U.S. Bank introduced two new small business credit cards on September 28, 2026: the U.S. Bank Business Essentials Visa and the U.S. Bank Business Essentials Plus Visa Signature. Both are cash back cards built around a flat base rate that grows with a business checking relationship.
Business Essentials
- $0 annual fee
- 2% cash back on every purchase, with no cap
- Up to 2.5% total cash back when paired with qualifying balances in a U.S. Bank business checking account
- $500 bonus after $5,000 in purchases within 150 days of account opening
- 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 billing cycles
Business Essentials Plus
- $295 annual fee
- 2% cash back on every purchase
- 5% cash back automatically on the card's top spending category each year, on up to $200,000 in that category, then 2%
- Up to 3.5% total cash back with qualifying business checking balances
- $1,000 bonus after $15,000 in purchases within 150 days
Other features
Both cards include U.S. Bank's Spend Management tools for receipt capture, card controls and accounting software integration, plus ExtendPay for splitting purchases into installments. U.S. Bank announced the cards alongside a new marketing campaign with Jessica Alba as its small business spokesperson.
The relationship tiers mean the headline 3.5% rate depends on keeping money in a U.S. Bank business checking account. Without that, both cards earn a flat 2%, and the Plus card's value rests on the automatic 5% top category.