Making the Most of Ink Business Cash

Rewards programs for many business credit cards offer bonuses on common business expenses, so the question of whether a particular card is right for you comes down to how much you spend in those categories. If your business spends a lot on telecommunications, office supplies, restaurants and gas, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card might be right up your alley. Here's how to squeeze the most value out of it.

How to maximize rewards with the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is a cash-back card that pays you five times as much for some purchases as for others. So Step 1 is to know where you get bonus rewards and make sure you use your Ink Business Cash® Credit Card there every single time.

Make it your default card for office supplies and telecom services. You earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 in annual combined spending at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services. After that, you earn 1% back. Setting up automated payments on the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card for these vendor services makes earning bonus rewards easy with every monthly billing cycle and every time you need to stock up on paper, ink and supplies.

Use it at gas stations and restaurants. Whether you're fueling up the company car or taking clients out for lunch, using your Ink Business Cash® Credit Card to pick up the tab will earn you 2% cash back, again up to $25,000 in yearly spending. Every dollar beyond that earns 1%.

Spend enough to qualify for the sign-up bonus. The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card comes with a cash sign-up bonus, but you'll have to spend enough on the card to get it: 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. For most businesses, the bonus threshold probably won't be too hard to hit — though you may want to use your Ink Business Cash® Credit Card exclusively until you do, just to be safe.

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Use the Ink App

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card's phone application — the eponymous Ink app — can help you keep your business affairs in order. Here are a few things you can do with it.

Keep track of purchases. The app will you notify you of purchases made on your card — or employee cards — so you know where your money's being spent at all times.

Set employee limits. You can put caps on individual cards to prevent overuse by specific or all employees.

Organize receipts. Receipts from purchases made on your card can be saved within the app, simplifying the process of generating expense reports and bookkeeping.

Tag purchases with customizable categories. The Ink app allows you to tag purchases and sync with your Chase.com account to create spending reports.

How to redeem rewards on the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

Although it's considered a cash-back card, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card technically gives you rewards in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Those points are worth a penny apiece, so the distinction is merely semantic. Five points per dollar at a penny a point equals 5 cents on the dollar.

You can redeem points for cash, travel, gift cards or pay with points on Amazon.com. To redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points:

1. Log on to your Chase account.

2. Scroll to your Ink Business Cash® Credit Card account. (If you have several Chase cards, they’ll all be displayed together.)

3. Click “Go to Ultimate Rewards.”

4. Choose how you’d like to use your points.

With the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, you can redeem points for cash back for 1 cent per point starting at 2,000 points (or $20). One point also redeems for 1 cent when you choose to buy gift cards or travel. When redeeming on Amazon.com, points are worth 0.8 cents apiece; if you don't have enough points to pay for your entire order, you can split the payment between points and a credit card.

When you book travel through Chase, there are no restrictions or blackout dates on airfare.

The card has an annual fee of $0, so it costs nothing to carry. With multiple redemption options at 1 cent per point, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card makes it easy to make the most of the rewards.