by Daniel | Last Updated October 9th, 2022
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Back in December 2021, Chase introduced the Ink Business Premier Credit Card to a select few existing Chase customers.
And as of October 7th, 2022 the card has now been made available to any eligible business customers.
The card is specifically focused on businesses that have relatively high spending limits.
It also offers the ability to earn quite a lot of value.
And for this reason, I thought I’d review this card and then at the same time compare it to the slightly more expensive American Express Business Gold Card to see if it offers as much value.
Who Are These Cards Good For?
Both of these Business cards are directly focused on relatively high-spending businesses.
With the Chase Ink card rewards are earned as cashback whereas with the Amex Gold Business card you receive Amex Membership Rewards Points that can be redeemed in a multiple of different ways.
Now both cards are reasonably priced compared to more premium cards like the Amex Platinum Card and they both offer quite a lot of value.
Annual Fee
So as I just mentioned both of these cards are relatively affordable on an annual basis and shouldn’t be too much of an issue to pay for if your business does have a high spending amount each year.
So starting first with the Ink Business Premier Credit Card the annual fee is $195, which works out to just $16.25 each month.
Then with the American Express Business Gold Card, the annual fee is $100 more at $295, and this works out to be about $24.58 each month.
Winner:
So in terms of overall cost, the Ink Business Premier Credit Card is the more affordable option of the two cards.
But let’s continue on to the next section of this review to see how each card fairs when it comes to the sign-up bonus.
Sign-up Bonus
Now when it comes to the sign-up bonus of these cards it will require you to spend a fair amount on the cards to actually receive the sign-up bonus.
This is relatively common for business-related credit cards and it’s good to be aware of it because if you don’t meet the spending requirement you won’t receive the sign-up bonus.
So starting first with the Ink Business Premier Credit Card it is possible to earn $1,000 cash back if you manage to spend $10,000 on the card within the first 3 months of opening the account.
And this is a pretty generous sign-up bonus, it’s a little more than 5 times to cost of the annual fee.
Now its worth noting that this is provided to you as 100,000 points which are non-transferable Ultimate Rewards points
Next up, with the American Express Business Gold Card, it is possible to earn 70,000 Membership Reward points after spending $10,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of card ownership.
Now when redeeming your membership reward points for travel through American Express Travel the points will be worth 1 cent per point, which would make this sign-up bonus worth $700.
Although it’s worth noting that it is possible to get even more value from these points if you transfer them to a travel partner.
It’s not uncommon to see valuations of 1.3 cents per point or more.
So if you have the time to find some good deals with these points I think it’s fair to say the sign-up bonus of 70,000 points can be worth around $1,000 as well.
Winner:
So for this section, I’d say that both cards are even as it is possible to get just about the same value from the Amex points as from the $1,000 cashback from the Ink card.
The only thing the Chase card has an advantage on is that the points you receive are worth $1,000 in cash back.
If you want to use your Membership Rewards points to cover charges made to your Amex account it will only provide 0.6 cents per point, which would value these points at $420.
Points/Cash Back Earning Potential
Now for the next section of this review, I’m just going to go over each card’s points and cash-back earning potential.
And starting first with the Ink Business Premier Credit Card there are 3 options for earning cash back.
The first is the ability to earn 5% cash back on travel-related purchases that are made through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Then it is possible to earn 2.5% cash back on any purchases that are $5,000 or more.
This equates to $125 back per $5,000 purchase.
And then all other purchases that are made on this card will receive 2% cash back.
So as an example if you manage an average cashback of about 2.2% with this card on a spend of say $50,000, it would net you $1,100.
Next up, with the American Express Business Gold Card, there are only 2 options for earning points.
The first is the ability to earn 4x points on your business’s top 2 spending categories each billing cycle, although this is limited to a maximum spend of $150,000 each year.
Now, these categories must fall under the following:
- Airfares booked directly with the airline
- Advertising purchased in the U.S. specifically to promote your business
- Computer hardware, software, and cloud computing purchases in the U.S
- Gas stations
- Restaurants, takeaway, and delivery from within the US
- Shipping services from within the US
Then all other purchases will earn 1 point per dollar spent.
Winner:
So for this section, I would have to give it to the Ink Business Premier Credit Card.
Although the American Express Business Gold Card can earn points a little easier than the Ink card, once you reach the $150,000 cap for earning 4x points it is only possible to receive 1x point per dollar spent for the rest of the year.
With the Ink Business Premier Credit Card, there are no spending caps so if your business does happen to spend a lot each year, this card is going to make it possible to earn a lot more value back.
Benefits And User Perks
Now when it comes to benefits and user perks, the American Express Business Gold Card has a few nice offerings, whereas the Ink Business Premier Credit Card offers nothing.
So with the Amex Gold card, there are two main benefits.
The first is the 25% Airline Bonus, and this gives you the ability to receive 25% of your points back when using membership rewards points to book a flight.
And this is limited to a maximum of 250,000 points back per year.
Then there is access to The Hotel Collection, and this comes with a few nice perks that include a $100 experience credit that can be used at the hotel you are staying at and room upgrades.
The Hythe, Vail – The Hotel Collection
Winner:
So seeing as the American Express Business Gold Card is the only card with actual benefits makes it the best card for this section.
Insurance Coverage
Now both of these cards have a few decent insurance-related coverage options.
So let’s take a look at what the differences are.
So starting first with the Ink Business Premier Credit Card there is an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver that covers rental vehicles against damage or theft.
Then a nice benefit that is not included with the Amex Gold card is Cell Phone Protection.
And this covers up to $1,000 per claim with the ability to make 3 claims per month period.
and each claim will incur a deductible fee of $100.
With Purchase Protection there is 120 days of coverage on new purchases against damage or theft.
And this covers up to $10,000 per claim with a limit of $50,000 per year.
And finally, there is Extended warranty protection that provides one additional year of coverage on warranties that a 3 years or less.
Now with the American Express Business Gold Card, there is Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance that covers up to $50,000, and this is secondary coverage.
There is a Baggage Insurance Plan which covers your luggage if it is accidentally damaged lost or stolen.
And this covers up to $1,250 for carry-on and $500 for checked baggage.
Trip Delay Insurance provides up to $300 if your trip is delayed for more than 12 hours.
And this is available 2 times per 12-month period.
With Purchase Protection there is 90 days of coverage on new purchases that get accidentally lost, damaged or stolen and this covers up to $1,000 per occurrence and $50,000 per card per year.
And finally, there is Extended Warranty protection that provides 1 additional year of coverage on warranties that are 5 years or less.
Winner:
So for this section, although both cards offer similar coverage, I would have to give it to the Ink Business Premier Credit Card.
First of all, it has Cell Phone protection that covers up to $3,000 each year.
And then its Purchase Protection is for longer and offers higher coverage than the Amex Gold card.
APR
Now for the last part of this review, I’ll just go over what the current APR is for each card and what charges are incurred for getting a cash advance or making a late payment.
Starting first with the Ink Business Premier Credit Card the APR for purchases is currently between 17.24% to 25.24%.
Then the APR for a cash advance is not yet listed but it will incur a fee of either $15 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance.
Also, the Penalty APR is not listed just yet but I would assume it is 29.99%.
Late payments will incur a fee of either $40 or 2% of the minimum payment due, whichever amount ends up being more.
Next up, with the American Express Business Gold Card there is a 0% intro APR that lasts for 6 months.
After this, it will revert to between 17.24% and 25.24%.
The Penalty APR is 29.99%, and this will be enforced if you make 2 or more late payments or if you have a payment returned by your bank.
Any late payment will incur a fee of either $39 or 2.99% of the amount that is owed, whichever amount is more.
Then a returned payment will incur a fee of up to $39.
And there are no foreign transaction fees.
Winner:
So for this section, I would have to give it to the American Express Business Gold Card as it actually has the ability to do a balance transfer.
Final Thoughts
So that’s pretty much everything there is to know about the new Ink Business Premier Credit Card and how it compares to the American Express Business Gold Card.
And to be honest I think both cards offer a decent amount of value and can be equally useful for businesses looking for a way to get a return from their everyday spending.
With the American Express Business Gold Card, there is a greater variety of options when it comes to redeeming Membership reward points, which can be nice if you want to use them for a flight or hotel booking.
Then with the Ink Business Premier Credit Card, there is the ability to earn more value back from spending as there are no limits on how much you can earn back, which is specifically good for businesses with a really high spend.
Now if you are actually looking for a new business credit card but aren’t taken by either of these cards, why not check this article where I review and compare the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card and World of Hyatt Business Card.