U.S. Bank launched two small business cards on September 28, and both run on the same idea: a flat 2% on eligible purchases, with a higher rate if you also keep money in a U.S. Bank business checking account.
The U.S. Bank Business Essentials Visa Card has no annual fee. The Business Essentials Plus Visa Signature Card charges $295 and adds a 5% category. The flat-2% business card is a crowded field, so the thing to look at here isn't the headline rate. It's the two conditions attached to the rates above it.
What each card pays
The no-fee Essentials card earns unlimited 2% cash back on eligible business purchases, and up to 2.5% when it's paired with a qualifying balance in a U.S. Bank business checking account. Its welcome offer is $500 after $5,000 of spend in the first 150 days, and it comes with 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 billing cycles.
The $295 Plus card earns the same unlimited 2%, and up to 3.5% paired with a qualifying checking balance. On top of that it pays 5% on your business's top spend category, applied automatically, capped at $200,000 of spend a year. Its welcome offer is $1,000 after $15,000 of spend in the first 150 days, and it has no intro APR offer.
Both rates above 2% depend on that checking balance, and U.S. Bank's comparison page sets the bar. The Essentials needs a $10,000 qualifying balance, and its extra 0.5% applies only to the first $10,000 of eligible purchases each billing cycle. The Plus pays 2.5% at $15,000 to $74,999, 3% at $75,000 to $149,999 and 3.5% at $150,000 or more, on up to $200,000 of eligible purchases a year. The balance is a 30-day average across qualifying U.S. Bank business checking accounts, and a rate you can only reach by parking cash there costs whatever that money would have earned elsewhere.
The 5% category is the real decision
The 5% goes to your top category automatically, but only from a set list. U.S. Bank's page names accounting and tax services, airlines, cell phone service providers, dining, entertainment, office supply stores, postal and shipping services, and utilities, and says the categories may change without notice. With a $200,000 annual ceiling, it's built for a business whose spending is lumpy and concentrated in one of those.
That's the shape of business worth running the numbers on: one that pours most of its card spend into a single place, like an online seller paying for shipping or a consulting firm buying airfare. Building materials and advertising aren't among the listed categories, so a contractor or an agency earns the card's regular rate on that spend. If your spend is spread evenly across six categories, the 5% does much less and you're paying $295 for a 2% card.
The 150-day window on both welcome offers gives a business with uneven months more time to hit the spend.
How it compares to what you might hold
Against the flat-2% cards businesses already carry, these two compete on the checking relationship rather than on the base rate. If your business banking is already at U.S. Bank, the boosted rates are reachable without moving anything. If it isn't, you're being asked to move your operating account to earn them.
If a 0% intro period matters more to you than rewards, our Business Shield Visa review covers U.S. Bank's intro-APR card, and our best business cards comparison covers the points-earning alternatives from Amex and Chase.
Courtney Kelso, U.S. Bank's senior executive vice president of payments, consumer and small business, put the pitch this way: "Small business owners employ over 61 million Americans and contribute to nearly half of our nation's GDP; they deserve financial products that reward their ambition and empower them to succeed."
Which one, if either
Take the no-fee Essentials if you want a simple 2% card and the $500 welcome offer, and treat the 2.5% as a bonus you'll reach only if your banking is already there.
Take the Plus if your business spends heavily in one of the eligible 5% categories and you can see it clearing enough to cover $295 before the 5% is even counted. If your spending is flat and spread out, neither card beats the flat-2% card you probably already have, and the welcome offer is the only reason to move.
Sources
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