates

As for its ongoing earning potential — there is no cap on how much cash back you can accrue on purchases at the following rates:

2% back on every purchase.
2.5% total back on every purchase of $5,000 or more.
5% total back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Clearly, businesses that frequently make large purchases and that spend heavily on travel via Ultimate Rewards will stand to benefit the most.

What’s unique about this card

This card isn’t just another Ink card by another name. It is different from the others in that portfolio, with several unique features surrounding payment and redemption options that may make it more or less interesting for you.

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Pay in full and Flex for Business

One of the main features that sets this card apart from the rest of Chase’s business portfolio is that it’s the issuer’s first pay-in-full product.

That means business owners will need to either pay their balance in full each month or use Chase’s “Flex for Business” program. This will work similarly to Amex’s Pay Over Time, which essentially functions as an extended-financing option, allowing cardholders to pay eligible charges over several months with interest.

While the best strategy is to pay off your balance entirely each month, this financing option is a good alternative for unexpected expenses that might come up and require more time to pay them down.

More limited redemption opportunities

For rewards-focused cardholders, Chase Ink Business Premier has one significant downside: The points it earns are primarily intended to be redeemed as cash back, and you cannot transfer them to another Chase card account that earns transferable Ultimate Rewards points in order to maximize their value.

For some background, other proprietary Chase card products that charge annual fees — namely the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred — earn Ultimate Rewards points that cardholders can transfer to the program’s various airline and hotel partners, such as United MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards and World of Hyatt.

If you carry one (or more) of those cards, then you can usually combine points from other Chase cards that are mainly cash-back earners — such as the Chase Freedom Flex, the Chase Freedom Unlimited, the Ink Business Cash Credit Card and the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card — with those from your account that earns transferable points, and the rewards you have earned become fully transferable Chase points.

That’s not the case with the Ink Business Premier.

Instead, the Ultimate Rewards points you earn with it are only redeemable for cash back — or various other things like travel and gift cards through the Chase portal — all at a rate of 1 cent per point. In addition, while you can transfer points from other Chase accounts into your Ink Business Premier one, the opposite is not true. Once those points are in your Ink Business Premier account, they’re stuck there.

All that means that folks with this card can earn “cash back” in a variety of forms, but cannot use the card to accrue more transferable Ultimate Rewards points by combining them with those from other accounts.

While earning cash back at the rates that this card offers is probably attractive to some high-spending businesses, those looking to ramp up their travel rewards, specifically, will probably find some better options out there.

Other benefits

As other cards continue to scale back on benefits such as travel insurance and extended warranty protection, the fact that Chase continues to offer these perks is a notable advantage. However, don’t expect premium travel perks such as lounge access or travel statement credits. Here’s what you can expect:

Of these, it’s notable that the card’s cellphone protection covers up to $1,000 per claim, with a maximum of three claims per year with a $100 deductible per claim.

How the card fits into the Chase portfolio

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Although Chase has added and removed cards from its Ink portfolio over time, there are now currently four Ink Business cards actively available: the Ink Business Premier, the Ink Business Cash Credit Card, the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card and the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.

Earning potential unlocked

Of the other three Ink cards, only the Ink Business Preferred charges an annual fee, of $95 per year.

The Ink Business Preferred is also a strong earner, racking up 1 point per dollar on most purchases, but 3 points per dollar on a variety of bonus categories including travel; shipping purchases; internet, cable and phone services; and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines. However, you can only earn 3 points per dollar on up to $150,000 in combined purchases per account anniversary year across all these categories. So for businesses that spend above and beyond that, the card might not have been the best option.

As mentioned above, however, points the Ink Business Preferred earns can be transferred to the Ultimate Rewards program’s airline and hotel partners. They are also worth 1.25 cents apiece when redeemed for travel through the Chase portal, which handily beats the 1-cent-per-point rate the Ink Business Premier offers on such redemptions.

For its part, the Ink Business Cash Credit Card limits users to earning 5% back (or 5 points per dollar) on up to $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year; and 2% back (or 2 points per dollar) on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Those are pretty low maximums for businesses and might have hamstrung some small businesses with main purchase areas in these categories.

The Ink Business Unlimited has no bonus caps. It simply earns 1.5% back (or 1.5 points per dollar) on all purchases.

By contrast, the Ink Business Premier earns a better 2% back on everyday purchases, but an unlimited 2.5% total cash back on $5,000-plus transactions and 5% back on travel through Chase, with no earning ceilings.

A niche card for big business

With no cap on how much you can earn, businesses with more significant expenses (likely in the millions of dollars) will probably appreciate the ability to continue earning at least 2% back on every purchase and even more on large purchases with the Ink Business Premier. And a $195 annual fee may be a drop in the proverbial bucket for that group.

Bottom line

While the launch of a new credit card is always exciting, some cards are more noteworthy than others. And while this card does come with some serious earning potential, the Ink Business Premier will likely appeal mostly to large, established businesses.

As opposed to many other business credit cards, for which you don’t need to have a full-fledged large-scale company to apply or maximize their rewards, the Ink Business Premier is squarely targeted at firms with sizable expenses that regularly ring up in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollar range.

But if your business fits in that demographic, and likes to keep its rewards simple without utilizing travel transfer partners to maximize value, this card could be an interesting option.

Additional reporting by Emily Thompson.