Earlier this week, I wrote about the new Chase Ink Business Unlimited card, which is a no-fee card that offers a 50,000 Ultimate Reward signup bonus AND 1.5 Ultimate Rewards for every dollar spend on the card. You can read more about the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card and compare it with other cards here
A comment on the original post suggested that the American Express Blue for Business card was still a better business card, which led me to wonder what is the best business card out there? There are a few contenders IMO and I’m not sure there is a BEST business card out there (since different people will have different intentions and different spending patterns), but here are a few contenders, loosely ranked in my personal opinion
#6 Capital One Spark Cash for Business
The Capital One Spark Cash card is a business card that doesn’t get a lot of publicity. I suspect at least part of the reason is that because these are “points” points that are worth a fixed value – so you can’t get outsized value on 5 star hotels and 1st class flights.
Still, you get $500 cash when you spend $4500 in the first 3 months and 2% cashback on all purchases. It’s definitely a solid card, and one that I picked with a late round pick in our most recent fantasy credit card mock draft.
You can learn more about the Capital One Spark Cash card here
#5 Chase Ink Cash
The Chase Ink Cash is offering an all-time high welcome offer of 50,000 Ultimate Rewards, but only 1x on everyday spend and 5x on certain categories and no annual fee.
Comparing the Ink Cash to the new Chase Ink Business Unlimited will depend on how much of your regular spend is in these
Find out more details about the Chase Ink Cash and compare it to other business cards here
#4 American Express Business Platinum card
You can definitely make a case for the American Express Business Platinum card being higher in the rankings. I’ve ranked it here mostly due to the outsized annual fee ($450; not waived).
Still, it is a premium card with premium benefits and can be worth it, especially if you don’t have another premium card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Citi Prestige
(SEE ALSO: Comparing the American Express Platinum vs. Citi Prestige vs Chase Sapphire Preferred)
You can find out more details on the American Express Business Platinum card here
#3 Chase Ink Preferred / Plus
The Chase Ink Preferred is Chase’s premium business card and is currently offering a welcome offer of 80,000 Ultimate Rewards after $5000 in spend, as well as 3x in various categories. The fact that it is a premium card unlocks the ability to transfer Ultimate Rewards to travel partners as well as redeem them at a bonus (1.25) through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
The Chase Ink Plus is an old card (which I currently carry) that has many of the same benefits but also offers the same 5x categories as the Chase Ink Cash. While you used to really be able to use this to rack up lots of 5x spend (at office supply stores or other online gift card merchants), many of those opportunities (PPDG, etc) have dried up.
In my mind, you really need to have at least one premium Chase card and if you don’t have the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, you need the Ink Preferred. I personally hold the Ink Plus as I don’t have any Sapphire cards currently
Find out more about the Chase Ink Preferred, see the 80,000 Ultimate Reward welcome offer, and compare it to other cards here.
#2 American Express Blue for Business
This is my go-to card for every day spending – you get 2 Membership Rewards for every dollar spend, which I value as close to 4 or 5 cents worth. It is capped at $50,000 in spend per year which so far has not been an issue for me. No annual fee on this best business card out there.
The only problem is the relatively low welcome offer – only 10,000 Membership rewards, which to me means that it is no longer the #1 answer to the question of what is the best business card
You can compare the American Express Blue Business card to other cards here
#1 Chase Ink Business Unlimited
So after doing this detailed review, I think I stand by my original statement of what it the best business card available in 2018. When you compare it to the American Express Blue for Business card, the higher signup bonus outweighs the slightly lower every day return
WARNING: MATH ALERT AHEAD! 😀Â
The signup bonus of 50,000 on the Chase Ink Business Unlimited over 10,000 on the American Express Blue for Business means that you’ll have to spend $80K on the Amex Blue to outweigh the signup bonus (and of course you only get the bonus on the first 50K). So $50,000 spend on the Amex Business Blue = 110K Membership Rewards (including bonus). That same $50,000 spend on the Chase Ink Business Unlimited = 125K Ultimate Rewards (including bonus). Learn more about the Chase Ink Business Unlimited and compare it to other cards here
As always, do your own research, and do not apply for a credit card just because some guy on the Internet says you should.
You can compare a list of top business cards here – I may receive a commission if you are approved for a card through that link.
What do you think? What is the best business card in your opinion?
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Just a nitpick: it’s Blue Business Plus. Blue for Business is the now-defunct card that earned 1x on purchases and had a 30% bonus on all spend at the end of the year.
Also, I don’t see why the CIU beats out the BBP. Sure, if you include the signup bonus then it gives you more points. But if you only have the CIU then you can’t transfer UR to partners or even redeem at a decent rate through the portal. So another card is required to unlock that value. And once you’re into that territory, then why not just mix the CIP’s bonus (for the first $5k of spend) and the BBP’s normal earning.
But if I had to choose between 125k UR that I couldn’t transfer and 110k MR that are fully transferable I’d pick the MR every time.
Nitpick accepted! 🙂
You make some good points. I could go either way for #1. You are absolutely correct that if you don’t have a premium Chase card that the CIU is much less valuable. I am making the assumption (perhaps faulty?) that most folks do have one.
Also agree with your last statement