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Buying computer equipment for work or shopping for a new laptop or desktop computer for home, you can earn a stack of points, miles, or cash back by using the right card at checkout. Computers play a critical role in our technology-driven lives, often making up a significant portion of corporate and home-office spending. When investing in new computer equipment or hardware purchases, leveraging rewards-earning credit cards and taking advantage of shopping portals is a great way to maximize the return on your new purchase.
In this post, we break down the best rewards cards for computer equipment purchases and outline some strategies to help you earn thousands of points when purchasing computer equipment and other associated hardware.
Page Contents
Comparing the 12 Best Credit Cards for Computer Purchases
Determining the “best” credit card for computer purchases will depend on your unique circumstances and the store from which you intend to purchase. A corporate design office ordering 30+ iMacs from Apple will require a different rewards card than John Smith waltzing down to Costco to grab a budget laptop for streaming Netflix.
If you’re in the corporate camp, and you're making a substantial investment in computer hardware for your office, using a high-volume corporate or business rewards card will mean less chance of stumbling into spending caps or running afoul of exclusions in credit card terms and conditions.
If you’re purchasing computer equipment for personal or home office use, you can take advantage of rewards cards like the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (Rates & Fees) to earn up to 5x Ultimate Rewards points on your purchase or consider leveraging the high purchase price to complete the minimum spend on a new rewards card. These strategies should still work, even with the maximum spending limits in the bonus categories, because it's unlikely that you'll run past these limits when shopping for personal use.
| Credit Card | Points Earned on Computer Equipment & Hardware | Other Bonus Categories | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ink Business Cash® Credit Card(Rates & Fees) | 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent each account anniversary year on combined: • Office supply stores • Internet, cable, and phone services spending | N/A | $0 |
| American Express® Business Gold Card | 4X Membership Rewards® points on the 2 categories where your business spent the most each billing cycle, including: • U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio) • U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers • U.S. purchases at gas stations • U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery • Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways • Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S. 4X points applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year, then 1 point per dollar. | 3X points on prepaid airfare and hotels purchased at AmexTravel.com | $375 - Rates & Fees |
| SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card from American Express | 5% cash back on first $50,000 (combined) spent at: • U.S. office supply stores • On wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers | 3% cash back on the category of your choice from: • Airfare purchased directly from airlines • Hotel rooms purchased directly from hotels • Car rentals purchased from select car rental companies • U.S. gas stations • U.S. restaurants • U.S. purchases for advertising in select media • U.S. purchases for shipping • U.S. computer hardware, software, and cloud computing purchases made directly from select providers | No annual fee |
| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express | Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply. | N/A | No annual fee (Rates & Fees) |
| Huntington Voice Business Credit Card | 4% cash back in one of 10 categories (up to $7,000 per quarter), including: • Electronics, computer & camera stores • Utilities & Office Supplies • Discount & warehouse stores | Other 4% categories include: • Gas stations • Travel & entertainment • Restaurants • Grocery stores • Department, apparel & sporting goods stores • Home improvement stores • Auto parts & service stores | $0 |
| U.S. Bank Business Cash Rewards World Elite™ MasterCard® | 3% cash back (uncapped) on office supply store purchases | 3% cash back (uncapped) on: • Cellular • Gas 25% annual bonus based on your prior year's Cash Rewards, up to $250 | $0 |
| The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | • 1.5X points on purchases of $5,000 or more, up to a cap of $2 million spent on these purchases in a calendar year. • 1.5X points at U.S. Electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, up to a cap of $2 million spent on these purchases in a calendar year. | Earn 5X Membership Rewards Points® on Flights, and Prepaid Hotels Booked through AmexTravel.com. 1X points on other eligible purchases. Earn 1.5X points (that's an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more, on up to $2 million per Card Account per calendar year. Purchases eligible for multiple additional point bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus. | $695 (Rates & Fees) |
| Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. | 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. | $95 |
| Capital One Spark Miles for Business | 2 Miles per $1 on every purchase, everywhere. 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One's travel booking site. | N/A | $0 introductory fee for the first year; $95 after that |
| Capital One Spark Cash Plus | 2% Cash Back on every purchase. 5% Cash Back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One's travel booking site. | N/A | $150 |
| Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi | 2% cash back on all purchases from Costco and Costco.com | 4% cash back on eligible gas worldwide for the first $7,000 per year 3% cash back: • At restaurants • On eligible travel purchases worldwide | $0 with a paid Costco membership ($60) |
| Prime Visa(Rates & Fees) | 5% cash back at Amazon.com with an eligible Prime membership | • Unlimited 5% back at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market with an eligible Prime membership • Unlimited 5% back on Chase Travel purchases with an eligible Prime membership • Unlimited 2% back at gas stations, restaurants, and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare) • Unlimited 1% back on all other purchases | $0 with an eligible Prime membership |
Choosing the Best Rewards Card for Computer Equipment Purchases
We see the best card as a tossup between the Ink Cash from Chase and the Amex Business Gold card from Amex. With the Ink Cash, you'll earn 5% cash back when purchasing computer equipment from an office supply store, plus you have the option of buying gift cards for retailers — such as Amazon or Apple, where you might not earn extra rewards with any of the cards in your wallet — at 5x from office supply stores and redeeming the gift cards at your chosen retailer via a shopping portal to earn additional points or cash back on your purchase.
However, purchases earning 5x are capped at $25,000 per year on the Ink Cash, and you forego valuable purchase protections if you go down the gift card route — protections we consider more valuable than rewards points or cash back when it comes to protecting expensive computer equipment. You’ll also need to pair the Ink Cash with either the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), or Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees) if you want the ability to transfer points to Chase's travel partners or redeem for more than 1¢ per point in value, negating the “no annual fee” factor.
The Amex Business Gold card previously gave you bonus points on computer hardware purchases direct from select U.S. providers as one of its 4x earning categories. The list of bonus categories has now been updated, and the computer hardware category was replaced by electronic goods retailers, which typically provide the same or similar goods. The 4x points apply to your top two spending categories each month, up to the first $150,000 in combined purchases each calendar year. Categories include:
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
Alternatively, the SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card from American Express (no longer accepting new applications) combines the best of both worlds for computer purchases, earning 5% back on computer purchases made at office supply stores and 3% back on U.S. computer hardware purchases made directly from the providers listed above —up to a combined $50K in bonus category purchases each year.
If you spend more than $100,000 per year on computer equipment, the Capital One Spark Cash Plus earns an uncapped 2% cash back on all business expenses, similar to its miles-earning equivalent the Capital One Spark Miles for Business. However, you’d need to spend a massive amount each year on these cards to outperform the top rewards cards on our list.
It's also worth highlighting the Prime Visa (Rates & Fees) from Chase. As more and more people do their shopping on Amazon, earning 5% back with this card could be very rewarding.
Related: The Best Credit Cards To Use for Online Shopping
Maximize the Return on Your Purchase With Shopping Portals
You can add an additional layer of value to your computer purchase by utilizing online shopping portals for extra points, miles, or cash back. Most major airline programs have online shopping portals, as do bank rewards programs like Capital One Shopping. These allow you to earn thousands of extra points just by clicking through the shopping portal before making your purchase.
One of the easiest ways to maximize the return on your computer purchase is checking shopping portal comparison sites like EVRewards.com or CashbackMonitor.com, which scan online shopping portals for the best return on a given retailer. A quick search for Apple via CashbackMonitor.com displays returns as high as 4% cash back or 3x JetBlue TrueBlue points per dollar if you click through the portal to make your purchase.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re purchasing a single computer for use at home or a dozen for employees at the office, you can earn thousands of extra rewards points via rewards cards and shopping portals. And the icing on the cake is often found in receiving stronger purchase protections and extended warranties than paying cash or using traditional financing.
Bear in mind that if you intend to carry the balance of the purchase on your credit card, rather than pay it off straight away, the interest will quickly wipe out any value gained in rewards. In this situation, you’re better off using a card with 0% introductory APR if you intend to pay off your spending over time.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Prime Visa (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
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