U.S. Bank Launches Two New Business Cards (U.S. Bank Business Essentials & U.S. Bank Business Essentials Plus), $1,000 Bonus & Up To 3.5% On All Purchases

U.S. Bank has launched two new business cards:

• U.S. Bank Business EssentialsTM Visa® Card
• U.S. Bank Business EssentialsTM Plus Visa Signature® Card

Both cards earn 2% cash back on all purchases and increased earn rates depending on your U.S. Bank business checking balance. 

U.S. Bank Business Essentials

• No annual fee
• $500 cash back sign up bonus after you spend $5,000 within the first 150 days
• 0% APR on purchases for the first 12 months
• Card earns 2% cashback on all purchases, 2.5% if you have $10,000 in qualifying balances (on your first $10,000 in spend each month)

U.S. Bank Business Essentials Plus

• $295 annual fee
• $1,000 cash back sign up bonus after you spend $15,000 within 150 days of account opening
• Card earns at the following rates:
  • 5% cash back on your top spend category, up to $200,000 annually. Eligible categories are accounting & tax services, airlines, cell phone service providers, dining, entertainment, office supply stores, postal & shipping services, and utilities
  • 2% cashback on all purchases (up to 3.5% broken based on qualifying balances. Up to $200,000 in spend annually)
    • 2.5% if you have $15,000-$74,999 in qualifying balances
    • 3% if you have $75,000-$149,999 in qualifying balances
    • 3.5% if you have $150,000 in qualifying balances

Balance Requirements

The balance requirements must be in one of the following eligible accounts:

• U.S. Bank Business Essentials®
• U.S. Bank Gold Business Checking
• Gold Business Checking with Interest
• U.S. Bank Platinum Business Checking

All of these accounts earn 0% or close to from what I can tell.

Our Verdict

Interesting products, main issue is that you need to tie up funds and those funds will earn 0% APY while you activate the increased earn rate. If you spent the full $200,000 and earned 3.5% this is an extra $1,000 over the Robinhood gold card that earns a flat 3%. You also need to take into the $295 annual fee and the fact that $150,000 in a 5% account even for one month would earn $625. The sign up bonus on the Essentials Plus is good but again $295 annual fee so a lot of people prefer the Triple Cash with a $750 bonus (& $100 software credit) with no annual fee. The 5% on your top category could put it over the edge for some people and I’m sure there are already some businesses that hold that amount with U.S. Bank already for whatever reason that could benefit. Also could be useful for people completing U.S. Bank business checking bonuses. For a full list of new credit cards launched this year, click here. 

Hat tip to reader Tamis