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Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card review
KEY TAKEAWAYS
With the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card, you can earn 1.5% cash back on everyday purchases and 5% back on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel portal.
What we think: The Capital One Quicksilver card offers an uncomplicated way to earn cash back, but it may not earn as much as some other cards as a result. It’s still a pretty good card overall though, especially if you value simplicity.
This card doesn’t have an annual fee, and the welcome bonus is easy to earn.
A credit score of 750 or higher is recommended when applying for this card.
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a cash-back card with a simple structure that makes it easy to earn rewards. It also includes other perks that are good for your wallet, making it a potentially good credit card choice for those who book car rentals and hotels on a regular basis.
Some other benefits to consider with this card, which are detailed further below, include:
An introductory APR offer on balance transfers and purchases
Lack of annual fee
Capital One cardholder benefits, such as complimentary concierge services or extended warranties
Pros & Cons
Pros
No annual fee
No cap on cash back
Intro APR offer
Cons
Lower welcome bonus than some cards
Lower rewards rate than some cards with specific categories
Earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases and 5% back on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel platform. $0 annual fee.
Is the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card worth it?
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card may be worth it if you have good to excellent credit and want a cash rewards card that lets you earn unlimited cashback on your day-to-day purchases.
This card has no annual fee, which means if you pay off your balance every statement cycle and avoid other fees, the cashback you earn is like money in your pocket.
This Capital One Quicksilver credit card offers the biggest benefits for those who travel regularly and are willing to book hotel and car rentals through Capital One Travel. An easy-to-earn sign-up bonus and some introductory APR offers also make this card a strong financial tool for those looking to balance credit use with savings and plans to pay off debts quickly.
Pros:
Simple, easy cashback rewards program that lets you earn more for some travel spending
Easy-to-earn sign-up bonus
No annual fee
No foreign transaction fees
Access to numerous Capital One perks
Introductory APR offers
Cons:
Excellent credit is recommended for approval
Doesn’t offer variations on earning higher cash rewards
The point of a rewards credit card is to earn extra value when you use it to make purchases. The Quicksilver Cash Rewards card makes it easy to do that, and if you use it to cover regular expenses like your grocery bill, you could end up with a nice bit of extra cash at the end of the year.
Earning rewards
The Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card offers three ways to earn cashback rewards.
The first is a welcome bonus, which is $200. All you have to do to earn this bonus is spend $500 during the first three statement cycles after getting your card. That’s $166.67 in spending each month, which for many people amounts to one or two grocery runs each month or using the Quicksilver credit card to pay for eating out or filling up at the pump during the first 90 days of card ownership.
The Capital One Quicksilver card also offers a stellar rewards rate on travel expenses — as long as you book them via Capital One Travel. You get 5% cash rewards on the money you spend via Capital One’s travel portal to book rental cars or hotels. Say you spend $2,000 in qualified travel bookings in the year. That’s $100 in cash rewards.
Finally, you also get unlimited 1.5% cashback on other purchases. For example, many people use cashback credit cards to pay for groceries, fuel and utility bills they’d already be paying for. They pay those expenses off every month, watching the cashback perks roll in. Imagine you use your card to cover $1,000 in expenses you already pay each month. That’s $180 a year earned just managing your day-to-day finances.
Unlike some other cards, this rewards card doesn’t limit earnings or put expiration dates on redemptions. As long as your account is in good standing and open, you can redeem your cashback. However, if you close your account without redeeming your rewards first, you may lose them. And if your account is closed due to nonpayment or other issues, you also lose your rewards.
Redeeming rewards
You can redeem cash rewards as a statement credit or a check. To do this, you’ll have to make a request via your online account or by calling the customer service number on your credit card. The exception is if you set up automatic redemptions.
In your Capital One mobile app or online portal, you can set rules for automatically redeeming your cashback. You can decide to have all cashback accrued redeemed at a certain point in the year or when your reward amount crosses a minimum threshold.
PayPal account holders may also be able to link their Capital One account to their PayPal account and use rewards to pay for goods via PayPal.
Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card benefits
As a Capital One credit card holder, you also get a number of other benefits and perks not related to cash rewards.
Some of them include:
Extended warranty protection. When you purchase products with your Capital One Quicksilver card, you get the benefit of extra warranty protection. This may extend your protection beyond the standard manufacturer’s warranty without you having to buy an extended warranty at the register.
Concierge services. Call the Capital One concierge hotline as a cardholder to get assistance with travel, entertainment and dining recommendations and bookings.
Travel services and accident insurance. Capital One offers 24-hour services to help you get a replacement card if yours is stolen or lost when you’re traveling. When you purchase travel fare with your card, you also get access to automatic travel coverage if you experience an accident-related loss during the trip.
Capital One Shopping. As a cardholder, you can implement this online tool to help you find the best deals on products and services online.
Capital One Travel portal. You can book travel through Capital One’s portal and have peace of mind about your trip costs. Capital One constantly looks for the best deals and may even retroactively adjust prices to give you a better deal after you book.
Capital One dining and entertainment access. Cardholders get early and VIP access to a number of entertainment and dining opportunities. You may be able to leverage your card to get reservations at a location you would miss out on otherwise.
$0 fraud liability. The Capital One $0 fraud liability policy protects you from being on the hook for fraudulent charges if your card or card number is stolen.
Card lock and CreditWise. The card lock feature lets you lock down your card and numbers in the mobile app to keep others from using it if you believe your card is misplaced. You also get access to CreditWise, which proactively notifies you of changes to your credit report and helps you understand your FICO score.
Help from Eno. Capital One’s digital assistant will notify you of unexpected or odd charges so you can proactively protect your account. You can also use a chat feature to get account updates from Eno quickly.
Fees, rates & limit
The costs of card ownership are as important to consider as the perks.
Fees
This card is fairly competitive when it comes to fees. There’s no annual fee, which means no cost automatically cutting into any reward you’re able to earn.
You also won’t pay foreign transaction fees, which cuts down on the expense associated with international travel or ordering from businesses outside of the country.
If you transfer a balance from another credit card to this one during the first 15 months of card ownership, you will pay a 3% balance transfer fee; then 4% at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer you at any other time. For example, if you transfer $1,000, the fee is $30. Because this card comes with a 0% intro APR on balance transfers, that fee may represent substantial cost savings over the interest you’re paying on another card as long as you can pay the balance transfer off within the first 15 months.
When using your card to take a cash advance from an ATM or other location, you’ll also pay a fee. The fee is $5 or 5% of the cash advance, whatever is greater.
Interest rates
When carrying balances over from statement cycle to statement cycle, you’ll accrue interest.
1
Regular APR.
This card comes with a variable APR of 19.99% to 29.99%, depending on your creditworthiness and other factors. This is the interest associated with any regular purchases made after the initial introductory APR period.
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2
APR for cash advances.
While this is also a variable APR that may change with the market, the base rate is 29.99%.
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3
Introductory APR on purchases.
Qualifying cardholders have a 0% introductory APR on purchases for the first 15 months their account is open. This means you can make purchases on your card and pay them off over 15 months without accruing interest expense.
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4
Introductory APR on balance transfers.
The same introductory rate is offered on balance transfers. For example, you might transfer $2,000 from a credit card with a high interest rate to this card. Then, you can make payments of $133.34 per month over 15 months to pay off the balance without any extra interest expense.
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Capital One is more than just a credit card issuer
The first step in growing and maintaining consistent savings is to understand your personal finances through checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and more.
Capital One bases credit limits on various factors, including the income and credit history of the applicant. In general, the minimum credit limit offered via this card is $750. Individuals with excellent credit histories and the right financial situation may qualify for credit limits as high as $10,000.
As with most other credit cards, you aren’t necessarily stuck with the credit limit you’re initially approved for. Manage your account responsibly, make all payments on time and then reach out in six months to a year to ask whether you can be considered for a credit limit increase.
How the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card compares to other cards
As a basic cash rewards credit card, this card stacks up fairly competitively with contenders. It’s easy to earn and redeem Quicksilver cash rewards, you don’t have to pay an annual fee for the perks and you get a lot of built-in Capital One benefits as a cardholder.
However, if you want to maximize your credit card rewards game, you can find other cards that offer higher rewards. For example, a travel rewards card with bonus category opportunities offers the chance to strategize spending to create hundreds or thousands of dollars in bonus value annually.
Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card vs. Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card from Capital One is another option to consider. It also offers the $200 welcome bonus after you spend $500 in the first three months, doesn’t have an annual fee and includes introductory APR offers.
The Quicksilver card lets you earn 1.5% on everyday purchases and 5% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One’s portal. With the SavorOne Cash Rewards card, you earn 1% on everyday purchases and 3% on dining, grocery store spending (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target), streaming service fees and qualifying entertainment expenses. If you want to maximize cash back but don’t travel a lot, the SavorOne card might be a better choice.
Should I get the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card?
This card may be a good fit for your wallet if you travel regularly, don’t already loyally use another rewards booking program and want to earn cash back when you spend.
There are some rewards cards with better perks, but many of those come with an annual fee. Compare your financial needs and spending habits with the exact rewards and fees associated with each card to choose the best credit card option for you.
If you want to stick with Capital One but aren’t sure if the Capital One Quicksilver card is right for you, check out our other Capital One credit card guides to see if any of these would be a better fit.
Capital One uses a pre-approval screening process, so the initial pre-approval app won’t have a negative impact on your credit score by hitting it with a hard inquiry.
However, it is typically recommended to have a credit score on the upper end of good or excellent to be approved for this card. Note, however, that having good credit doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be approved for this card, as Capital One also considers other factors.
Generally, if you don’t have a score of 750 or higher, you may want to look for a card with lower credit score thresholds recommended for approval.
FAQ: Capital One Quicksilver card
Is the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card a good credit card?
If you have excellent credit and want a card that offers easy cash rewards perks without an annual fee, the Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a good option.
Is the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card a Visa or Mastercard?
Currently, the Quicksilver credit card is being issued by Capital One as a Mastercard. However, previous versions of this card were issued as Visa cards. In either case, the cards are accepted widely by merchants around the world and can be used online easily.
Does the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card have foreign transaction fees?
No, like all Capital One cards, the Quicksilver card does not charge foreign transaction fees.
What is the highest credit limit for the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card?
The highest reported credit limit for this card is $10,000. However, your exact credit limit, if approved, will depend on your credit score and history, income and other outstanding debts.
If you maintain a positive account history, pay your bills on time each month and don’t overrun your current credit limit, you may be able to ask for a credit limit increase after six to 12 months.
Does the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card have rental car insurance?
Yes, if you pay for your rental car booking with your credit card, the card offers automatic car rental insurance. This means you can opt not to purchase the additional insurance with the rental car company. Some limitations do apply, though. You must pay for the entire car rental booking with your credit card, and the booking can’t be for more than 15 days.
Is the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card accepted at Costco?
Sarah Stasik is well versed in personal finance thanks to her previous role as a Revenue Cycle Manager for a Fortune 500 healthcare company. Using her inside knowledge and expertise, Sarah often covers topics ranging from insurance and the economics of private healthcare to personal finance and small business management.
With more than a dozen years of writing experience, Sarah has tackled niches that range from technical advances in fintech to personal budgeting challenges. She has covered topics such as insurance and the economics of private healthcare, small business management and accounting, and credit and savings. Her writing focuses on making complex or seemingly daunting financial topics more accessible and providing helpful and relevant resources for readers.
* Opinions expressed here are those of the LA Times Compare Cards Team and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser or entities included within this content. See our editorial policy for more details.
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