When a bank sends an email about your credit card benefits, you should be able to assume the information is correct.
That sounds obvious. But Chase’s latest Ink card email mistake shows why legacy cardholders don’t always have that luxury.
The issue involved the old Chase Ink Plus card. According to View From The Wing, Chase sent an email suggesting that the card’s 5X earning at office supply stores was going away. Chase later confirmed the email was wrong and that the 5X category wasn’t ending.
That was a relief for people who still have the card.
But it also explains why legacy cardholders get nervous whenever a bank sends out a confusing benefit notice.
Why The Ink Plus Still Matters
The Ink Plus hasn’t been available to new applicants for years, so it would be easy to dismiss this as a niche issue.
But that misses the point of why people still care about it.
As Frequent Miler explains, the Ink Plus was similar to today’s Ink Business Cash, with two key differences: it had a $95 annual fee, but it also allowed up to $50,000 per cardmember year in 5X bonus-category spending.
The current Ink Business Cash earns 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.
That’s a major difference.
At 5X, a $25,000 cap means up to 125,000 Ultimate Rewards points. A $50,000 cap means up to 250,000 points.
For people who maximize those categories, that higher cap may be the entire reason they still keep the card.
Chase Has Had Ink Email Problems Before
This isn’t the first time a Chase Ink email has created confusion.
Back in May 2025, I wrote about a strange email Chase sent regarding my Ink Business Cash card. That email listed bonus categories that didn’t match the current Ink Business Cash. In that case, it looked like Chase may have been referencing an older Ink Cash product with different earning categories.
This latest Ink Plus situation appears to be different. It wasn’t necessarily Chase confusing one Ink card with another. It seems more like an incorrect email about a valuable legacy card benefit.
But from a cardholder’s perspective, the result is similar: Chase sent information that made people wonder whether a valuable benefit was being phased out.
Why Legacy Cardholders React Differently
When a current card loses a benefit, it’s frustrating. But at least there may be other options.
Legacy cards are different.
If you still have an older card that’s no longer available to new applicants, you may not be able to get it back if you close it or product change away from it. That makes every benefit notice feel more important. The appeal of some legacy cards isn’t just that they’re old. It’s possible that they may have benefit structures, earning caps or quirks that are better than what’s available today.
So when Chase sends an email suggesting a major part of that value is changing, people are going to notice.
Final Thought
This doesn’t mean every strange Chase email is wrong. Banks change credit card benefits all the time, and cardholders should take those notices seriously.
But Chase has now had more than one confusing Ink-related email, and those mistakes hit differently when they involve legacy products.
The Ink Plus 5X category isn’t going away, at least according to Chase’s clarification. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that cardholders had to worry about it in the first place.
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