Compare the Features and Benefits of Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card and
Capital One Spark Cash Review

For most small business owners, it makes sense to have all three Chase Ink credit cards: this card, the Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, the Chase Ink Preferred®, and the Chase Ink Unlimited®.

They all complement each other perfectly. Once you have a the Chase Ink Preferred®, which allows you to transfer points to Chase’s great lineup of airline and hotel partners like World of Hyatt, you will want to get the Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited to maximize your total earnings on bonus categories – since all points can be combined to your Ink Preferred.

The Ink Cash is a truly amazing card when it comes to bonus multipliers on select business categories. With 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year plus 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year, you have tremendous bonus category multipliers on a no annual fee card.

But the most important thing to know is that although this card says you are earning cash back, that is only if you don’t also have a Chase Ink Preferred®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card.

Either way, you are earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points. But without one of the above cards, you can only redeem your points for 1 cent per point. Once you do have a Chase Ink Preferred®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card in your arsenal, though, you’ll be able to move your points from your Ink Cash to any of those three cards, where you can either transfer to airline and hotel partner programs or redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Even if you don’t “combo” your Ink Cash, those 5% and 2% bonus categories are exceptionally strong for business spending on a business credit card with no annual fees. And that large signup bonus doesn’t hurt either!

Overall, the Chase Ink Cash is one of my very favorite cards. I charge my cable, internet, and phone to the card and use it often at office supply stores, which sell a wide array of goods. I also use it for gas stations and dining as I like racking up Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 2X bonus rate.

But keep in mind that it is at its most powerful when paired with a Chase Ink Preferred®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. To show you the difference, you know cash back means each point is worth a penny. But when you have it paired with one of these other cards to unlock points transfers, we value those points at 1.75 cents a piece – due to the flexibility of transfer partners and the potential redemptions those programs offer. (Note this is not a guaranteed value – it depends on what you redeem for.) So pairing your card boosts the rewards value, in our humble opinion, by 75%.

When using our spend calculator on this card, you’ll notice that we ask if you have a Chase Ink Preferred®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card and, if you do, we’ll increase the value of rewards on this card from 1 cent to 1.75 cents accordingly.

Please note: you must be under 5/24 (more on the Chase 5/24 rule) to apply for this card and you cannot apply for more than one Chase Business card in any 30 day period. You can apply for a maximum of two Chase cards within 30 days, with only, at most, 1 of them being a business card.

This card is also mentioned in the article Business Credit Cards That Don’t Report to Personal Credit Bureaus.

The Spark Cash credit card is ideal for small business owners that want a 2% cash back card with a low annual fee ($0 the first year, $95 after that) and no foreign transaction fees.

It’s a very simple card. You won’t find transferable points nor a rich suite of card benefits here, but that’s the tradeoff to avoid any sort of annual fee. You still get free employee cards.

Small business owners earn 2% cash back on all eligible purchases, and unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel.

If you also have a Capital One credit card that earns Capital One miles like a  Capital One Spark Miles for Business card, or a personal Venture X, Venture, or VentureOne credit card, you can transfer your cash from the Capital One Spark Cash Select to those cards, making them Capital One Miles – transferable to airline and hotel partners. $10 = 1,000 Miles.

Unlike the Spark Cash Plus, the Spark Cash will report to your personal credit profile.

The primary other difference between this Spark Cash card, with a $95 annual fee, and the Spark Cash Plus, with a $150 annual fee, is that the Spark Cash Plus is a charge card with no preset spending limit. For higher spend businesses, the Spark Cash Plus will be a better choice, but this card will work just fine for a business that doesn’t spend enough to justify the additional $55 annual fee in exchange for the no preset spending limit (which is still not unlimited, but rather set based on your spend history).