New U.S. Bank Business Cards
There are two new U.S. Bank business cards this week. Although these are, for now, only cashback cards, both are worth a look for anyone who is trying to earn a new welcome offer while staying under Chase's 3/24 and 5/24 limit. With bonuses up to $1,000, these are great options for the right people. Let's take a look at both new cards and why they could be useful.
U.S. Bank Business Essentials Visa Card
The first of the new U.S. Bank business cards is the Business Essentials Card. It is the simpler of the two new offerings. Here are the details:
- $500 welcome offer after spending $5,000 within 150 days of account opening
- $0 annual fee
- 2% cash back on eligible purchases
- Up to 2.5% total cash back with qualifying U.S. Bank business checking balances
- 6% cash back on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the U.S. Bank Travel Center
- 0% introductory APR on purchases for the first 12 billing cycles
- Link to Card
The 150-day window gives you nearly five months to complete the $5,000 spending requirement, which makes this a relatively easy welcome offer to earn compared with cards requiring similar spending within three months.
U.S. Bank says the welcome offer is technically 50,000 bonus points worth up to $500. For our purposes, however, we would treat this as a cashback card. The maximum 1-cent-per-point value is available when redeeming into an eligible U.S. Bank account or for a statement credit. Other redemption options may provide a different value.
U.S. Bank Business Essentials Plus Visa Signature Card
The second option of the new U.S. Bank business cards is the Business Essentials Plus Card. This one is certainly more interesting, because of its much larger welcome offer and ongoing earnings opportunities. Here are the details:
- $1,000 welcome offer after spending $15,000 within 150 days of account opening
- $295 annual fee
- 2% cash back on eligible purchases
- Up to 3.5% total cash back depending on qualifying U.S. Bank business checking balances
- 5% cash back on your highest eligible spending category, up to $200,000 annually, including:
- airlines
- dining
- office supply stores
- utilities
- cell phone providers
- postal and shipping services
- entertainment
- accounting and tax services
- 10% cash back on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the U.S. Bank Travel Center
- Link to Card
The $1,000 welcome offer requires considerably more spending, but U.S. Bank once again gives cardholders 150 days to complete it. That's an average of about $3,000 per month over five months.
What About the Higher Cash Back Rates?
Both cards advertise the ability to earn more than the standard 2% cash back rate, but the devil is in the details. Earning rates go up as your balance in a qualifying U.S. Bank business checking balance goes up. But what does that mean, and is the juice worth the squeeze?
Business Essentials Card
The Business Essentials Card can earn 2.5% total cash back with $10,000 in qualifying U.S. Bank business checking balances, with the enhanced earning applying to the first $10,000 in eligible purchases each month.
Business Essentials Plus Card
The Business Essentials Plus Card earns 2.5% with qualifying balances between $15,000 and $74,999, 3% with balances between $75,000 and $149,999, and 3.5% with balances of $150,000 or more. The enhanced earning is limited to $200,000 in eligible purchases annually.
For most Travel on Point(s) readers, we wouldn't move large amounts of money into U.S. Bank accounts simply to unlock these rates. There is an opportunity cost to keeping $75,000 or $150,000 in an account that could potentially be earning a larger return elsewhere.
If you already maintain significant business balances with U.S. Bank, that's a different story. But we view the elevated cashback rates as a secondary feature rather than the primary reason to get either card. If you hold the qualifying balances in your account and you can hit the $200,000 spend thresholds each year, the 2.5% bump is $1,000/year extra cash back, the 3.0% is $2,000/year extra, and the 3.5% rate is an extra $3,000/year cash back. Again, be sure to run the numbers to confirm this is worth your while, versus leaving that much cash in a better interest-bearing account.
What About Chase 3/24 & 5/24?
Most business credit cards from major issuers, including U.S. Bank business cards, generally do not appear on your personal credit report after approval as long as the account remains in good standing. That means opening one of the new U.S. Bank business cards generally should not add to your Chase 3/24 or 5/24 count. That makes either or both of these cards great options for anyone looking for a cashback card.
These Aren't Travel Rewards Cards
Both of these new U.S. Bank business cards are purely cashback. You aren't earning Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Points or another currency that can be transferred to airline and hotel partners. But earning $500 or $1,000 in cash is still valuable, particularly when you can do so without adding another account to your 3/24 and 5/24 counts.
Also, U.S. Bank recently added transfer partners to its premium card, the Altitude Reserve (no longer open to new applications). Is it possible that we see a full-blown transferrable currency from U.S. Bank? Also, could we see rewards that are transferrable between multiple U.S. Bank cards and products so cashback becomes lucrative transferrable currencies? It is all possible, but probably not likely. We recommend treating this as purely cashback and being okay with a $500 or $1,000 win!
New U.S. Bank Business Cards: ToP Thoughts
There are two new U.S. Bank business cards, and you can earn a $500 or $1,000 welcome offer with no 3/24 or 5/24 impact. While these are purely cashback cards, they make sense for many of our readers.
For someone who can comfortably meet the $15,000 spending requirement, the Business Essentials Plus is probably going to get most of the attention because of that $1,000 headline offer. For someone with lower business spending, the no-annual-fee Business Essentials offers a much easier $5,000 spending requirement while still putting $500 back in your pocket. If you can spend the $15,000 easily, the Business Essentials Plus welcome offer is $705, after subtracting the annual fee. That beats the more simple Business Essentials welcome offer by over 40%, even before you factor in the greater earning opportunities on the Essentials Plus card.
Do these new U.S. Bank business cards move the needle for you? Come over to our Facebook group and let us know.
