Review of the Wells Fargo Business Card Rewards Program

For small business owners, the prospect of earning lucrative rewards for business spending as usual can certainly be an exciting one. And with good reason—with all of the investing you’re doing in your business, earning as you invest can be a game changer.

That said, it’s crucial to not get caught up in the excitement of it all—you’ll have a lot of business credit card rewards programs to wade through, and you’ll want to get an idea of all your options in order to choose which will be the very best for you and your business. One option you might be considering is the Wells Fargo business card rewards program.

How does it stack up against all of your top options?

Here’s your ultimate review of Wells Fargo business card rewards to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your business spending:

Don’t have the time to read all of the details of this Wells Fargo business card rewards program review? We’ve compiled the fundamentals right here.

To start, as far as the business rewards programs go, the Wells Fargo business card rewards program is, well, fine. It’s not particularly stingy, but it’s also not particularly generous. All in all, if you choose points over cash back from your Wells Fargo business credit card, you’ll be able to access flat-rate, unlimited rewards points at 1 point per dollar spent. Plus, you’ll be able to get a bonus 1,000 points for every month that you spend over $1,000. And this is a, well, fine deal when it comes to rewards points.

Depending on what you redeem them for, Wells Fargo business rewards points will likely end up being worth somewhere around 1 cent per point, and you’ll be able to redeem them for a variety of things like gift cards, travel, or technology purchases.

Like we said, this rewards program is fine. However, if you’re looking for a business card rewards program that’s more lucrative than the Wells Fargo business card rewards program, then we suggest considering Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership rewards, both for their cards with higher rewards rates and for the higher worth that their rewards points carry.

First thing’s first, you probably want the details on just how you can get the points that will let you participate in the Wells Fargo business card rewards program.

Well, there’s a simple, preliminary answer to that—you spend with a Wells Fargo business credit card. But you’re here for the details, so let’s cover what rewards rates the Wells Fargo business credit cards can offer you.

Whether you’re doing your business spending on the Wells Fargo Business Platinum Credit Card or the Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card, you’ll have the following rewards rate options:

• Either 1.5% cash back for every dollar you spend
• Or 1 reward point for every dollar you spend

Plus, if you choose to earn rewards in the form of rewards points, you’ll earn the following additional perks through both of the Wells Fargo business credit cards:

• 1,000 rewards points for every month that you spend over $1,000 with your card
• 10% rewards points bonus if you redeem your points online

As you can see, the Wells Fargo business card rewards can roll in abundantly as you invest in your business with one of their business credit cards.

All that said, we also need to take a look at how valuable each Wells Fargo business card rewards point can be. After all, even if you accumulate tons of points, they’re of no help to your business if they’re worth very little.

Luckily, Wells Fargo business card rewards points can be redeemed for many different things.^[1] From travel to gift cards to new laptops, your redemption choices will be many if you decide to earn for your business spending through the Wells Fargo business cards rewards program.

That said, Wells Fargo business card rewards points aren’t particularly valuable when it comes to redeeming the many goods you’ll be able to choose from. Though, like any other rewards points, Wells Fargo business card rewards points will fluctuate in worth depending on what you redeem them for—it’s very hard to redeem them in such a way that they end up being worth more than a cent per point.

If you want to eek the most worth possible out of your Wells Fargo business card rewards points, then your best bet will be redeeming them for travel. That said, even then, it will be pretty difficult to get your points to be worth much more than a cent per point.

If you’re looking for a business rewards program that lends some of the highest values to the points you earn for your business spending, look no further than Chase Ultimate Rewards. Through this program you’ll be able to access top-of-the-line travel rewards for the points you earn with your Chase card. And those points will come in droves—most Chase cards, especially their Ink Business credit cards—will have you earning rewards at high rates for your business spending.

Even better?

When you redeem these points through Chase’s portal, they will be worth 25% more, which makes them worth 1.25 cents to the point. This might not seem like much, but that extra .25 really starts to add up value when you go to redeem your points.

Want to know just how much you could be earning through Chase Ultimate Rewards? Let’s take a look at this rewards program in practice:

Want to milk the Chase Ultimate Rewards program for all its worth?

Then the Chase Ink Business Preferred could be your very best bet for getting the most out of your business spending.

How so?

Well, for one, the Ink Preferred comes with perhaps the most generous welcome bonus available on the market. When you spend $4,500 during your first three months with the card, you’ll earn a whopping 80,000 bonus points.

When redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards, these bonus points can end up getting you $1,000 worth of free travel. Granted, the bonus that Wells Fargo business card rewards will come with will be slightly easier to access—with a $1,000 monthly spending threshold—and more sustained—with a monthly roll in rather than a one-off bonus.

That said, you’d have to access the Wells Fargo monthly bonus 100 times in order to access the worth of the Ink Preferred’s welcome bonus. That’s right—it would take you more than eight years (at the very least) to get the kind of bonus value from a Wells Fargo monthly bonus that would take three months to pull off with the Ink Preferred’s welcome bonus.

Plus, the rewards don’t even end with the welcome bonus with the Ink Preferred—you’ll still have access to sustained rewards that measure up to the one-off welcome sum. When you do your business spending on your Ink Preferred, you’ll gain rewards at the following rates:

• 3x points for the first $150,000 you spend annually within the following categories:
  • Travel
  • Shipping purchases
  • Advertising purchases made with search engines and social media sites
  • Internet, cable, and phone services
• 1x point for every dollar you spend beyond that cap and outside of those categories

All those perks aside, it’s crucial to note one major downside that the Ink Preferred comes with—you’ll have to pay a $95 annual fee to access the rewards it offers. Still, considering the high-value, plentiful rewards that Chase Ultimate Rewards can offer your business, it’s likely that even with its annual fee, the Ink Preferred can offer up even more value than the no-fee Wells Fargo business card rewards.

On the other hand, if you want a business rewards program that’s equally as versatile as the Wells Fargo business card reward program yet far more generous when doling out rewards points, then consider American Express Membership Rewards.

Through this program, you can redeem your rewards points at a rate of anywhere from 0.5 to 1 cent per point, and they can go toward a wide variety of goods and services like travel, gift cards, and technology purchases.

I know what you’re probably thinking—this sounds a lot like the Wells Fargo business card rewards program. Well, you’re right. But with that said, American Express Membership Rewards stand out in how many you’ll be able to get your hands on—Amex business cards are ultimately more generous in their rewards rates than Wells Fargo business cards.

Let’s see what these Amex rewards rates look like in practice:

Thinking you want to take advantage of the perks that American Express Membership Rewards offer?

We suggest you look into the American Express Business Gold Card. This card offers some of the most generous and flexible rewards rates on the market. When you spend with your Amex Business Gold card, you’ll gain access to rewards at the following rates:

• 4x points for every dollar you spend in the two categories that you spend the most in every month, for up to $150,000 in purchases a year:
  • Airfare purchased directly from airlines
  • Purchases at gas stations in the U.S.
  • Restaurants in the US
  • Purchases for print advertising in select media in the U.S.
  • Purchases for shipping in the U.S.
  • Purchases for computer hardware and software in the U.S.

Sounds pretty nice, right? Again, this card does come with a major caveat—an annual fee of $295. Now, don’t get us wrong, we know that number is easy to balk at. But, odds are, if you’re able to swing this annual fee, the rewards you access with the Business Gold Card will be more than worth it.

Now that you’ve combed through this review of the Wells Fargo business card rewards program, along with the run-through of its top alternatives, you’re in a position to ask and answer, “Are Wells Fargo business card rewards right for you?”

As the one who knows your small business’s finances better than anyone, you’re the only one who can know the answer to this question. But if you want our advice, we’d suggest you find a business rewards program that will: a) dole out rewards points generously, b) let you redeem them for what your business truly needs, and c) let you redeem the rewards points at a high cent-per-point value.