Ink Business Unlimited vs Cash vs Preferred (June 2026)
NC
nextcard teamPublished Oct 17, 2025·Updated Jun 12, 2026
NC
nextcard teamPublished Oct 17, 2025·Updated Jun 12, 2026
Ink Business Unlimited vs Cash vs Preferred (June 2026)
TL;DR
Advertiser Disclosure: nextcard may receive compensation from card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain. For the most up-to-date terms & conditions, refer to the official credit card application on the issuer's website.
All three Ink Business cards have $0 annual fees except the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card at $95/year, and all offer free employee cards.
The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card earns a flat 1.5% cash back on everything, making it ideal if you want simplicity with no category tracking.
The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is the highest earner with 5% back at office supply stores and on internet/cable/phone, plus 2% at gas stations and restaurants.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card unlocks Chase transfer partners for airline and hotel redemptions + earns 3x on travel, shipping, and advertising (on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases).
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The ideal play is to get all three over time. Stack the welcome bonuses, use each card for its best categories, then pool all your points into the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card for maximum transfer value.
What is the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card?
The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card is my newest credit card in my wallet. I just snagged this card since it is offering its best welcome offer ever. You can earn $1,000 in bonus cash back after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first four months from account opening. This is the highest public bonus this card has ever had. The $1,000 you receive in cash back can be converted into 100,000 Chase points (assuming you have a qualifying partner card) which can be amazing if you like to travel. Once the cash back is converted to Chase points, you can save hundreds to thousands of dollars booking travel.
Yes. If you use this card abroad, you will have to pay a 3% fee on every transaction in US dollars. This is definitely not great, so you should avoid using this card for foreign purchases.
What is the 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months on the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card?
An underrated benefit with the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card is that you will receive 0% introductory APR on purchases for 12 Months. That means for the first 12 months that you have the card, you are not charged any interest on purchases.
This can be great for a small business that is starting out. Or maybe your business has some big purchases coming up.
Do you have to pay to add employees as authorized users?
Nope. You can add employees free of charge on your Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card. You will feel assured that when your employees are spending money on business expenditures, they are earning cash back.
What are the Instacart benefits?
With the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, you will get three months of complimentary Instacart+ while also getting a $20 Instacart credit every month. With Instacart+, you get access to Peacock streaming and cheaper delivery fees. You get $0 grocery delivery fees on orders of $10 or more and $0 restaurant delivery fees on restaurant orders of $25 or more.
5% cash back at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services (up to $25k/account anniversary year)
2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants (up to $25k/account anniversary year)
1% cash back on all other purchases
What is the 0% introductory APR benefit for 12 months?
Like the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, you will receive 0% introductory APR on purchases in your first 12 months of having the card. That means no interest payments for a whole year.
Do you have to pay to add employees as authorized users?
I’ve been able to take advantage of the Instacart benefits on the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card in the past few months. The Instacart benefits are the same as the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card where you get $20 of credit per month along with complimentary Instacart+ for three months.
I have found the best way to use this benefit is to order around $20-$25 worth of groceries to max out the value of the $20 credit. By using the Instacart credit monthly, I’ve been able to buy Catalina Crunch (a popular cereal that sells for $9-$10) for just $2. And a pound of ground turkey for just $2.50.
What's really cool is that if you have both the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card and the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card cards, you can stack the Instacart+ benefit on your account. That means that you would have six months of Instacart+ instead of three with just one of the cards. And combining Instacart+ with the $20 monthly credit on each card can equate to hundreds of dollars in savings in just six months.
Your points can be worth up to 75% more when redeemed for travel on the Chase Travel portal, thanks to Chase's Points Boosts program. And with the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you will have the ability to transfer your Chase points to Chase's 14 airline and hotel loyalty partners (10 airlines and 4 hotels) in increments of 1,000 points. You can use Chase points earned on other cards or your Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card to get maximum value for your points through those transfer partners. This way you can get hundreds to thousands of dollars in value when redeeming your Chase points with airline and hotel partners.
One thing to know: Starting October 1, 2026, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card will transfer to World of Hyatt at a 4:3 ratio instead of the current 1:1. All other partners stay at 1:1. If you also hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can route your points there first to keep the 1:1 Hyatt transfer rate.
There are no foreign transaction fees on this card, which is fantastic for the frequent international traveler. This is a standout feature compared to its no annual fee brethren.
What are the earning rates for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card?
3 points per $1 spent on the first $150,000 spent each account anniversary on combined purchases in these categories: shipping, social media and search engine advertising, travel, internet, cable, and phone services
1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
How do the cards stack up against each other?
These three cards all have their own unique benefits, and all of them have the potential to help your business.
The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card card is good for businesses that do not want to spend time thinking about what their earn rates are on business expenditures. The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card has the outsized earn rates in specific categories without the 1.5% cash back like the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card. Both of these cards offer the same welcome bonus currently, so you will save money if you meet the requirements (before even thinking about the earn rates on the cards).
Personally, it's nice to have both the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card. Through their bonuses, you can get $2,000 in cash back that can be converted to 200,000 Chase points if you have a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. That's incredible for business travel. You could travel roundtrip to Europe in business class with this amount of points and still have points left over. The neat thing is you can even transfer Chase points to your personal cards for personal travel.
If you are a credit card aficionado, the ideal scenario is to eventually have all three cards. That way you are taking advantage of all three welcome bonuses along with their varying earn rates. You’ll get the 5% back on select categories on the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, 3 points per $1 on valuable categories like travel on the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and 1.5% cash back on all other purchases with the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card. This essentially forms the “business trifecta.”
Then, you can transfer those Chase points to partners like United, Hyatt, or Southwest for maximal value.
Which Ink Business card is best for a new small business?
It depends on your spending. If you want simplicity, the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card gives you 1.5% back on everything with no categories to track. If you spend heavily on office supplies, internet, or phone services, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card earns 5% in those categories. If you travel frequently for business, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns 3x on travel and gives you access to Chase transfer partners.
Do the Ink Business cards report to your personal credit report?
Chase business cards generally do not report to personal credit bureaus unless you fall behind on payments. Your business card activity typically stays separate from your personal credit report, though the hard inquiry from applying will show up.
One caveat: starting October 1, 2026, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card will transfer to World of Hyatt at a 4:3 ratio (all other partners stay 1:1). If you also have a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can route your points there for Hyatt transfers to keep the 1:1 rate.
