Ink Business Premier Card vs. Amex Business Platinum Card [Detailed Comparison]

If you’re taking the time to read this article, chances are you’re a business owner who understands the value of a business credit card for managing your business operation. You probably already know the value of keeping personal and business purchases separated, managing the purchases of your employees, and simplifying accounting at tax time.

But selecting the right business credit card for your specific operation can take some research.

Our comparison today looks at 2 excellent business credit card choices: the Ink Business Premier^® Credit Card and The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express.

Both cards can help you manage your business operations, but since the cards have different earning structures, redemption options, and additional protections and benefits, one may fit your business situation better than the other.

All of the factors that can influence your card decision deserve a closer look, and that’s what we’ve prepared for you today. Here’s how the cards compare.

Ink Business Premier Card vs. Amex Business Platinum Card — Overview

We’ll get into the details of the individual benefits of the Ink Business Premier card and Amex Business Platinum card shortly, but first, let’s look at a high-level comparison of our featured cards.

Note that some benefits requirement enrollment so be sure to check your account portal to get the most out of your card’s benefits.

The Value of a Welcome Offer

Immediately after you’re approved for either the Ink Business Premier card or the Amex Business Platinum card, you’ll have an opportunity to earn a welcome bonus. Just meet the specific minimum spending requirement within the allotted period and you’ll jumpstart your rewards earning.

Here are the current welcome offers for each card.

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 170,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum. The current public offer is 150,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

Bottom Line: Both the Ink Business Premier card and Amex Business Platinum card have welcome bonuses you can earn after card approval. These welcome bonus offers fluctuate but you can count on earning a significant amount of rewards after meeting minimum spending requirements in the specified period following card approval.

Earning and Redemption Options

The Ink Business Premier card is marketed as a cash-back earning card but earns rewards initially in the form of points that can be redeemed for cash-back. The Amex Business Platinum card earns flexible Membership Rewards points.

Earning levels differ for each card depending on the spending category and the amount of the purchase.

Let’s review how you can expect to earn rewards on either of our featured cards.

Earning

Regardless of the size of your business, earning rewards on every purchase your business makes can bring value to your bottom line.

Both the Ink Business Premier card and Amex Business Platinum card earn well on travel via each card’s proprietary travel portal, have bonus earnings for purchases of $5,000 or more, and offer flat-rate earnings on all other purchases.

Here’s how you’ll earn rewards on each card:

If your business makes a lot of large purchases, earning 2.5% cash-back with the Ink Business Premier card can be beneficial, plus you’ll also earn 2% cash-back on all other purchases. In the earnings category, the Ink Business Premier card appears to be the best card overall.

The Amex Business Platinum earns 1.5x points on key business categories. These categories include U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, software and cloud system providers, and shipping providers.

Yet earnings are just one factor to consider when determining the value of a card. Let’s continue to look at redemption options and benefits for the whole picture.

Bottom Line: Both the Ink Business Premier card and Amex Business Platinum card earn well on travel purchased via their respective travel portals. The Ink Business Premier card has much greater earnings on purchases of $5,000 or more and on all other purchases. 

Redemption Options

Once you’ve accumulated a sufficient amount of rewards, you’ll be interested in your options at redemption time.

The Ink Business Premier card offers options that result in 1 cent in value per point. However, the Amex Business Platinum card offers options that can result in significantly more value.

Here are your choices when it’s time to redeem your rewards:

While the Ink Business Premier card has a better earning structure, the Amex Business Platinum card earns flexible rewards that can be redeemed for potentially greater value.

To illustrate, let’s assume you were to spend $50,000 on everyday business purchases with the Ink Business Premier card. With all purchases under $5,000 each, you would earn $1,000 in value. That same $50,000 in purchases on the Amex Business Platinum card would earn 50,000 Membership Rewards points that could potentially be redeemed for $1,100 in value (assuming a 2.2 cent value for each point).

The card that is better for you will depend on which is more important to your business — cash-back or travel.

Still, earning and redemption options don’t entirely illustrate the value of each card to your business. Protections and benefits can offer additional value that may be important to you.

Bottom Line: The Ink Business Premier card has limited flat-rate redemption options. The Amex Business Platinum card earns flexible rewards that can be redeemed for flights or transferred to airline and hotel partners for greater potential value. You’ll receive a 35% rebate when redeeming points for qualifying flights via AmexTravel.com. 

Travel Protections and Benefits

Travel protections can provide assistance when things go wrong during your trip and offer peace of mind that you’ll have coverage for additional expenses. Travel benefits can make your trip more comfortable with elite-style benefits, providing credits for purchasing expedited airport security and offsetting the cost of travel in general.

We’ll expand on the details shortly, but first let’s look at a summary of the travel protections and benefits you’ll find on the Ink Business Premier card and the Amex Business Platinum card:

There are certain protections and benefits that you’ll find on both the Ink Business Premier card and the Amex Business Platinum card. Here are the key benefits both cards have in common.

• Car Rental Insurance — Use either of our featured cards to reserve and pay for your car rental, decline the rental agency’s CDW/LDW coverage, and receive coverage for theft and damage. The Ink Business Premier card comes with primary car rental insurance for business rentals and rentals outside the U.S., which means you do not have to file a claim with any other applicable insurance before card coverage kicks in. The Amex Business Platinum card comes with secondary coverage, requiring you to file a claim first with any other insurance that may apply. However, you can purchase Premium Protection for 1 low fee (as low as $12.25) that covers the entire rental period of up to 42 consecutive days.
• Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption Insurance — Pay for your trip with your Ink Business Premier card and receive up to $5,000 reimbursement per covered trip for eligible prepaid non-refundable expenses when your trip needs to be canceled or is interrupted due to a covered reason. Pay for the entire cost of the trip transportation with your Amex Business Platinum card and you could receive up to $10,000 per covered trip, up to $20,000 per card per 12-month period.
• Trip Delay Coverage — Pay for a portion of your trip with your Ink Business Premier card and if your trip is delayed more than 12 hours or overnight you could receive up to $500 per trip. With the Amex Business Platinum card, pay for your entire trip with your card and if your trip is delayed 6 hours or more, you could receive up to $500 per trip, with a limit of 2 claims per 12-month period.
• Concierge Service — If you need assistance booking a hard-to-secure restaurant reservation, finding the perfect last-minute gift, or even arranging transportation, the Ink Business Premier card Visa Signature Concierge or the Amex Business Platinum card Concierge may be able to help (available via the Global Premium Assist Hotline).
• No Foreign Transaction Fees — Both of our featured cards travel well with neither charging foreign transaction fees

In addition to the above protections and benefits, each of our featured cards has its own unique set of benefits.

Ink Business Premier Card

• Roadside Assistance — With Roadside Dispatch you can receive help 24/7 and pay just 1 low price for a service call that can include limited towing, standard winching, lockout service, tire changing of an inflated spare, emergency fuel, and jumpstart service.
• Rental Car Program Benefits — Receive up to a 25% discount on Avis and Budget, waived additional driver fees, a 15% discount on Audi on demand, and more.
• Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection Benefits — Enjoy daily breakfast for 2, an upgraded room when available, free Wi-Fi, early check-in/late checkout when available, and a unique on-site amenity with every stay.

Amex Business Platinum Card

• Worldwide Airport Lounge Access — Enjoy complimentary access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, including prestigious Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, Delta Sky Clubs (when flying Delta), select Lufthansa Lounges (when flying Lufthansa Group), and more.
• Airline Incidentals Credit — Receive up to $200 in statement credits each calendar year when you charge airline incidental fees to your card.
• CLEAR Plus Credit — Pay for your CLEAR Plus application or renewal fee with your card and receive reimbursement of up to $189 as a statement credit.
• 35% Rebate for Pay With Points Flights — Book a flight with your preselected airline or any premium economy, business, or first-class fare with any airline, pay with Membership Rewards points, and receive a 35% point rebate. The maximum rebate amount is 1,000,000 points per year.
• Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection Benefits — Receive up to $200 in statement credits and elite-style benefits such as complimentary breakfast, onsite amenities, upgraded room when available, early check-in/late checkout, and more when you book a qualifying stay.
• Hotel Program Elite Status — Enjoy Gold status with Hilton Honors and Gold Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty programs. Registration is required.
• Car Rental Program Benefits —  Receive discounts, perks, and status with Avis, Hertz, and National.
• Premium Global Assist Hotline — The hotline offers assistance 24/7 when your trip is disrupted. Receive help arranging emergency transportation, medical and legal referrals, or assistance replacing a lost passport. Premium benefits also include valuable emergency medical evacuation coverage.

Bottom Line: The Amex Business Platinum card has considerably more travel protections and benefits than the Ink Business Premier card, although the card does charge a higher annual fee. However, worldwide lounge access plus hundreds of dollars in statement credits for airline incidental fees, CLEAR membership credits, hotel statement credits, and points rebates could add enough value to offset that fee. 

Shopping Protections and Benefits

Shopping protections can help if an eligible item you purchase with your card becomes damaged or is stolen. Shopping benefits can save you money or offer greater reward-earning opportunities on purchases you make with your card.

Here are the shopping protections and benefits you’ll find on both the Ink Business Premier card and the Amex Business Platinum card:

• Cell Phone Protection — Pay your monthly cell phone bill, and those of your employees, with your card and receive protection for damage or theft. With the Ink Business Premier card, coverage is limited to $1,000 per claim, a limit of 3 claims per 12-month period, and each claim is subject to a $100 deductible. With the Amex Business Platinum card, you could receive up to $800 per claim with a limit of 2 claims per 12-month period. Each claim is subject to a $50 deductible.
• Purchase Protection — Eligible items purchased with either card receive coverage for damage or theft for 120 days from the purchase date. Coverage is limited to $10,000 per item, up to $50,000 per account.
• Extended Warranty — Eligible items purchased with either of our featured cards may qualify for extended warranty protection. The Ink Business Premier card extends warranties for 1 additional year for eligible items that have manufacturer’s warranties of 3 years or less. The Amex Business Platinum card provides an additional 2 years for items with U.S. manufacturer’s warranties of 5 years or less.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees — Both of our featured cards travel well as neither charges foreign transaction fees.

In addition to the above shopping protections and benefits, each card offers its own select shopping perks:

Ink Business Premier Card

• Chase Offers — Login to your online Chase card account, select your desired Chase Offers, and earn additional cash-back on purchases made with specific retailers and service providers.
• Shop through Chase — Before shopping online, you’ll want to visit Shop through Chase for extra rewards-earning offers.

Amex Business Platinum Card

• Return Protection — If an eligible item purchased with your card is not accepted for return by the selling merchant within 90 days of the purchase date, you could receive up to $300 per item, up to $1,000 per year.
• Dell Credits — Receive up to $200 in statement credits for the period from January through June and an additional $200 from July through December in statement credits for purchases with Dell Technologies.

Hot Tip: Since Dell is an electronics retailer, you could earn 1.5x points on Dell purchases as well as receive a statement credit for up to $200 each year, as noted above. 

• Indeed Credit — Receive up to $90 each quarter in statement credits, up to $360 each year, when you use your card for purchases with the employment website Indeed.
• Adobe Credit — Use your card for an eligible purchase or subscription and receive up to $150 each year in statement credits. Enrollment is required.
• $120 Annual Wireless Credit — Each month you can receive up to $10 in statement credits when you make a payment on your U.S. wireless provider phone bill with your card.
• Amex Offers — Login to your online card account, scroll down, and select offers to add to your card from up to 100 retailers and service providers. You’ll earn extra Membership Rewards points or statement credits for select purchases.
• No Preset Spending Limit* — It can be helpful in months of low cash flow to utilize the benefit of not having a preset spending limit on your card.

Annual Fees and Authorized Users

The Ink Business Premier card charges an annual fee of $195, while the Amex Business Platinum card charges a $695 annual fee (rates & fees).

There is no cost to add authorized users to your Ink Business Premier card. Additional users receive their own card and share in travel benefits including cell phone protection when their bill is paid for with the card.

The Amex Business Platinum card charges $350 for each authorized Amex Business Platinum card user (rates & fees). The additional user will receive their own card, worldwide lounge access, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee reimbursement, and hotel and car rental elite status benefits. Additionally, you can add Gold card authorized users for $45 each, and Green card authorized users at no charge (rates & fees).

Final Thoughts

If premium travel benefits are not a priority and cash-back works better for your business, the Ink Business Premier card could be a decent choice.

If your business involves travel, even occasional travel, you may find greater value with the Amex Business Platinum card. We like the idea of earning flexible rewards that can give you options at redemption time and have the opportunity for potentially greater value than a fixed rate of just 1 cent each.

The value of protections and benefits is also a factor in comparing these featured cards, as the Amex Business Platinum card offers a better collection that includes worldwide lounge access, hundreds of dollars in statement credits, and hotel and car rental elite benefits and discounts. You will, however, pay a higher annual fee for the card.

Deciding between the 2 cards should not be difficult as earning, redemption, and benefit offerings for each card are so different. The better card for your business can easily be based on your preferences and which one delivers more bottom-line value.

*No Preset Spending Limit means your spending limit is flexible. Unlike a traditional card with a set limit, the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history. 

For the car rental collision damage coverage benefit of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car rental loss or damage coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

For the trip cancellation and interruption insurance and trip delay insurance benefits of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

For the baggage insurance plan benefit of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. For the extended warranty and purchase protection benefit of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

For the cell phone protection benefit of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. For the return protection benefit of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

For the Premium Global Assist Hotline benefit of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. If approved and coordinated by Premium Global Assist Hotline, emergency medical transportation assistance may be provided at no cost. In any other circumstance, card members may be responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.