Costs & Pricing

Metric	Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
Annual fee	$95 (no first-year waiver published)	$0 intro year 1, then $150 (first year of Card Membership only)
Employee card fee	$0	$0 (CMA: Annual Fee for Additional Cards: None)
Purchase APR	17.74%–26.74% variable (Prime + 10.99% to +19.99%; max 29.99%)	19.49%–28.49% variable (Prime + 12.74% to Prime + 21.74%); placement by creditworthiness at account opening. APRs accurate as of 09/02/2026. No 0% intro.
Intro APR (purchases)	Not offered	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	$0	$0
Late payment fee	$40	Up to $39 (will not exceed Minimum Payment Due)

Rewards & Value

Metric	Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
Base earn rate	1 Ultimate Rewards point per $1 on all other purchases (uncapped)	1 SkyMile per $1 eligible purchases
Welcome bonus	100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $8,000 purchases in first 3 months (posts 6–8 weeks after qualifying)	Conflict across official pages. Delta business-cards page: limited-time 90,000 bonus miles after $6,000 eligible purchases in the first 6 months — offer ends November 4, 2026. Amex product page (same period): evergreen-style 60,000 after $4,000 in the first 6 months with no end date. Treat 90k/$6k through 11/4/2026 as the live limited-time public offer; 60k/$4k as the fallback. Apply-flow T&Cs win.
Redemption value	1¢/point cash (RPA contractual floor); Chase Travel marketed at 1.25¢; transfers at partner ratios	Pay with Miles = 1.0¢ ($50 off per 5,000 miles on delta.com). Award travel is dynamic; TakeOff 15 improves award pricing ~15% on Delta-operated flights only (not partner-operated, not taxes/fees). Do not assume transfer-partner value — this card does not transfer.
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.	None. Currency is Delta SkyMiles, not Membership Rewards. No transfer-out to other airlines. Miles do not expire under Delta’s published policy; Delta may still deactivate an account and remove miles.

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card	Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
Personal guarantee	Required — authorizing officer liable individually and jointly with the business for all balances	Required in substance. CMA: Basic Card Member and Company remain jointly and severally liable for all charges. Quote the live application before publishing a legal excerpt.
Credit check	Hard pull on the authorizing officer (standard Chase practice)	Know if you're approved with no impact on your personal credit score until acceptance. Business credit may be impacted on submit. Accepting the card may impact personal credit. Treated as a hard pull on accept in industry practice; Amex does not print “hard pull” on the marketing page.
Employee cards	Free; number not capped in public copy; individual spend limits and real-time tracking	$0 additional-card fee. Spend controls / alerts marketed; Account Manager role can add cards, pay, review transactions. Hard cap on number not disclosed on this product page — do not invent 99 unless the application states it.
Product type	Revolving business credit card	Revolving small-business credit card (published purchase APR, ADB interest, minimum-payment rule). Not a charge card. Not a corporate / net-terms spend platform.

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

Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card

Pros

• $0 year-1 fee then $150 — lowest annual fee in the Delta business lineup
• 1st checked bag free worldwide + 2nd bag free domestic (2026 add) can offset the AF in a few team trips
• 2X on uncapped restaurants plus capped U.S. shipping and U.S. digital/TV/radio ads
• $0 foreign-transaction fee and $0 employee cards (employee spend feeds the $10k flight-credit threshold)
• TakeOff 15 reduces Delta-metal award cost 15%

Cons

• Ongoing $150 AF with credits that are conditional, portal-locked, or enrollment-gated after renewal
• Miles are Delta-only — no Membership Rewards transfers
• No lounge, no GE/PreCheck credit, thinner insurance than Platinum/Reserve Business
• No 0% intro APR; carrying a balance is expensive (19.49%–28.49% as of 09/02/2026)
• Personal guarantee / joint and several liability; advertising 2X is MCC-narrow (media providers, not any marketing vendor)

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.

Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card

This is the low-fee Delta business cobrand — not personal Delta Gold (supermarkets 2X), not Platinum/Reserve Business, and not Amex Business Gold (MR). Confirm the live apply-flow welcome (90k/$6k through 11/4/2026 on Delta vs 60k/$4k still on Amex’s product URL). Skip it if you will not fly Delta, want transferable points, need 0% float, or refuse a PG.