Capital One Offers $100 or $300 Bonus for Business Checking, Plus Rewards

BestCashCow has often featured articles on rewards you can get from your personal bank account. However, if you also happen to have a small business, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't get rewards from your small business bank account as well. The Capital One Small Business Rewards Checking account could be a good choice for you for several reasons.

First, this Capital One account allows you to combine rewards between your personal and business Capital One accounts, including credit cards. As we all try to save money and spend less in this economy, this feature becomes even more pertinent because it will take less time to achieve rewards levels through combined account spending. While Capital One does have the disclaimer that it limits one Rewards checking account per customer, you can link personal and business Capital One credit cards for combined rewards.

The Small Business Checking rewards work like this: you'll earn 20 miles for each non-PIN-based transaction, and 10 miles for every debit/PIN purchase. Additionally, you'll earn 20 miles for every online Bill Payment and other pre-authorized reoccurring payment (up to 10 transactions per month), as well as 10 miles for all other customer-initiated withdrawal transactions.

You will also earn a bonus of 1,000 miles when the account is opened and the first transaction is posted to your account, you'll earn another bonus of 1,000 miles after you make your first debit card purchase, and you’ll earn an additional 1,000 miles on your membership anniversary. All bonus miles will be posted to your account within 60 days of the qualifying event.

However, the reward structure is a little tricky if you want to redeem your miles for airline tickets. You'll be able to redeem 15,000 miles for tickets costing up to $150.00; 35,000 miles for tickets costing $150.01 - $350.00; and 60,000 miles for tickets costing $350.01 - $600.00. For tickets costing over $600.00, the required number of miles will be determined by the cost of the ticket times 100. For example, a $768 ticket will cost 76,800 miles. Because of the way this structure works, you would be better off saving your miles for higher-priced tickets (or for tickets that cost very close to the limit for that reward level). For instance, if a ticket only cost $160, you would be better off saving the 35,000 required points until you needed them for a ticket costing $345.

If you prefer not to get airline tickets as your reward, you can redeem your miles for non-travel related merchandise or cash. The number of miles required for non-travel related items varies by item and can change at any time without notice.

In addition to regular reward miles, you can earn either a $100 or a $300 bonus if you open your account before February 29, 2012. To qualify, one online Bill Payment must post to your account by February 29^th. You will receive $100 if your balance is at least $500 after 30 days, or $300 if your balance is at least $3,000 after 30 days. The bonus credit will appear in your account 6-8 weeks after 2/29/2012.

As with many bank products, this isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone. However, if you already have other Capital One products, you travel a lot, and you're in the market for a new Small Business Checking Account, this could be a good match for you.

For the best information on checking accounts, click here.