US Bank recently launched Business Essentials Plus, with a $295 annual fee. Right now, you can earn a $1,000 bonus after spending $15,000 within 150 days of account opening. The card’s biggest highlight is up to 3.5% cash back on all purchases, plus an automatic 5% cash back category each month based on your highest-spend eligible category—no need to choose a category in advance. Up to $200,000 in purchases per year can earn 5%. In addition, all other purchases earn 2% cash back, and prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the US Bank Travel Center earn 10% cash back.

This $1,000 welcome bonus is pretty good. Even with the $295 annual fee, you can still net $705 in the first year after subtracting the fee, and you get 150 days to complete the $15,000 spending requirement. I will also add it to our business credit card rankings.

US Bank Business Essentials Plus Business Credit Card Overview

Note: If you are not familiar with business credit cards, I recommend reading this first: Introduction to Business Credit Cards

Apply now

Full review

US Bank Business Essentials Plus

Fully automatic 5% cash back, up to 3.5% on all purchases

  • Welcome bonus: $1,000 (spend $15,000 within 150 days of account opening)
  • Rewards: 10% on prepaid hotels and car rentals through the US Bank Travel Center; automatically earn 5% in your top spending category each month, on up to $200,000 per year; up to 3.5% on all purchases
  • Redemption: Redeem directly for cash
  • Annual fee: $295
  • Apply now>>

Benefit Analysis

  • Automatic 5% cash back on your top spending category each month: US Bank automatically determines which eligible category has your highest spending each month, and that category earns 5% cash back. You do not need to choose or activate a category in advance. Eligible categories include Accounting & Tax Services, airlines, cell phone services, restaurants, entertainment, office supplies, mailing and shipping, and Utilities. The 5% cash back for the Top Category applies to up to $200,000 in purchases per year. For businesses with high spending on office supplies, shipping, cell phone service, utilities, and similar categories, this cap is actually very high. After $200,000, purchases revert to the base 2% cash back rate.
  • 2%-3.5% cash back on all purchases: All eligible purchases earn a baseline 2% cash back. If you maintain a balance in an eligible US Bank Business Checking account, you can increase the cash back rate on ordinary purchases: $15,000 - $74,999 earns 2.5%; $75,000 - $149,999 earns 3%; and $150,000 or more earns 3.5%. This additional bonus applies to up to $200,000 in eligible purchases per year. Education/school purchases, gift cards (including discount gift card sites), and tax payments can only earn the base 2% and are not eligible for the additional Business Essentials Plus Earning Bonus.
  • 10% on Travel Center hotels and car rentals: You can earn 10% cash back when you prepay hotels and car rentals through the US Bank Travel Center and pay with this card. This is a very high rate, but third-party hotel bookings usually do not earn the hotel’s own points or elite benefits, so you should still compare prices before booking.
  • No foreign transaction fee: There is no Foreign Transaction Fee.

My Take

The most eye-catching advertised feature of this card is “up to 3.5% cash back on all purchases.” However, reaching the top tier requires maintaining at least a $150,000 30-day average balance in a designated business checking account, while the extra cash back is only 1.5% above the base 2%. Even if you max out the full $200,000 annual cap, that is only $3,000 more than the base 2%. If you put that $150,000 in a high-yield account earning around 4% APY, the annual interest would be about $6,000, not to mention the $295 annual fee. So if your only goal is to earn 3.5%, I do not think it is worth doing. The exception would be if your business already needs to keep tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars at US Bank as operating cash, in which case the extra cash back is just an easy add-on.

The card’s automatic 5% top monthly spending category is quite good. You do not need a US Bank Checking account, and you do not need to keep any deposits there. Office supplies, shipping, cell phone service, utilities, airlines, and restaurants are all fairly common business expenses. Compared with the base 2%, 5% effectively means an extra 3%. The $295 annual fee divided by 3% means you only need to spend about $9,834 per year in 5% categories to offset the annual fee with the extra cash back, or around $820 per month on average. For users with real business expenses, that threshold is not very high.

Of course, in the first year, the $1,000 welcome bonus minus the $295 annual fee still leaves a net bonus of $705. The only issue is that you need to spend $15,000 within 150 days, which is a relatively high spending requirement and is better suited for people who already have substantial business expenses.

If you do not have much business spending, I actually prefer the no-annual-fee Business Essentials: spend $5,000 to earn $500, and all purchases also earn 2% cash back. If you do have a lot of monthly spending on office supplies, shipping, utilities, or other eligible 5% categories, then this Plus card becomes much more interesting.

Application

  • This is a business credit card. When applying, you will need to provide information related to your company or personal business. If you have not applied for a business credit card before, you can first read Introduction to Business Credit Cards.
  • Applying for this card does not require you to already have US Bank Business Checking.
  • You can check your US Bank application status on the official website or call 800-947-1444 to ask. You can also request expedited credit card approval or reconsideration of a denied application.
  • US Bank is relatively sensitive to hard pulls and new accounts. Having US Bank Checking may help somewhat with getting approved for a credit card.
  • More information about applying for US Bank credit cards

Application Link