Chase Ink Cash vs Chase Ink Premier

Executive Summary

Both the Chase Ink Cash and the Ink Premier are small business credit cards that offer cash back rewards. The Ink Cash is a no annual fee bonus category cash back credit card where you can earn 5% and 2% cash back on various spending categories. The Ink Premier, on the hand, charges a $195 annual fee and is a flat rate cash back credit card. You will earn a flat rate of 2% on all purchases. In addition, for any single purchase made on the card that is at least $5,000 in value, you will earn 2.5% cash back.

Depending on how much and what you spend for your business on your credit card, either one could earn more cash back for you.

Let's now dive into and compare the Ink Cash and Ink Premier.

Differences

Here are the ways that both the Ink Cash and Ink Premier are different. Let's start with the main difference:

Ink Cash has annual fee while the other does not

The Chase Ink Cash has no annual fee while the Ink Premier has a $195 annual fee.

How they earn cash back?

The Chase Ink Cash is a bonus category cash back credit card while the Ink Premier is a flat rate cash back credit card. Here is how their cash back earning rates differ:

Ink Cash Earnings Rate

The Chase Ink Cash allows you to earn cash back the following ways:

• Earn 5% cash back on first $25,000 on combined purchases at office supplies supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year
• Earn 2% cash back on first $25,000 on combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year
• Earn 1% cash back on all other eligible purchases

Ink Premier Earnings Rate

The Ink Premier is also a flat rate cash back credit card but with a slight twist. You will:

• Earn 2% cash back on all purchases.
• For purchases above $5,000, you will earn 2.5% cash back.

Ink Premier Requires you to pay in full

The Chase Ink Cash is like a regular credit card in that you can either pay in full or carry a balance.

In contrast, the Ink Premier requires you to pay every month. However, you can pay "eligible purchases" over time. Ink Premier calls this "Flex for Business". You will be given an APR and a certain limit that you can use to pay over time.

Combining points with Chase Cards that allow transfer of points to airline and hotel partners

Both the Chase Ink Cash and Ink Premier do not allow you to transfer the points you earn to airline and hotel partners of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program. Chase however, allow some cards to be combined with cards (like Chase Ink Preferred, Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve)that allow you to transfer points to airline and hotel partners. By pooling points together and combining them, ALL points earned on Chase rewards card can then be transferred to airline and hotel partners.

The Chase Ink Cash is a card that Chase allows to be combined with either the Ink Preferred, Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards. However, Chase does not allow the Ink Premier to be combined with these cards. So regardless, the points you earn with the Ink Premier can never be transferred to airline and hotel partners.

Ink Premier has extra travel related benefits

The Ink Premier has the following benefits that the Ink Cash does not have.

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
• Baggage delay insurance
• Lost luggage insurance
• Cell phone protection
• No Foreign Transaction Fee


The Ink Cash do not have these benefits and they also charge a 3% for foreign transaction fee.

Similarities

The Ink Cash and Ink Premier are similar in the following ways.

How they both can redeem their points?

Though both cards are technically cash back credit cards, you can redeem points you earn for both cards in the following ways:

• Cash Back
• Statement Credits
• Gift Cards
• Travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal

Both have these Visa Benefits

Both the Ink Unlimited and Premier have the following Visa Benefits:

• Primary Car Rental Insurance
• Purchase Protection
• Extended Warranty

Crunching the Numbers

Since the Ink Cash and Ink Premier are really different type of cash back credit cards, it is difficult to do any breakeven analysis. What you should (or anyone considering either of these cards) should do is to look closely at your business expense, do some calculations and see which card will give you the most cash back earnings.

However, if after the analysis and calculations, you have figured out that the Ink Cash allows you to earn more cash back than the Ink Premier, you still might have to make the decision as to whether to get both cards. And the reason is because even though you will earn 5% and 2% cash back respectively on the Ink Cash bonus category, you will only earn 1% cash back on other regular purchases. In contrast, the Ink Premier allows you to earn 2% cash back on all regular purchase. You obviously have to factor in the $195 annual fee that the Ink Premier charges.

The question is "Would you earn more cash back if you got both cards and used the Ink Premier to charge expenses that are not bonus categories for the Ink Cash"? We can perform this analysis with a simple formula and calculation:

The formula for calculating the breakeven spending need is as follows:

Let S^cash = spending on Ink Cash in non-bonus category

The breakeven spending formula is as follows:

1% X S^Cash + (2% X S^Cash) - 195 (annual fee)

1% X S^Cash = $195

S^Cash = $195/0.01 = $19,500

That means that if you spend more than $19,500 on non-bonus category expenses on the Ink Cash, you are better off getting the Ink Premier in addition to the Ink Cash.

Which is Better? Chase Ink Cash or Premier?

The Ink Cash is a bonus category cash back credit card while the Ink Premier is a 2% flat rate credit card. So we cannot do a real apples to apples comparison because they earn cash back differently. You would have to do your own analysis based on your business spending and types of business expenses you intend to charge to either of these cards. And you should pick the card that lets you earn the most cash back. Or you might find that having both cards will earn you more cash back.

Should You Also Get The Ink Premier Even if the Ink Cash Earns You More Cash Back?

As we have shown in the calculations and analysis above, if you intend to spend more than $19,500 on the non-bonus category items on the Ink Cash (which only 1% cash back), you are better off getting the Ink Premier in addition to the Ink cash and earn 2% cash back rather than just 1%. You will earn more cash back if you get both the Ink Cash and Ink Premier by using the Ink Cash for the 5% and 2% bonus category items and the Ink Premier for the rest of your spending (which earns you 2% cash back).

Another Consideration: If you want to transfer points to airine and hotel partners

If already have the Chase Ink Preferred, Sapphire Preferred or Reserve (cards that allow you to transfer points to airline and hotel partners) and you want to maximize your transferable points with another Chase Ink Card, then the only choice you have between these two cards is the Ink Cash. The Ink Cash, when combined with either the Ink Preferred, Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, allows you to pool your points together and the points you earn from Ink Cash can also be transferred to airline and hotel partners.

Chase, however, does not allow you to pool points with the Ink Premier.

To Sum Up...

If all you care about is earning cash back and cash back only, then either card may be better for you depending on how much your business will charge to the card and what type of expenses your business has. You may even find it worthwhile getting both cards to maximize your cash back earnings. Only you can do the calculations and analysis yourself.

If you have either the Ink Preferred, Sapphire Preferred or Reserve cards and want to combine cards to maximize the points you earn that can be transferred to airline and hotel partners, then you should go for the Ink Cash rather than the Ink Premier.