Costs & Pricing

Metric	Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Annual fee	$95 (no first-year waiver published)	$895 (new accounts since 09/18/2025; existing accounts moved to $895 on first renewal on or after 12/02/2025). Refundable if closed within 30 days of the Closing Date the fee posted.
Employee card fee	$0	$400 each Additional Business Platinum Card; $0 each Additional Business Expense Card; max 99 additional cards. Legacy accounts opened before 09/18/2025 and not notified of the change may still be billed $350.
Purchase APR	17.74%–26.74% variable (Prime + 10.99% to +19.99%; max 29.99%)	Pay Over Time only: Prime + 10.99% to Prime + 21.74% (marketed 17.74%–28.49% variable); cap 29.99%. Does not apply to Pay In Full charges paid by the due date.
Intro APR (purchases)	Not offered	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	$0	$0
Late payment fee	$40	$39 or 2.99% of any past-due Pay In Full amount, whichever is greater

Rewards & Value

Metric	Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Base earn rate	1 Ultimate Rewards point per $1 on all other purchases (uncapped)	1X Membership Rewards point per $1 on other eligible purchases
Welcome bonus	100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $8,000 purchases in first 3 months (posts 6–8 weeks after qualifying)	Personalized — marketed as high as 300,000 Membership Rewards points after $20,000 eligible spend in the first 3 months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible. Do not treat 300k as a guaranteed public offer.
Redemption value	1¢/point cash (RPA contractual floor); Chase Travel marketed at 1.25¢; transfers at partner ratios	Issuer does not publish a single cpp. Do not invent one. Pay-with-Points airfare is often treated near 1¢; hotel portal is frequently lower. Transfers can be higher or lower.
Transfer partners	Native transfers (airlines 1:1; IHG, Marriott, Wyndham 1:1). World of Hyatt 1:1 through 9/30/2026, then 4:3 from 10/01/2026 (1,000 UR → 750 Hyatt). Unlocks transfers for Ink Cash/Unlimited points moved onto this card.	Membership Rewards program (not card-unique; ratios change). Most airlines 1:1; commonly cited exceptions include Aeromexico 1:1.6, JetBlue 250:200, Hilton 1:2, Marriott 1:1, Choice 1:1, LHW 4:1. Re-check membershiprewards.com. Typical minimum 1,000 points. One-way. No expiration while the account remains open / program rules are met.

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Personal guarantee	Required — authorizing officer liable individually and jointly with the business for all balances	Required in substance. CMA: “The Basic Card Member and the Company remain jointly and severally liable for all Charges.” Not a no-PG product.
Credit check	Hard pull on the authorizing officer (standard Chase practice)	Marketed “Know if you're approved with no personal credit score impact.” Secondary: decision often before a hard pull; hard personal inquiry commonly reported if the card is accepted. Business bureau review may occur when an EIN is used.
Employee cards	Free; number not capped in public copy; individual spend limits and real-time tracking	Up to 99 additional. Platinum AU $400 with fuller travel benefits (lounge, hotel status, GE/PreCheck commonly reported as individual). Many statement credits remain account-pooled. Expense cards $0 without the full perk stack. Spend limits, alerts, freeze.
Product type	Revolving business credit card	Charge card with No Preset Spending Limit plus optional Pay Over Time (hybrid charge / limited-revolve)

Pros & Cons

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Pros

• 100,000 UR / $8,000 / 3-month welcome bonus; authorized-user spend counts
• 3x on shipping, direct social/search ads, comms, and travel up to $150k per anniversary year
• Native Ultimate Rewards transfers; unlocks transfers for Ink Cash/Unlimited points
• $0 foreign-transaction fee and $0 employee cards
• Cell-phone protection plus purchase protection and primary business rental CDW

Cons

• $95 annual fee with no Global Entry, lounge, or travel statement credit
• No intro 0% APR — poor working-capital tool if a balance will be carried
• Personal guarantee + hard pull + unofficial 5/24 gate
• Advertising 3x is narrow (direct platform MCCs, not agencies); office supplies are not 3x
• Hyatt transfers drop to 4:3 on October 1, 2026; bonus likely unavailable if you ever held this card

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Pros

• 5X on Amex Travel flights / prepaid hotels / prepaid STRs, transferable MR, and 35% Pay-with-Points airline rebate
• 2X on defined U.S. construction, electronics/software/cloud, shipping, and $5k+ tickets up to $2M
• Global Lounge Collection plus $600 hotel credit and FHR/Hotel Collection access; $0 FTF; NPSL
• Business credit stack (Dell up to $1,150, Indeed $360, Adobe $250, wireless $120, ChatGPT Business $300) if those vendors are already in use
• CLEAR+, Global Entry/PreCheck, hotel elite status, and cell-phone protection on a charge card

Cons

• $895 primary fee and $400 perk-bearing employee cards
• 1X on most everyday spend; 5X does not apply to flights booked direct with airlines
• Credits are fragmented, enrollment-gated, and easy to miss; marketing “$4,000+ value” assumes utilization the business may not have
• Pay-in-full late fee can be 2.99% of past-due PIF; POT APR is high if used as working capital
• Personal / joint-and-several liability; welcome bonus is personalized (“as high as”) and generally once per this product

Verdict

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Ink Business Preferred is the transfer keystone of the Ink family — 3x on the spend categories many operators actually have, $0 FTF, and a 100k welcome bonus, all at $95. Pair it with Ink Cash or Unlimited if you want the rest of spend at cash-back rates with transferable points parked here. Skip it if you need 0% capital, no personal guarantee, lounges, or simple uncapped cash back.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Business Platinum is the lounge-and-credits SKU — not consumer Platinum (different credits, broader direct-airline 5X) and not Business Gold (lower fee, auto-4X ads/restaurants/gas). It pays when portal travel, 2X categories, and enrollment credits are real spend you already have. Unused credits make $895 a net loss versus Ink Preferred or a 2% cash card. Poor daily driver for flat cash back, 0% capital, no-PG underwriting, or flights ticketed direct with airlines.