Chase has quietly tightened the rules for earning welcome bonuses on its two most popular no-annual-fee business credit cards. The shift reflects the issuer’s more disciplined approach across its wider portfolio, including the launch of the Sapphire line of cards in June.
What’s changed?
Effective immediately, Chase has added cross-card eligibility language to Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (See Rates and Fees) and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (See Rates and Fees).
In fact, you can no longer earn a welcome bonus with one card if you ever have another card. Now it works like this:
- If you previously owned Ink Business Cash, you are not eligible for the Ink Business Unlimited welcome bonus.
- If you previously owned Ink Business Unlimited, you are not eligible for the Ink Business Cash welcome bonus.
Chase added the following terms to the terms and conditions of both cards:
“If you have ever owned this card or any other Chase for Business card with no annual fee, you may not be eligible for the new Cardmember Bonus. We may also consider factors related to your business when determining your bonus eligibility.”
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The new wording creates “family rules” for Chase’s no-annual-fee business products, bringing them more in line with the issuer’s recent restrictions on Sapphire-branded cards and echoing card family restrictions increasingly used by American Express.
What does this mean for business owners?
Even if you don’t qualify for the welcome bonus, you can still apply for (or product change to) any Ink business card. However, many small businesses have historically opened both cards to maximize their rewards strategy. That’s because these cards can earn:
Both cards have no annual fees and are comparable to premium cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, such as Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see Rates and Fees), cash back rewards are convertible into fully transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Losing the ability to earn both bonuses makes the strategy slightly less attractive to newcomers.
bottom line
Chase has been tightening bonus eligibility this year, most notably limiting bonuses on its Sapphire card five months ago. With these Ink series restrictions, card issuers appear to be continuing their efforts to limit duplicate enrollments while urging applicants to commit to a single product within each card series. We wouldn’t be surprised to see this service rolled out to other Chase card lines in the future.
Related: Chase Ink Business Credit Card Guide
Editorial Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are those of the author, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline, or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
