How to Get Approved for a Credit Card: A Step-by-Step Guide
Jul 09, 2025
The Ultimate Travel Credit Card Guide
Jul 09, 2025
What is a Credit Builder Credit Card?
Jul 09, 2025
Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain.
Chase offers several popular small business credit cards that earn travel rewards or cash back, and the Chase Ink Business Premier® falls squarely in the cash back camp. This card also charges a $195 annual fee, which is rare among small business credit cards. However, its exceptional rewards rates can be more than enough for big spenders to make up for the fee.
Once customers earn the lucrative sign-up bonus (worth $1,000) on the Chase Ink Business Premier®, they earn 2.5% cash back on large purchases of $5,000 or more and 2% back on all other purchases.
Note that the Chase Ink Business Premier® is a pay-in-full charge card, thus users cannot carry a balance from one month to the next for most purchases (unless they qualify for the card's Flex for Business feature). The Chase Ink Business Premier® also has a glaring downside that will be difficult for some potential customers to ignore. Rewards earned with the card cannot be pooled with other cards for premium travel redemptions, even if the cardholder has multiple travel credit cards from Chase.
While the Chase Ink Business Premier® offers some nice cardholder benefits, including primary auto rental coverage for business rentals and cell phone protection, the majority of small business owners who choose it do so to earn cash back rewards. This makes sense when you consider the outsized rewards the card lavishes on larger-than-normal purchases, plus the fact that all purchases earn a minimum of 2% cash back.
Here's an overview of the earning rates and redemption options on the Chase Ink Business Premier®, plus how much in rewards you stand to earn the first year.
The Chase Ink Business Premier® starts new customers off with $1,000 in bonus cash when they spend $10,000 on purchases within three months of account opening. This bonus offer requires a minimum spend of $3,334 for the first three consecutive months after sign-up, so potential customers will want to keep that in mind.
Beyond the bonus, cardholders can earn:
2.5% cash back on large purchases of $5,000 or more
2% cash back on all other purchases
Expert intel: When it comes to how much in rewards you could earn with the Chase Ink Business Premier®, it really depends on how much your business spends and how many purchases cross the $5,000 threshold each year.
As an example, imagine a business that spends $15,000 per month on business inventory and other purchases, including six purchases per year of $5,000. In that scenario, the cardholder would earn $3,000 in rewards with the regular 2% cash back rate and $750 in rewards on the six $5,000 purchases. When you add on the $1,000 bonus offer on the card, this customer would net $4,750 in cash back rewards on $180,000 in business spending during year one.
We mentioned the glaring downside on this small business card, and it's a big one for Chase Ultimate Rewards enthusiasts. Cash back earned with the Chase Ink Business Premier® cannot be pooled with other Chase travel credit cards for premium travel redemptions.
Instead, cardholders must redeem rewards for standard cash back options from Chase, although the card does let users redeem cash back for travel through the Chase portal. The chart below shows what the typical redemption options with the Chase Ink Business Premier® are, plus how much they're worth.
| Redemption option | Rewards value (per point) |
|---|---|
Check in the mail | 1 cent per point |
Statement credit | 1 cent per point |
Gift cards | 1 cent per point |
Purchases through Amazon.com or PayPal | 0.8 cents per point |
Other merchandise | Varies |
Travel bookings through Chase | 1 cent per point |
Expert intel: "The Chase Ink Business Premier® is a great card for those who favor cash back over travel rewards. Some small business owners already have all the travel rewards they need, while others just don't travel much. By offering 2.5% cash back on transactions of $5,000 or more, the extra 0.5% can make a big difference to those who make high volumes of purchases with their small business credit card." - Jason Steele, credit card and travel rewards expert.
This overall score includes excellent marks for the card's Security and User Experience, along with lower scores in some categories like Rates and Fees, Features and Benefits and Customer Service.
The sections below highlight the core reasons for these ratings in each review category.
The Chase Ink Business Premier® scored lower in this category due to its $195 annual fee, which is high when you compare to other cash back credit cards. This card is also a pay-in-full charge card, although customers can pay off some purchases over time with the Flex for Business feature. In that case, a high variable APR applies.
On the upside, the Chase Ink Business Premier® doesn't charge foreign transaction fees on overseas purchases. It also comes with free employee cards.
If you're looking for a card with a slew of important benefits, the Chase Ink Business Premier® may or may not be what you're after. This card does have some perks, including free employee cards, primary auto rental coverage for business rentals, purchase protection against damage or theft, extended warranties and cell phone protection. Other benefits include travel and emergency assistance services and roadside assistance.
Still, the Chase Ink Business Premier® comes with fewer benefits and features than other small business credit cards from Chase. Specifically, it comes with fewer travel-related benefits than the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and no intro APR for purchases like you get with the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card or the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card.
Chase security tends to be top notch, which makes sense considering J.P. Morgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States. The bank uses enhanced encryption practices to keep your personal data safe online, and it offers additional security features like 24/7 fraud monitoring, multi-factor authentication and biometric authentication on the Chase mobile app.
Cardholders with Chase credit cards also get the benefit of $0 fraud liability protection, which means they are not liable for fraudulent charges made to their card.
The Chase website is known for being easy to use, whether customers want to log in to monitor their spending, pay their bills or redeem their credit card rewards. The Chase mobile app is also highly popular and rated excellent by current and past users. Currently, the Chase mobile app has a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Google Play and a 4.8 rating out of 5 stars in the App Store.
Chase also earned the 4th spot in J.D. Power's 2024 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study with a score of 619 out of 1,000 points. This puts Chase behind three other credit card issuers that scored higher in this study, including American Express (634), Discover (629) and Capital One (620).
Chase offers better customer service than many of its competitors, and customers can reach the bank for most types of assistance 24 hours per day. Not only can customers reach out to Chase via its excellent customer service phone numbers, but it offers contact options via secure messaging and several social media accounts.
J.P. Morgan Chase scored slightly lower in this category due to reports from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) on recent government actions due to its marketplace conduct.
Chase customer service is easy to reach whether you're needing assistance at home or you're traveling outside the United States. Contact options include the bank's customer service number (1-800-432-3117) or its social media channels (tweet Chase at @ChaseSupport or message them on Facebook or Instagram.) Customers can also send secure messages to Chase customer service via the card issuer's online account portal.
For those who have questions about their rewards points or redemption options, Chase Ultimate Rewards customer service can be reached at 1-866-331-0773.
When we tested these channels:
We were talking with a Chase representative within five minutes of initiating a phone call.
Chase social media replied to our message almost instantly, although we waited almost five minutes to chat with a representative.
According to credit card and travel rewards expert Lee Huffman, the Chase Ink Business Premier® is ideal for businesses that make large purchases regularly since individual purchases of $5,000 or more earn a higher rewards rate of 2.5% cash back. He adds that many small business owners with large purchases find that their spending doesn't always align with the limited bonus rewards categories of other business credit cards. In that sense, the Chase Ink Business Premier® lets small business owners make a bonus rewards category of their own each time they make a purchase of $5,000 or more.
However, there are trade-offs to be made with this card, particularly when it comes to redemptions for rewards.
"Unlike other premium Chase cards, you cannot combine Ultimate Rewards points or transfer points to airline and hotel partners," said Huffman. "Additionally, the card requires that the balance be paid in full each month unless your transactions qualify for pay over time."
The card's $195 annual fee may be also hard to overcome for some cardholders, particularly for small businesses with relatively low amounts of spending each year.
With these downsides in mind, award travel coach Michael Gandara of Nurse Michael Travels says small businesses or solopreneurs who have smaller budgets or who are interested in travel rewards would find more value in other Chase Ink cards like the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card or Ink Business Cash® Credit Card.
"The welcome bonus, while attractive, isn't typically enough to justify the annual fee unless you can maximize the 2.5% on large purchases," he said.
Users on the social platform Reddit seem to echo many of the same sentiments the credit card experts we interviewed see with the Chase Ink Business Premier®. The annual fee is high at $195, and the fact the card earns rewards that don't transfer or pool with other accounts is a major downside. However, some users think it's still a good choice for small businesses with considerable spending or many $5,000+ purchases each year.
For example, one Reddit user said the following about the card:
"From your other comment, this card is a good fit for you if you are spending $100k monthly. If you don’t travel frequently for the whole transfer partner thing, 2.5% back as cash back alone worked best for my case since I nearly have the same spending for my company as well."
Another Reddit user followed up by saying:
"The whole point of this card was to get 2.0 to 2.5% CB [cash back]. I have 3 kids in school and have other ways to pay for the limited travel I get to do with them. I take that CB and deposit it into a brokerage account for their college fund. Over the years CB has funded and grown that fund to over $300k. At this rate, they are all still in elementary school. CB is likely to pay 100% of college for those lucky kids."
| Chase Ink Business Premier® | Chase Ink Business Preferred® | |
|---|---|---|
Annual fee | $195 | $95 |
Base rewards | 2.5% cash back on large purchases of $5,000 or more 2% cash back on all other purchases | 3X points on up to $150,000 in combined spending each year on:
1X points on other purchases |
APR | Pay-in-full charge card; 18.49% to 26.49% with Flex for Business feature | 20.24% to 26.24% variable |
Sign-on bonus | $1,000 after spending $10,000 on purchases within three months of account opening | 90,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 on purchases within three months of account opening |
The Chase Ink Business Preferred® is a travel credit card from Chase, thus it lets users transfer their rewards to Chase airline and hotel partners like British Airways, Air France (Flying Blue), Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt. Users also get 25% more value when redeeming points for travel through Chase Travel.
The Chase Ink Business Preferred® also takes things up a notch when it comes to travel benefits since it comes with trip cancellation and interruption insurance in addition to primary auto rental coverage for business purchases. Other benefits are similar to the Chase Ink Business Premier® and include purchase protection, extended warranties, cell phone insurance and roadside assistance.
The Chase Ink Business Preferred® also offers a higher rewards rate of 3X points in specific spending categories, although bonus rewards are capped at $150,000 in combined spending each year. All other purchases earn 1X points per dollar spent.
In summary, the Chase Ink Business Preferred® can make more sense for businesses who spend a lot in its 3X point bonus categories, or for anyone who wants access to premium travel redemptions through Chase. With its $95 annual fee, the Chase Ink Business Preferred® can also be a good choice for those who want to keep credit-related costs down.
Our in-depth overview of the Chase Ink Business Premier® is based on our credit card review methodology, which considers a range of factors consumers and small businesses care about when it comes to their card products. These factors include everything from product rates and fees to features and benefits, account security features, user experience and customer service.
Since the Chase Ink Business Premier® is a rewards credit card, we also assessed its rewards rates and redemption options and compared them to options from similar small business credit cards. Finally, we interviewed credit card experts for their insights, and we read through consumer message boards like Reddit to gauge consumer sentiment.
Learn more about how we rate and review credit cards and their issuers.
The Chase Ink Business Premier® is a good cash back credit card for business provided you don't want to pool your rewards with other Chase credit cards for point transfers to airlines and hotels. Of course, this card makes more sense if your business spends enough to justify the $195 annual fee, and especially if you have a lot of $5,000+ purchases to make throughout the year.
That said, there are other small business credit cards to consider with more flexible rewards, lower annual fees or both. Make sure you consider all your card options before making a decision.
The Chase Ink Business Premier® requires very good to excellent credit, and you need to have a small business or have a solo proprietorship to qualify.
The Chase Ink Business Premier® technically earns rewards in the Chase Ultimate Rewards program. However, cash back cannot be pooled with Chase travel credit card accounts like you can if you have other Chase card products.
Chase falls short of listing a minimum or maximum credit limit on the Chase Ink Business Premier®.
Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain.
