Chase's Ink Business Unlimited is perfect if you're a small-business owner who wants to earn both cash back and travel rewards, and it has no annual fee

• If you're a small-business owner looking for a good credit card with no annual fee, the Ink Business Unlimited Card is a great choice.
• It earns you 1.5% on every purchase, and you can redeem you rewards as cash-back statement credits on your account.
• If you're interesting in using rewards to cover travel, you can pair the Ink Business Unlimited with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or another card that earns Ultimate Rewards points, and then transfer your rewards to travel partners like Hyatt and United.
• The Ink Business Unlimited also offers some helpful protections, including primary rental car insurance and purchase protection.

Business owners have a lot to think about when it comes to how they manage their finances. To streamline and easily monitor company expenses, it's best to separate them from personal expenses.

For business owners who prefer earning cash back to travel rewards points, the Ink Business Unlimited is a great option. It's a simple card with no fee and some solid benefits.

Read more: The best small business credit cards to open now

Ink Business Unlimited card details

Annual fee: $0

Sign-up bonus: $500 bonus cash back after you spend $3,000 in the first three months

Cash-back earning: 1.5% back on every purchase you make

Foreign transaction fee: 3%

Sign-up bonus and cash-back earning

With the Ink Business Unlimited card, you can earn $500 cash back as a sign-up bonus if you spend $3,000 within the first three months of opening the account.

You can also earn 1.5% unlimited cash back on all your purchases for your business.

Read more: The best cash-back credit cards

Annual fee and other charges

The Ink Business Unlimited doesn't have an annual fee, which makes it great for startup business that are looking to minimize expenses.

Currently, there's a 0% APR on purchases for the first 12 months from opening the account, and a 15.24% to 21.24% variable APR after that.

You can also request extra cards for your employees at no additional cost.

Read more: The best no-annual-fee credit cards to open now

Ink Business Unlimited travel benefits

Chase offers primary car rental insurance if you rent a car using your Ink Business Unlimited card. This means you can decline the coverage offered for an extra fee by the rental car company. You just need to be renting a car for a business purpose for this coverage to be valid.

As a cardholder you'll also have travel and emergency assistance in case anything comes up during travel. While you will have to cover the cost of any emergency assistance, a Chase benefit administrator can help you navigate the process of getting help during an unexpected event.

Finally, the Ink Business Unlimited offers roadside dispatch services. As with the emergency assistance services, you'll be responsible for covering the cost of any services, but Chase can help you arrange booking them.

Redeeming your Ink Business Unlimited rewards

Even though this card is primarily for those who prefer cash back, Chase provides more than one way for cardholders to redeem their earned rewards.

Cash back

The most straightforward way to redeem your rewards is in the form of cash, meaning a statement credit or money deposited into your bank account. Since the Ink Business Unlimited card offers 1.5% back on every purchase, you're getting 1.5 cents back for every dollar you spend.

Travel

For those of you who want the option to use your rewards toward travel benefits, the Ink Business Unlimited card allows you to have the best of both worlds.

While it's technically a cash-back card, through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can use your rewards from the Ink Business Unlimited to book travel expenses such as airfare (without any blackout dates), rental cars, and hotels.

To do this, you need to have another Chase card in addition to the Ink Business Unlimited - one that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points. Options include the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.

If you have one of these cards, you can move the cash-back rewards from your Ink Business Unlimited over to your Ultimate Rewards-earning account, then redeem the rewards as points for travel directly with Chase, or with transfer partners like United, British Airways, Hyatt, and Virgin Atlantic.

Read more: How to turn cash back into Ultimate Rewards points with Chase cards

Gift cards

Chase gives you the option to redeem your rewards toward gift cards with more than 150 brands.

Apple Ultimate Rewards store

You can choose to use your rewards toward Apple technology purchases, but you'll get less than 1 cent per point with this redemption option.

Purchase protection

Your purchases will be covered for 120 days and up to $10,000 per claim for damage or theft, and up to $50,000 per account.

You'll also be able to extended a manufacturer's warranty by one year on items purchased with your Ink Business Unlimited. This warranty extension is only applicable to manufacturer warranties of three years or less.

Benefits for your business

Using the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card for your business purchases does more than just separate personal and company-related expenses. It can also help you keep better track of your business finances - this make things easier when it's time for tax season.

Having this card can help build your credit as you build your business. It also provides insight into your spending patterns, and you can check in on your balances and spending 24/7. You can view account details, get quarterly reports, and access your monthly statements anytime you want.

The Ink Business Unlimited also offers its cardholders account protection in the form of alerts to you so you can easily monitor the activity on your account and identify any possible fraud. You get to choose the alerts you want to get and how you want to receive them.

Bottom line

The Ink Business Unlimited is a great option for business owners who want to keep their rewards simple. It has a flat cash-back rate of 1.5% on all purchases, and if you decide to dip your toe into travel rewards, you can pair it with another Chase card to start redeeming Ultimate Rewards points.

I personally have this card and have found it to be greatly valuable in separating and organizing my business finances for tax and accounting purposes. Plus, the bonus cash back has made a difference in my cash flow. It's like getting a discount on everything you buy for your business, without an annual fee.

Click here to learn more about the Ink Business Unlimited from our partner The Points Guy.