Geoff Williams
If you run an online business, and you’re looking for a credit card tailored to your spending, it’s hard to go wrong with Ink Business Preferred. On top of a base rate of one point per dollar spent, this card offers three points on shipping; advertising on social media sites and search engines; internet cable and phone services and more—up to $150,000 in combined spending across these categories. Those bonus rewards are why Buy Side from WSJ named this card
Best Credit Card for Businesses That Sell Online.
The card does have a $95 annual fee, but that is relatively low compared to other business cards we reviewed. And, at least in the first year, you can easily cover that with the sign-up bonus: You’ll earn 100,000 points after spending $15,000 in the first three months. That’s worth $1,000 in cash or $1,250 when redeemed through Chase Travel Rewards.
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The $95 annual fee for the Ink Business Preferred credit card isn’t zero, but otherwise, it’s relatively low compared to many business cards we reviewed and, with the card’s generous rewards, easy to offset.
For instance, if you spent $10,000 a month and half your spending was in bonus categories built around online business, you would earn 340,000 points in the first year, including the sign up bonus. Those would be worth $3,400 if redeemed in cash—or $3,305, after subtracting the annual fee. In following years, you would receive points worth $2,305.
On the other hand, if you don’t spend much on shipping or phone and internet, this card’s rewards are unremarkable. A cardholder who spent $10,000 a month and received only the base rewards rate of one point per dollar would end up with points worth $1,200 a year in cash—a rate that’s easy to beat with some of our other top business card picks.
At Buy Side from WSJ, we judge rewards credit cards based on their potential rewards earnings. However, when it comes to business credit card products, you should also factor in the perks and benefits that can make up a large portion of the card’s value.
Here’s what the Ink Business Preferred credit card offers, along with some important terms and conditions:
If you’re a business owner who has an online retail business that does a lot of shipping, and you also advertise your business on social media sites or with search engines, you’re Ink Business Preferred’s ideal cardholder.
After all, the categories of shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines and travel all earn 3 points for every dollar spent.
If you don’t spend heavily in those categories, you can find a card with a far better overall rewards rate for general spending.
Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card, with a $150 annual fee, offers 2% cash back on all your business spending, so you don’t have to worry about bonus categories at all. One catch: this is a charge card, not a credit card so it’s not designed to allow you to carry an ongoing balance.
If you want a simple business credit card, with a great across-the-board rewards rate, try Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card from Chase. This card has no annual fee and an unlimited 1.5% cash-back rewards rate across your spending. There is also a $750 sign-up bonus after spending $7,500 in the first three months.
To pick Buy Side from WSJ’s Best Business Credit Card we looked for cards with the most generous cash back and points rewards, both overall and in popular business spending categories such as shipping, advertising and travel. We also looked for cards that were easy to use, without gimmicks or complicated rules to follow.
To find out more about how we chose credit cards—and to meet our panel of experts—you can also check out Buy Side from WSJ’s full best credit cards methodology.
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