The has an all-time high sign-up bonus offering $1,000 total cash bonus (or 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points) for new cardholders that meet the spending requirements, along with 5%/2% cash back on select small business categories, all with no annual fee. Here are the details:
- $1,000 bonus. Earn $1,000 cash back after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 4 months after account opening. This matches the all-time high; previous offer was $750.
- 5% cash back (or 5X Ultimate Rewards per dollar) on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.
- 2% cash back (or 2X Ultimate Rewards per dollar) on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year.
- 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn.
- Free additional cards for employees.
- No annual fee.
Ultimate Rewards points. The cash sign-up bonus actually comes in the form of Ultimate Rewards points at 1 point = 1 cent in cash. 100,000 points = $1,000 cash.
You can pool all of your Ultimate Rewards points from other Chase cards together (even with your spouse in the same household) with cards like the to take advantage of all the excellent transfer options to programs like Hyatt hotels and United Airlines.
Leveraging the 5% back bonus categories. Putting all of your small business cell phone, landline, and internet bills on the card and getting 5% back is pretty handy. For example, even just $200 a month x 12 months x 5% back is $120 back a year without changing your spending habits. Now let’s take the office supply store category and the fact that you can buy gifts cards to Amazon.com and other retailers at such office supply stores like Staples and OfficeMax… now you can effectively discount many of your other purchasing needs by 5% as well. Putting those purchases on such gift cards upfront can also help you meet the spending requirement for the bonus.
Many people aren’t aware of the fact that they can apply for business credit cards, even if they are not a corporation or LLC. The business type is called a sole proprietorship, and these days many people are full-time or part-time consultants, freelancers, eBay/Amazon/Etsy sellers, or other one-person business owners. This is the simplest business entity, but it is fully legit and recognized by the IRS. On a business credit card application, you should use your own legal name as the business name, and your Social Security Number as the Tax ID.
Note that Chase has an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years (aka the 5/24 rule). This rule is designed to discourage folks that apply for high numbers of sign-up bonuses. This rule applies on a per-person basis, so in our household one applies to Chase while the other applies at other card issuers.
Bottom line. The has a large sign-up bonus and ongoing features of 5X/2X categories with no annual fee. This card is best if you have significant expenses in the special 5% and 2% categories above. If you have certain other Chase credit cards, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points over to those cards and increase your value.
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