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Both the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card and the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card currently offer valuable signup bonuses.
Earning up to $750 —$350 once you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months, and an additional $400 once you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months is an excellent sign-up bonus — particularly for $0-annual-fee cards.
However, you can get even more value from this sign-up bonus by combining the rewards earned through the Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited with Ultimate Rewards points earned through a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.
By combining points with one of these cards, you'll transform the up to $750 sign-up bonus into 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to 14 airline and hotel Ultimate Rewards transfer partners.
But Do You Need To Have an Eligible Card First?
But what if you don't already have a Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Preferred? Do you need to get an eligible card first in order to transfer cash-back earnings into transferrable points someday? That's the question one AwardWallet reader posed to us in a comment:
“If I sign up for [an] Ink card now, and sign up for Chase Sapphire Reserve card in 3 months, will I be able to transfer these points at that time? Or do I need to have an existing Sapphire [card] account when applying for the Ink card?”
That's a great question. The short answer is that the timing doesn't matter — as long as you wait until after you open an eligible card to redeem your points.
You can accumulate non-transferrable Ultimate Rewards points in your Ink card account as long as you want. Then, as soon as you get a qualifying card, you can transfer these earnings to that card to transform them into more valuable, fully-transferrable points.
In short, you can earn points now with no annual fee and then boost the value of those points later.
Related: How To Combine Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Between Credit Cards
Ink Card Earning Rates
In addition to the up to $750 sign-up bonus, you will earn Ultimate Rewards points on everyday spending on these Ink cards. However, the earning rate varies by card.
The Ink Unlimited is simple: Earn an unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase.
- Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business
- No Annual Fee
- Redeem rewards for cash back, gift cards, travel and more through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- Earn rewards faster with employee cards at no additional cost. Set individual spending limits for greater control.
- Round-the-clock monitoring for unusual credit card purchases
- With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
- 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business
Meanwhile, the Ink Cash earns higher rates on some purchases but non-bonus purchases earn less. Here are the earning rates for the Ink Cash:
- Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening
- Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year
- Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases
- With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
- No Annual Fee
- Redeem rewards for cash back, gift cards, travel and more through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year
- 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year
- 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn
With the right Chase card combo, you can earn 5x fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points on spending on the Ink Cash.
Bottom Line
The good news is that you don't need to already have an eligible Chase card — like the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred — to eventually convert the Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited sign-up bonus into transferrable Ultimate Rewards points.
You can get the sign-up bonus now and continue earning points through either card with no annual fee. Then, when you're ready to use these points toward travel, sign up for the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve and combine your earnings to transform them into fully-transferrable points.
With that said, now is a great time to get either the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve.
If you have enough 5/24 spots — and can meet the minimum spending requirements — it could be worth getting both a Sapphire Preferred and an Ink credit card now.
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel℠
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Got a card question? Feel free to leave a comment below, and we will do our best to answer your question. And we may just expand on the answer in a future Card Questions post!
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
