Ink Business Unlimited review: A massive welcome bonus with no annual fee

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card is one of the best no-annual-fee business credit cards. Upon approval, you can earn a $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

This intro bonus is one of the best we've seen for a no-annual fee card, and even compares well with the best welcome bonuses available with annual-fee business credit cards.

Below, CNBC Select shares the details on this card's welcome bonus, rewards and fees.

• Welcome bonus
• Benefits and perks
• How to earn and use Ink Business Unlimited rewards
• Rates and fees
• Alternatives to the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card
• Is the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card right for you?
• Bottom line

Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card comes with a generous intro APR for new account holders. New card members receive 0% APR on purchases for the first 12 months, then a variable 18.49%-24.49% APR applies.

There is no cost to add employee cards to this account, and cardholders can take advantage of several coverages, including:

• Roadside dispatch
• Extended warranty protection
• Purchase protection

Earning

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card earns a minimum of 1.5% cash back on all purchases. You can also earn 5% back on Lyft rides (through March 2025).

Redeeming

Redeeming rewards with the Ink Business Unlimited is straightforward. You can redeem the Chase Ultimate Rewards® points you earn for one cent each for things like a statement credit, direct deposit, travel and gift cards.

Through Amazon's Shop with Points feature, you can link your Ink Business Unlimited card and use your rewards for Amazon purchases. However, it's rarely a good idea to use your points this way. The value you'll get is less than one cent per point. It's better to make the Amazon purchase on the card, and then redeem the points you earn for a statement credit.

This is a cash-back card, but because it earns cash back in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, this provides you an opportunity to dramatically boost the value of your redemptions. The key is, that you can move points from your Ink Business Unlimited to another Chase credit card that enables point transfers. This strategy works if you have any of these travel credit cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

By utilizing the best Chase transfer partners, you can use your points to book luxury hotels and posh business-class flights which normally cost thousands of dollars. For example, you can book a round-trip business-class flight to Europe on Delta for 50,000 Virgin points each way. When you combine this card's intro bonus and the 9,000 points you'd earn from meeting the bonus's minimum required spending, you almost have enough to book this round-trip business-class flight, which could easily cost over $4,000. That's a value 4X greater than what you'd get by redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash back.

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has no annual fee. Late payments and returned payments are charged a $40 fee and there is a foreign transaction fee of 3%. The introductory APR is 0% for 12 months on purchases and after that, it is 18.49% to 24.49%. The balance transfer APR is 18.49% to 24.49 and there is a balance transfer fee of $5 or 5%, whichever is greater.

Here's how some of the Ink Business Unlimited card's competitors stack up against the Chase card.

Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card vs. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is also a no-annual-fee business card (see rates and fees). If you prefer to earn transferrable travel rewards, it may be a better card for your business. You'll earn 2X Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points. So you're earning a slightly higher return on the first $50,000 in purchases, and the points you earn can be transferred to all of the American Express travel partners.

Although the Blue Business Plus card's intro bonus isn't as lucrative as the Ink Business Unlimited's, it could be a more valuable card over the long haul.

Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card vs. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has a larger welcome bonus and bonus spending categories that outperform the Ink Business Unlimited for certain spending. The Ink Business Preferred earns 3X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases in these categories:

• Shipping
• Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines
• Travel
• Internet cable and phone services

If your business spends heavily in any of those categories, this could be a better card for you. It also has a more robust suite of benefits, including trip delay reimbursement, cell phone protection and baggage delay insurance.

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card is an excellent option for small business owners who won't spend a lot in categories where other cards may provide a higher return, such as travel, shipping or advertising. While it's a cash-back card, you can transfer the points you earn if you have another Chase credit card with that ability. So business owners who already have the Sapphire Preferred card may find additional value from opening an Ink Business Unlimited. However, depending on your business's expenses, it won't always be the most rewarding card to have.

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card currently has a welcome offer of $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This is one of the most valuable offers available and it has a reasonable spending requirement and no annual fee.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every business card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

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For rates and fees for The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.