Chase Unveils New Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card With $500 Sign-Up Bonus

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

It's always intriguing when an issuer unveils a new credit card, and even more so when that issuer is one of the biggest players in the industry. So Chase's decision to launch a brand-new business card compatible with its existing Ultimate Rewards credit card line, but with no annual fee, means there are new opportunities to explore in the world of travel rewards for businesses.

The new Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card becomes the latest addition to Chase's business card lineup, joining the existing Ink Business Preferred Credit Card and Ink Business Cash Credit Card, both of which will continue to be issued along with the new offering. The Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card, which is a cash-back card but also tied to the issuer's Ultimate Rewards flexible point currency (more on that in a moment), is offering a $500 sign-up bonus after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after opening the account.

Just like Chase's other cash back cards, you'll receive your cash back on the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card in the form of Ultimate Rewards points. Thus, after you finish making the minimum spend, the $500 cash back sign-up bonus will actually arrive in your account as 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points, with each point worth 1 cent apiece when redeemed for cash back.

But if you have another Chase card in the Ultimate Rewards ecosystem, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can combine your points from this card with your other cards and gain the immediate ability to transfer any of your combined points to Chase's ultra valuable airline and hotel partners.

As far as using this card on an ongoing basis, the earning structure is simple. There are no fancy bonus categories, but you'll earn 1.5% cash back (again, in the form of points) on all purchases. That's not the top rate when it comes to cash-back business cards, but the points become worth much more than that when combined with other Chase transfer-eligible cards.

For instance, if you have the Sapphire Reserve, you have the ability to redeem points with that card directly for travel at the Chase travel portal at a fixed rate of 1.5 cents each. That means if you combine the points earned on this new card with the CSR, you'll effectively be earning 2.25 cents in value per dollar spent on the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card (1.5 points per dollar multiplied by 1.5 cents per point is 2.25 cents per dollar). And since TPG values Ultimate Rewards points at an even higher 2.1 cents apiece — thanks to the usefulness of transfer partners like United, Hyatt and Singapore Airlines, among others — you can potentially get an even greater return with this card if you're willing to be flexible with your travel plans and spend the time to scour for award space.

You may recognize the earning structure on the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card (and even the name of the card) as being similar to the personal Chase Freedom Unlimited card. It's an ideal everyday earning card for those who want to keep their business expenses separate from their personal expenses.

Keep in mind that this card likely falls under Chase's 5/24 rule, so you can't have opened more than four personal credit cards in the last two years at all banks combined in order to be able to successfully apply for it. But if you haven't loaded up on a lot of credit cards in recent years and you're eligible for a business card, this would be a great one to pair with one of the transfer-enabled personal Chase cards, or even the Ink Business Preferred, which can also transfer points to hotels and airlines and comes with its own bonus categories.

Having both the Ink Preferred and the Ink Unlimited in your business card arsenal could be a perfect match, especially since you can also add employee cards from the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card to your account for no additional fee. So if you've got a business, give this card your attention and consider whether it fits into your travel rewards strategy.