Chase Ink Business Cash vs Ink Business Unlimited in 2026

Ink Business Cash wins if office supplies, internet, cable, phone, gas, or restaurants are real business spend. As of September 23, 2026, both cards have no annual fee and the same $750 bonus after $6,000 in three months. Cash pays 5% and 2% until two separate annual caps, then 1%. Unlimited fits spread-out bills, because its floor is 1.5% with no cap.

The two products are the Ink Business Cash and the Ink Business Unlimited. FinanceRadar data: of the 37 credit cards we verify, 18 charge no annual fee and 18 offer a 0% introductory APR, 49% each, as of September 23, 2026 (credit card statistics). Both Ink cards land in that no-fee set and that intro-APR set, which means the annual fee and the teaser rate cannot settle this matchup.

Ordinary spend can still earn more on a flat personal card than on either of these floors. The cash back guide and the business card roundup cover that wider field. What picks the winner here is which purchases will actually post in a bonus category, and which ones never will.

Side by side

The figures were checked on September 23, 2026, against the Ink Business Cash card page, the Ink Business Unlimited card page, the pricing sheets those pages link, both rewards agreements dated September 11, 2025, and the shared Guide to Benefits in effect October 1, 2024. A branch poster or a different advertisement can quote another bonus, so the approval screen is the offer you actually get.

Both cards pay those rewards as points, and $1 of cash back equals 100 points. Neither card page sets a minimum before a statement credit or a deposit. Deposits are narrower: an eligible Chase account in the United States, or a third-party wallet if Chase has made one available. Points remain while the account stays open, and Chase can erase them at once if it closes the account for misuse, fraud, or a bankruptcy filing.

Cash wins on office and telecom spend

The office and telecom rate is the live gap, and only inside the cap. Cash's offer details and the Cash rewards agreement pay 5% total on the first combined block of office supply stores plus internet, cable, and phone services in each account anniversary year. That year starts at account opening, runs through the first statement after the anniversary, and then resets every 12 billing cycles, so a January reset is not how the cap works.

Fill that cap with purchases that would have earned Unlimited's flat rate and the gap is 3.5 points: Cash returns $1,250, Unlimited returns $375, and the difference is $875. The extra half point Unlimited pays on everything else does not close that gap until uncategorized charges pass $175,000. A company that actually buys from office-supply merchants and puts the phone and internet bills on this card does not need the flat rate.

Gas and restaurants are a smaller, separate cap, not a second reason on their own. Gas stations and restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery, earn 2% until that other cap, then fall back to the base rate. Filling the whole cap beats Unlimited by $125, and half a point of uncategorized spend erases that edge after another $25,000. Gas and dining alone are a weak reason to pick Cash, because the extra over the flat floor is thin and it stops when the cap does.

Merchant codes decide whether the office rate exists. Chase's category FAQ counts an office supply store only when supplies are that merchant's specialty, so a discount store, department store, electronics store, or computer or furniture wholesaler misses it even when the receipt looks like supplies. Telecom covers internet, cable, satellite TV and radio, cellular, and landline service, not equipment, and a phone-equipment store misses it. A digital wallet can drop the category if it does not pass the merchant code, so a purchase that would have qualified at the register can post without the bonus.

Gas is the same kind of trap: Chase limits it to merchants whose business is selling automotive gasoline, and it names truck stops, marinas, and propane or home-heating dealers as examples that do not qualify. A pump that codes as something else earns the base rate, which loses to Unlimited.

Unlimited wins when the categories are thin

Unlimited's uncapped floor is the reason to pick it, and the rate does not depend on a merchant code. The Unlimited rewards agreement pays 1.5% on every purchase. Cash pays 1% once a cap is full, and that same rate from the first dollar on payroll, inventory, advertising, contractors, and software. Those lines are where a lot of small-business spend sits, so a company living on inventory and contractors is taking the weaker rate if it holds Cash for a headline it will not fill.

Chase's own examples put the rates in dollars: on Cash, $100 in the office and telecom categories earns $5, and $100 in the gas and restaurant categories earns $2. On Unlimited, $100 earns $1.50 no matter the merchant. The flat rate is the worse deal on a real office or telecom charge and the better deal on everything those categories skip.

A business that fills neither cap should not hold Cash for the headline. Against the flat floor, Unlimited leads by half a point on every dollar, with no anniversary reset to watch. On $40,000 of uncategorized purchases, that half point is $200, the same figure as the average annual fee in our catalog, except here it is cash back rather than a fee.

FinanceRadar data: the average annual fee across those 37 cards is $200, and published fees in the set run from $0 to $895, as of September 23, 2026 on the same statistics page. Both Ink cards sit at the bottom of that range. Capital One's business lineup has a fee-refund option for heavier spenders: our Spark Cash Plus review explains when its $150 fee comes back. The earn rates are the decision, because the welcome offer matches.

Lyft does not break the tie, because both card pages pay the same total on qualifying Lyft rides through the app until September 30, 2027. Cash describes that total as 4 extra points on its base, and Unlimited describes it as 3.5 extra points on its higher base. Gift cards, car rentals, and vehicle service centers are excluded on both, so the perk is an in-app ride, not a rental or a shop visit.

Same bonus, same APR, same traps

The welcome bonus is a tie, not a reason to prefer one card. Both pages require the same three-month purchase total before the bonus, and the points arrive 6 to 8 weeks after you finish, provided the account is still open and not in default. Balance transfers, cash advances, cryptocurrency, wires, person-to-person transfers, lottery tickets, interest, and fees are excluded from that spend, which means moving a balance cannot complete the requirement.

The eligibility note is shared, and it reaches further than already holding this exact product. Chase says the bonus may be unavailable if you have ever had that card or any other Chase for Business card with no annual fee, so holding Cash can put the Unlimited bonus at risk, and the reverse is also true. Cash's pricing sheet and Unlimited's pricing sheet, both dated December 16, 2025, add another gate: Chase can turn down a second card inside the same rewards program, or a second card that carries promotional pricing when you already use Chase promotions that way.

Interest after the intro window can wipe a year of rewards, and the two APR boxes match. Both sheets print 0% for 12 months on purchases, then 16.74% to 24.74% variable, built from a 6.75% Prime Rate dated December 16, 2025, plus 9.99 to 17.99 points, with a ceiling of 29.99%. Pay the statement in full and new purchases avoid interest. Carry a balance once that window closes and a year of rewards can disappear into interest.

The intro window covers purchases only, so it is a poor tool for old debt. Balance transfers use the ongoing APR from day one, the account may not be eligible at all, and the fee is the greater of $5 or five percent of the amount. Fees included, the transfer request has to stay within available credit and cannot exceed $15,000. Chase refuses to move a balance off another Chase account, and the debt has to be business expenses. A missed minimum payment ends the intro APR, and a missed or returned payment can also trigger a penalty APR up to 29.99% that may last indefinitely.

Either card can charge up to $40 for a late or returned payment. A cash advance is priced at 28.49%, plus the greater of $15 or the balance-transfer percentage of the advance, and it earns nothing. Chase Pay Over Time adds a fee rather than extending the intro rate: nothing extra during the purchase promo, then as much as 1.72% a month on eligible purchases of at least $100, spread over 3 to 24 months, and Chase does not promise access. Amazon checkout plans leave small business cards out.

Both applications make you personally responsible, with the company, for every balance, including after you leave the business, until the account is closed, and the card is for business purchases only. Neither sheet prints a credit-score cutoff, and you may be offered different costs or no card at all.

The shared perks do not decide it

Employee cards and the referral bonus are ties. Both pages issue employee cards at no extra annual fee, with the same charging rights unless you set a limit, and you still owe the charges. Both also pay 40,000 bonus points per approved referral, up to 200,000 points a year, if you already hold a Chase for Business card.

Instacart+ is the same three complimentary months on both, if you activate between May 1, 2025 and December 31, 2027, then $99 a year unless you cancel during the free months. Leaving the renewal on turns the perk into a bill. A $20 credit loads each month through the end of 2027, does not roll over, excludes taxes, fees, and tips, and the offer is one per household.

Coverage is shared in one Guide to Benefits that names both cards and took effect October 1, 2024, so a claim does not pick a winner. Purchase protection is 120 days (90 in New York), up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 per account, secondary to other insurance, and it skips lost items and goods bought for resale. Extended warranty adds one year on a US manufacturer warranty of three years or less. Auto rental coverage pays up to $60,000 for theft or collision on rentals of 31 days or less, primary for a business rental if you decline the agency waiver, and it excludes vehicles with an MSRP over $125,000. The guide has no cell phone section, so a cracked screen is not a reason to choose either card.

Cash's page adds one line Unlimited's page does not: an automatic credit-line review every 6 months or sooner, which is a review rather than an approval.

These points stay cash until a transfer card is added

Neither rewards agreement lists an airline or hotel partner. Cash, gift cards, and travel booked in the program redeem at 1 cent a point, so 100 points are $1, while a third-party pay-with-points checkout can be worth less. Redemptions are supposed to be for the company, not a personal trip.

Points can be pooled onto one other Ultimate Rewards card in your name, in a household member's name, or in the name of a company owner. That pool helps only if the other card transfers. Ink Business Preferred is the business card whose own page, checked September 23, 2026, lists airline and hotel partners, charges a $95 annual fee, and lists no foreign transaction fee. Starting October 1, 2026, Preferred says Hyatt transfers move at 4:3, so 1,000 points become 750 Hyatt points. A statement credit is the clean exit if you are not paying for that card. The pairing is a separate purchase, covered in the travel card guide.

A foreign charge is a loss on both of these cards. The 3% fee on a $1,000 purchase is $30, more than either card earns on that charge. Preferred is the Ink card that drops the fee, at the cost of that annual fee, and the wider no-fee set is the no-annual-fee guide.

Who should hold which

Cash fits a business that will actually hit office-supply and telecom merchants. Those purchases, inside the anniversary cap, are what beat the flat floor by enough to matter. Gas and restaurants add only a half point until their own cap. A computer wholesaler, a discount store, or a phone-equipment counter can miss the category.

Unlimited fits bills you will never categorize, the inventory, contractors, ads, and software that Cash pays its base rate on from the first dollar. That half-point edge disappears on a charge made abroad, because the foreign fee is larger than the rewards. Skip both cards if you will revolve past the intro window, and skip both to move a balance: transfers get no intro APR, and the account may not be offered one. The full ranking, the cards-by-score guide, and the APR statistics cover the wider field.

How we compared

Sources were the Cash card page, the Unlimited card page, and the pricing sheets linked from each (costs accurate as of December 16, 2025), plus both Ultimate Rewards agreements dated September 11, 2025, the shared Guide to Benefits in effect October 1, 2024, Chase's rewards category FAQ, and the Ink Business Preferred card page for the partner comparison. The read was done on September 23, 2026.

No application was submitted for either card for this article. This is general information, not personalized financial advice. A commission on a Financeradar link, if one is paid, does not change which card ranks where (how we make money). How catalog rates are scored is on how we rate.

FAQ

Which Chase Ink card should a small business get?

Ink Business Cash is the card when office supply stores and internet, cable, and phone service are bills you will actually charge. Ink Business Unlimited is the card when most spend will miss those merchants. As of September 23, 2026, neither card has an annual fee, and the welcome offer is identical. Cash is ahead only inside its caps, and Unlimited is ahead on everything those caps do not cover.

What is the Ink Business Cash and Ink Business Unlimited welcome bonus?

Both card pages list $750 cash back after you put $6,000 in purchases on the card during the first three months, and the bonus shows up 6 to 8 weeks after that. The bonus may be unavailable if you have ever had that card or any other Chase for Business card with no annual fee. Chase says the offer can differ in a branch or on another ad.

What cash back rate does each Ink card earn?

Cash earns 5% on office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services until an anniversary cap, then the base rate, and 2% at gas stations and restaurants until a separate cap of the same size. Unlimited earns 1.5% on every purchase, with no cap. After either Cash cap, and on spend that never qualified, Cash earns 1%. Those rates were in the rewards agreements dated September 11, 2025.

Do Ink Business Cash and Ink Business Unlimited charge a foreign transaction fee?

Yes. Both pricing sheets list 3% of the US dollar amount, dated December 16, 2025. On a $1,000 purchase the fee is $30, more than the cash back either card earns on that charge. Ink Business Preferred's page lists no foreign transaction fee, at a $95 annual fee.

What APR do Ink Business Cash and Ink Business Unlimited charge?

Both pricing sheets print 0% for 12 months on purchases, then 16.74% to 24.74% variable, from a 6.75% Prime Rate as of December 16, 2025. Balance transfers do not get that intro rate, cost the greater of $5 or five percent of the amount, and the account may not be eligible. A missed minimum payment ends the intro rate.

Can Ink Business Cash or Unlimited points transfer to airlines?

These two cards cannot send points to an airline or a hotel by themselves. The agreements only let you pool points onto another Ultimate Rewards card that you, a household member, or a company owner already holds, and that other card has to be one that transfers. Ink Business Preferred's page lists airline and hotel partners and, from October 1, 2026, a 4:3 rate to World of Hyatt. As cash, these points are 1 cent each.

Does an existing no-fee Ink card block the other bonus?

It can. Each page says the bonus may not be available if you have ever had that card or any other Chase for Business card without an annual fee. The pricing sheets also say Chase can refuse another card in that same rewards program. Neither page prints a fixed waiting period.

Is this Ink Business Cash versus Ink Business Unlimited page financial advice?

No. This is a comparison of two Chase business cards, dated to the issuer pages on September 23, 2026, and it is not a recommendation for your company. The APR you are assigned inside the published range, whether a merchant codes as an office supply store, and whether Chase will extend the bonus are outside what this page can decide.

Cite this: FinanceRadar, "Chase Ink Business Cash vs Ink Business Unlimited in 2026", September 2026.