What purchases get Chase Ink's 5% cash back rate?

You get Chase Ink 5% cash back on up to $25,000 spent on office supplies and phone, internet and cable TV services each account anniversary year. But it’s not cash back as you’d normally think about it. The card earns 5 Ultimate Rewards points per $1 spent. You can trade those points for cash at a rate of one cent each, so it’s basically 5% cash back. When you’ve reached the $25,000 threshold, purchases in the bonus categories will earn 1 point per $1 spent for the remainder of the account year with no maximum.

If you see “5x” or “5%” in some Chase marketing materials, those are just other ways of referring to the Ink Cash bonus rate of 5 points per $1 spent. The other two Chase Ink business cards, Preferred and Unlimited, don’t offer 5% back.  

Here is what you should know about Chase Ink 5% cash back:

• Chase Ink 5% cash back refers to the Chase Ink Business Cash card’s earning rate of 5 points per $1 spent. Chase Ink’s rewards are provided in points, but they’re sometimes called cash back because each point is worth 1 cent.
• The Chase Ink Cash 5% rewards rate applies to $25,000 spent per year on office supplies and phone, internet and cable TV services. The $25K limit resets every account anniversary.
• All purchases that don’t qualify for Chase Ink 5% back get you 1 point per $1 spent.  
• Chase Ink Cash is the only Chase Ink business credit card with 5% back. Chase Ink Preferred offers up to 3 points per $1 spent. And Chase Ink Unlimited gives 1.5 points per $1 on all purchases.
• Chase Ink points do not expire as long as the account remains open.

Chase Ink 5% cash back (really 5 points per $1) can be pretty lucrative. But it’s not all that Chase Ink Cash will reward you with.

There’s also 2 points per $1 spent on gas and dining purchases, up to $25,000 spent per year. And 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. Plus, there’s a bonus of 50,000 points when you spend $3,000 in the first three months, and there’s no annual fee.