Unsure How To Open A Business Credit Card? Here Is Everything You Need To Know Before This Excellent Offer Ends In 11 Hours, Plus A Word Of Warning

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The Chase Ink cards are some of the most lucrative credit cards out there.

Those cards include the:

• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card 
• Ink Business Premier® Credit Card

A word of warning:

It’s important to note that the credit card points system is subsidized by the millions of Americans who fall into the trap of debt, buying things they can’t afford, and paying huge amounts of interest to the banks.

If you’re susceptible to that behavior, then don’t start in the first place. Pay for things in cash and be happy not being in debt. Any gain from the points system will be obliterated by interest payments.

While Dave Ramsey may be correct that people don’t become millionaires off airline miles, if you are disciplined you can enhance your life by traveling the world for free thanks to earning miles from very generous credit card promotions. And that’s ignoring the countless times that credit cards have saved me personally tens of thousands of dollars over the years thanks to dispute resolution, fraud protection, extended warranty, return protection, purchase protection, rental car insurance, trip insurance, lost luggage insurance, bag delay insurance, etc, that you don’t get when using cash or a debit card.

And if your litmus test for what to do in life is limited to things that will make you a millionaire, you will live a very sad and lonely life indeed.

It’s not just about vacation and gaming the system.
If it weren’t for airline or CC points, I would not see my parents as often as I do.

— Bob the craftsman (@CraftsmanBob) December 23, 2022

Am I eligible to sign up?

Q: I don’t have a registered business, can I still get an Ink card?

A: Ink cards are business cards, however pretty much anyone can obtain Ink cards. A business doesn’t need to be registered to get an Ink card, so any hobby can make you eligible to get a card. If you don’t have a registered business, just be sure to select “Sole Proprietorship” as the business type and use your personal social security number in the Tax Identification Number field. For the business name, just use your own name. By doing that, if they do ask for paperwork you can send in bills in your own name for verification.

Q: I got an Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited card this year already, can I signup again and get the bonus for the same card?

A: The great thing about Ink cards is that Chase doesn’t enforce a time limit like they do on most of their other cards. You can apply for the same card in the same year and you’ll still be able to get approved and get the bonus. As long as you are approved and complete the spend requirement, you will get the signup bonus.

The other great thing about Ink cards is that you can have multiple of the same card and get a signup bonus each time. I’m up to 6 Ink Cash cards for the same business!

Q: Can I signup for multiple Ink cards at the same time?

A: Yes. People have been getting approved for 2, 3, or even 4 Ink cards, the Ink Cash, Ink Unlimited, Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, and Ink Premier. When you apply for multiple cards on the same calendar day, you’ll only get 1 credit pull. You can try applying for multiple cards in different browsers at the same time, but you don’t need to do that to have just 1 credit pull.

Q: What are the offer details for all of the Ink cards available?

A: There are 4 currently available Ink cards:

• Ink Unlimited 75,000 points for spending $6,000 in 3 months (marketed as $750 cash back, but will actually award 75K points). Earn 1.5 points per dollar. No annual fee. Read more here.
• Ink Preferred: 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for spending $8,000 in 3 months. Earn up to 5 points per dollar. $95 annual fee.
• Ink Cash: Up to 75,000 points. Earn $350 in the form of 35,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for spending $3,000 in 3 months and another $400 in the form of 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for spending another $3,000 in 6 months for a total of 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Plus, if you open an Ink Cash card with this offer link between 3/17-11/17 and have a Chase business checking account on your first card anniversary date next year, you earn a one-time 10% bonus of all eligible cash back earned from spending in your first year! That means if you earn $2,500 in cash back (in the form of 250,000 points), you’ll get a $250 bonus (in the form of 25,000 points)! Earn up to 5 points per dollar. No annual fee. Read more here.
• Ink Premier: $1,000 cash back for spending $10,000 in 3 months. Earn up to 2.5% cash back. $195 annual fee. Read more here.
  • Note that unlike the other Ink cards, the Ink Premier card can only earn cash back, the points from this particular card can’t be transferred to other cards or into miles.

Q: How do I know if I’m eligible to open a card due to 5/24 restrictions?

A: Normally, you need to be under 5/24 limits to get approved for Chase cards, which means that you have been approved for fewer than 5 new consumer credit cards in the past 24 months.

Chase has been approving many, though certainly not all, Ink card applications from people who are over the 5/24 limit. The only way to know if those limits will apply to you is if you apply for the card. While the exact rhyme or reason for approvals is unknown, there have been reports from people who have opened as many as 9 consumer cards over the past 24 months.

The automated system seems to be much more likely to bypass 5/24 restrictions than a reconsideration agent, so let that process play out before calling reconsideration for an approval!

Q: How do I know how many consumer cards I have opened in the past 24 months?

A: Only cards that you were approved for count towards the 5/24 number, denied applications and other hard pulls do not count.

Business cards from most banks, including Chase (Discover and select Capital One cards are the notable exceptions) don’t count towards your 5/24 count. Y

You can check all 3 of your credit reports (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion) for free every week on annualcreditreport.com. You can scroll through your open card accounts and see how many cards have been opened within the past 24 months.

Be sure to check if some of those cards are Authorized user cards or store cards that are only good for use in a single store. The system may also deny you for 5/24 as it counts those cards, but if you call Chase you can explain that you are not financially responsible for the authorized user card or that the store card only works at a single store and they can manually exclude those from your 5/24 count.

Q: I was rejected for Ink cards in the past, should I try now?

A: Chase goes through cycles of when it is easier or more difficult to get approved for specific cards. The requirements for approval have become significantly easier for the Ink Preferred. So absolutely, you should try again now while this window of opportunity is open, as it can close at any time.

Q: My application is pending, now what?

A: There are different schools of thought. Some people like allowing the system a couple weeks to determine if you are approved. Others like to call business reconsideration at 800-453-9719 to see if you can get approved on the spot by answering questions or offering to shift credit lines from other Chase cards, or close other Chase cards to get approved.

On the one hand, the easiest path is to ride it out and wait for a system approval or denial. You can still call reconsideration after a denial.

On the other hand, Chase is approving applications at a higher rate currently and we don’t know how long that will last. That would make the case for calling in stronger than waiting. While some DansDeals readers have been denied for 5/24 by reconsideration reps, several others have been approved, so you can always HUCA (hang up and call again) if you are denied.

Anecdotally, the automated system is more likely to bypass 5/24 restrictions than an agent, so waiting for an approval or denial before calling may be the way to go currently if you’re over 5/24.

If you already have the same Ink cards and are applying for the card again, one reason to want additional cards would be to keep track of different client expenses.

Q: How can I improve my odds of getting approved?

A: If you have a Chase checking account, you are MUCH more likely to get approved for this offer. Opening a Chase business checking account will also help for Ink card approvals.

Utilizing all of your existing cards will also help with approval for new cards.

Improving your credit score using methods like paying off most of your credit card balance on consumer cards before the statement closes will also help. I like to have my consumer cards close with a $1 balance as this helps maintain my credit score about 800. The closing balance doesn’t matter for business cards.

Q: Can 2 spouses both apply for this offer?

A: Of course! 2 player mode is why my wife and I got married at 21 and 23 😀

Q: I’m an authorized user on someone else’s Ink card, can I still get the bonus if I open an Ink card?

A: Sure!

Q: If I just spend the $6,000 and take advantage of the 0% APR and don’t pay off the balance in 3 months, will I still get the signup bonus?

A: Sure. The points for spending and the signup bonus will post on the statement after you complete the spending. It is not affected by the payment for the purchases. If you do take advantage of the 0% APR, be sure to set aside the funds to pay them off after a year. Keeping those funds in a high interest account that you will use to pay back the card after a year is a good strategy to make this offer even sweeter!

Q: Is there a minimum amount of income the business has to make to get approved?

A: No.

Q: Is there a minimum credit score required to get approved?

A: Your credit score is one of the factors that banks use to determine card approvals, but they don’t publish what the minimum score is and their requirements are constantly changing.

Offer details:

Q: When will this offer end?

A: The exact date i unknown, though signs point to these offers ending soon.

Q: I only see an offer for a $750 signup bonus, how do I get the offer for 75,000 points?

A: The signup bonus is only marketed as $750, but it will actually come in the form of 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points. You can use those points for $750 cash, but you can also use them for other redemptions, which can be far more lucrative.

Q: I was approved for the Ink Unlimited card. If I spend $6,000 in 3 months will I get the 75,000 point bonus?

A: Yes. If you’re approved you will get the bonus.

Q: Is there really no annual fee? What about in the 2nd year? 

A: There is no annual fee for the Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited cards, ever. It remains free even in subsequent years and they can keep all of your Chase points active for free should you decide to close your Chase cards that do have an annual fee.

Q: Is there a fee for additional users?

A: No, they’re free as well.

Q: Is there a fee for foreign transaction fee?

A: Yes, 3% for Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited. There is no fee for the Ink Preferred and Ink Premier cards.

Q: Should I apply for multiple Ink cards?

A: If you can meet the signup bonus for multiple cards, then go for it! You can get approved for multiple Ink cards at the same time.

Q: How do I spend $6,000 in 3 months?

A: Here are just a few ideas aside from your regular purchases:

• Pay your regular charges and bills.
• Prepay upcoming bills or pay your utility bills in advance.
• Make a charity donation.
• Pay your tuition bills.
• Pay your rent or mortgage.
• Negotiate to pay for part of a car with your card.
• You can pay your federal taxes for a 1.82% fee. If you overpay your taxes you can request a refund or apply it to your next year’s taxes.

Q: Will opening cards hurt my credit score?

A: When you apply for a card from most banks (AMEX is a notable exception for existing customers) you get a hard credit pull. That pull only makes up a very small part of your total credit score. These inquiries fall off your report after about 2 years and most banks only look at the number of inquiries you have within the past 6 months. So yes, in the short term your score may drop a few points, but it won’t have a lasting effect on your score.

Q: Will spending on these cards hurt my credit score?

A: No, business card spending is not reported on your personal credit report. The great thing about that is normally you will hurt your score if you max out your card and don’t pay it off before your statement closes, but with business card spending it won’t make any difference.

That means you can take advantage of a 0% APR offer on purchases and not take a hit for maxing out your credit line and essentially taking a free loan for a year as long as you make the minimum payments.

Q: Will closing these cards hurt my credit score?

A: No, business cards are not reported on your personal credit report, so there is no effect to closing it.

In general, closing a consumer card doesn’t hurt your score in the short term as the cards remain on your credit report for 10 years. The loss of a credit line may hurt, but you can transfer a credit line to another card before closing it, or you can replace if by opening a new card. Note that you will want to keep your oldest card open in order to keep the age of the oldest card on your credit report active.

General Chase card info:

Q: Is there a limit on how may Chase cards you can have?

A: I currently have 25 personally, I’ll let you know when I figure this one out!

Q: How do I combine my Chase consumer and business card logins?

A: Just give Chase a call and they can be merged.

Q: Can I transfer these points to programs like Air Canada, Air France, BA, JetBlue, Southwest, United, Virgin Atlantic, or Hyatt?

A: If you have or will get a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Preferred Card you can transfer the points to do that.

Q: Can I transfer points to my Sapphire card where they will be worth more?

A: Sure, just login to Ultimate Rewards once your account logins are merged and click on combine points.

Once they’re in a Sapphire Preferred Card or Ink Preferred Card you can use them at a value of 1.25 cents each towards paid travel or you can transfer them to airline miles and hotel points.

Have a Sapphire Reserve? Just login to Ultimate Rewards once your account logins are merged and click on combine points. Once they’re in a Sapphire Reserve account you can use them at a value of 1.5 cents each towards paid travel.

Q: Can I transfer points to someone else’s Sapphire card where they will be worth more?

A: You can transfer points to other business co-owners who are authorized users or to anyone in your household. Just give Chase a call to move those points over.

Q: Do the points ever expire?

A: As long as you have an open Chase card with Ultimate Rewards points, your Ultimate Rewards points will never expire. If you want to close a card you can transfer your points over to any of your other Chase cards with Ultimate Rewards points or to your spouse’s Chase cards with Ultimate Rewards points to keep them alive.

Have more questions? Hit the comments!

Will you signup for a Ink Unlimited Card?