Yahoo Finance Yet another new Chase credit card with a crazy-big bonus
Just a few months after Chase’s Sapphire Reserve credit card went viral, thanks to its 100,000-point signup bonus, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is coming back with another credit card carrying a big incentive. This time, however, it’s going after corporate users.
Although Chase has been at the forefront of trendy plastic thanks to its Sapphire cards, American Express (AXP) has remained the go-to choice for many company credit cards. In an attempt to coax companies away from AmEx, the new Chase Ink Business Preferred card will come with 80,000 points in sign-up bonus and will roll out later this year, according to Bloomberg. Additionally, it will accumulate 3X points for expenses related to business travel, telecommunications, shipping, and social-media and search engine promotion up to $150,000.
In the past few days, people on Reddit’s popular credit card thread detailed delays in approval for applications to Chase’s current premium business card, the Chase Ink Plus, with Chase representatives pointing to a big backlog of applications. According to the Redditors, the spike stemmed from rumors that Chase was going to do something—like discontinue its massive 5X point multiplier on the card, which carries a 60,000-point sign-up bonus.
Instead, Chase announced a new credit card to serve as its top-tier business offering. While they may change the terms of the Plus—Chase didn’t immediately return a request for comment—the new card’s massive bonus strengthens the case for Chase against American Express. In comparison, AmEx’s business Gold Rewards card comes with a 25,000 bonus and triple points for the first $100,000 spent.
For the churning and optimizing community who helped turn the Sapphire Reserve into a card with a cult following, this new credit card and its big shiny bonus will likely put it toward the top of the most coveted list of cards. In fact, the popularity of the Ink Plus led some Redactors who don’t actually own a small business to get creative in their application: selling their stuff on eBay constituted a business.
The current buzz over credit cards has led some consumers to wonder whether the crazy big signup bonuses indicate some sort of bubble. Credit cards are, after all, ways to borrow money. But it’s important to remember the $1,000 value of 80,000 points is tempered by a price tag. While all these viral cards have big bonuses, they do have annual fees—up to $450 for the Reserve, and $95 for the new Ink Preferred. But if you don’t change your spending habits to chase a bonus and don’t carry a balance, you may very well come out ahead.
Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumerism, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann.
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