Chase Ink Business Preferred vs. American Express Business Platinum

If you’re a business owner and looking to get a new credit card, you may have narrowed your choice down to the Chase Ink vs. American Express Business cards.

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Despite both the cards being marketed for business expenses, these two cards couldn’t be more different. So in this article, we’ll compare the Chase Ink Business Preferred and American Express Business Platinum cards, and explain the differences between them.

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So, let’s start with a high-level overview of both the cards.

Chase Ink Business Preferred

The Chase Ink Business Preferred card offers several rewards and benefits for small business owners. With a 100,000 points as a sign-up bonus, earning rates of 3 points per $1 spent on the first $150,000 in combined purchases, this card is targeted squarely toward small or medium-sized business owners. 

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Additionally, the card offers a suite of travel and purchase protections, including trip cancellation/interruption insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver, and purchase protection.

American Express Business Platinum

The American Express Business Platinum card is a premium business credit card that offers benefits and perks for the high-spending business owner.

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You will earn 5 Membership Rewards points for every dollar spent on eligible travel purchases, allowing you to rapidly accumulate points that can be redeemed for a variety of rewards, including travel, merchandise, and statement credits. 

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You also get access to the renowned American Express Global Lounge Collection, which includes over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide, as well as a suite of elite status perks with leading hotel and rental car brands.

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But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Next, let’s do a deep dive into the direct comparison between the benefits offered by both cards.

Chase Ink vs. American Express Business: Welcome offer comparison

Both cards offer bonus reward points to woo new customers. Here’s what they offer:

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You can redeem the points on the Chase Ink Business card for travel through Chase Travel for 1.25 cents per point, resulting in a potential travel value of $1,250. Alternatively, you can redeem points for cash back at a rate of 1 cent per point, or transfer them to travel partners for potentially even greater value.

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For the points you get with the American Express Business Platinum card, you can transfer them to travel partners (e.g., airlines, hotels) for 1:1 redemption. You can also use the points directly on American Express Travel  to enjoy a valuation of 1.35 cents per point for prepaid hotels and flights. You could also choose to redeem points for a statement credit towards your business expenses.

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While the Amex Business card clearly offers a bigger welcome bonus and more options for redemption, it also requires you to spend 2.5 times more than the Chase Ink Business card in the first 3 months.

Chase Ink vs. American Express Business: Rewards comparison

Here's the rewards system comparison for both cards:

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At a glance, it might seem like the Amex Business card offers more points per dollar. However, you’re only limited to booking flights directly with the airlines or the Amex travel portal to earn the lucrative 5 points per dollar. Even the 1.5 points per dollar reward is only applicable for limited categories or a minimum $5,000 spend.

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On the other hand, the Ink Business card offers 3 points per dollar up to $150,000 spent annually. But this combines multiple categories like travel, internet, phone, etc. And you’re not limited to booking directly with the airlines or a specific travel portal.

Chase Ink vs. American Express Business: Annual fee comparison and cost implications

Based on the reward system and target demographics, both cards offer very different annual fees and annual percentage rates (APR).

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As you can see, there’s a significant difference in the annual fee for both cards–$95 for Chase Ink vs. $695 for American Express Business. In terms of the annual fee, the Chase Business card definitely offers better value. However, the American Express card offers a wider range of benefits.  

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For businesses that frequently travel or generate high spending on specific categories, the American Express card's benefits could justify the annual fee. Ultimately, the decision of whether the American Express card is a better fit depends on a business's individual needs and spending patterns.

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When it comes to the APR, you should not have to worry too much about it, if you pay your bills on time. If you’re considering a card for business expenses, you should not be planning to take on credit card debt as a business. Just remember, the APR varies from customer to customer, so the percentages mentioned above are just an indicator.

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One thing to note, though, is that neither card levies additional foreign transaction fees. So if that’s the deciding factor, you could go with either card.

Chase Ink vs. American Express Business: Benefits beyond spending

Since both cards are targeted towards business users, they offer several additional benefits that can help you decide which card is right for you.

Chase Ink Business Preferred benefits

By opting for the Chase Ink Business Preferred card, you can get the following benefits:

• Multiple ways to redeem your points, like:
  • Cash back as a statement credit toward your balance, or getting it directly deposited to a U.S. checking and savings account.
  • Getting a gift card from over 150 brands, including hotels, office supply stores, electronics, etc.
  • Use your points to pay for all or part of your Apple purchases.
  • Redeem your points on the Chase travel portal to book rental cars, hotel stays, or flights on most major airlines with no restrictions or blackout dates.
• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance of up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip.
• Roadside emergency assistance for anything from a tow or jumpstart to a tire change, lockout service, winching or gas delivery. However, roadside service fees will be provided when you call and will be billed to your card.
• Auto rental collision damage waiver when renting for business purposes with reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most cars in the U.S. and abroad.
• Up to $1,000 per claim in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage for you and your employees when you pay the phone bill with your Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card.
• Purchase protection for your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
• Extend your warranty protection by an additional year on eligible warranties of three years or less, for any U.S. manufacturer.
• Get employee credit cards at no additional cost to help you earn rewards even faster.. You can even set individual spending limits.

American Express Business Platinum benefits

The Amex Business card more than makes up for its annual fee with additional benefits like:

• Complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries through their American Express Global Lounge Collection.
• $200 in statement credits per year when your chosen airline charges incidental fees, such as checked bags and in-flight refreshments.
• Cover the cost of a CLEAR Plus Membership with up to $189 in statement credits per calendar year. This membership will help you move faster through security at select airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues nationwide.
• Receive either a statement credit every 4 years after you apply for Global Entry ($100) or a statement credit every 4.5 years after you apply for a five-year membership for TSA PreCheck ($85).
• Enjoy Hilton Honors Gold status, for additional benefits at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Portfolio.
• Upgrade to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status without meeting any stay requirements.
• Receive hotel benefits like daily breakfast for two, 4pm check-out, etc., averaging a total value of $600 in perks, when you book through American Express Travel.
• Complimentary premium status for a number of car rental programs.
• Business Platinum travel service for custom itineraries and tailored recommendations to help you make the most of your travels.
• Trip delay, cancellation, and interruption insurance.
• Get up to $120 back per year for purchases with U.S. wireless telephone service providers.
• Up to $400 back (up to $200 semi-annually) on U.S. purchases with Dell Technologies.
• Get up to $360 back (up to $90 quarterly) for purchases with Indeed.
• Enroll and get up to $150 back for select auto-renewing annual business subscription purchases with Adobe.
• Get reimbursed, the lesser of, your repair or replacement costs for your mobile following damage or theft for a maximum of $800 per claim.
• An additional year of warranty coverage for warranties of 5 years or less on covered purchases in the United States.
• 90-day purchase protection for items purchased through your card.
• Free employee cards which will help you stack up reward points.

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As you can see, it can be difficult to decide which credit card is right for your business. But you don’t have to choose just between the Chase Ink or Amex; if you want to expand your options, consider a corporate card.

Consider a Ramp Corporate Card

Even though the cards discussed above are marketed as business cards, they’re credit cards first. This means that they incentivize you to spend on certain categories of purchases to maximize your benefits of owning the cards.

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The Ramp Corporate Card, on the other hand, is primarily a business tool. It helps you save money by preventing out-of-policy spend by letting you set spend limits by category. It also helps you save time by automatically routing transactions to the right limits, generating receipts for purchases, and saving recurring memos. It also sends reminders for missing items or request repayments for you.

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Ramp helps you save an average of 5% on business expenses through features like zero-touch receipt capture and comparing software expense quotes from our large market database.

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What’s more, you can even get up to $350,000 in partner rewards for spends that actually matter for your business, like:

• 30% discount on a 12-month subscription for the accounting software, Quickbooks.
• Up to 50% off on shipping with UPS.
• Up to $5,000 in credits for Amazon web services.
• $1,500 in Deel credits to hire and onboard new employees.
• 6-months free on a Notion plus subscription plan.
• 6-months free of Zendesk suite and sales CRM.
• 30% off the first year of Hubspot subscription.
• 15% off on the first year of Travel Bank subscription.

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These are just a few of the partner offers you get when you sign up for a Ramp corporate card. Here is a complete list of the perks you get when you join.

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Check out the Ramp Corporate Card for your business needs and get ready to start saving an average of 5% on all your business expenses.