Capital One Quicksilver review: Earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase made

CAPITAL ONE QUICKSILVER BENEFITS

Rotating categories in some cash-back credit cards can seem like you're playing a game of roulette. One month you could be at the movies flicking kernels of popcorn into your mouth with a smile on your face knowing you’re getting 5% back on purchases at the theater, but next month it's only at home improvement stores you can earn those cash-back incentives. What are you going to do at a home improvement store? You can barely handle changing a light bulb.

With the CardName it doesn't matter where your purchases take you. You automatically earn 1.5% cash back on all your purchases, anywhere. And that cash back won't expire for the life of the account. That means you're good for milking some cash back from the movie theaters and, if you’re feeling brave enough, the home improvement store as well.

The CardName best features include:

• A consistent 1.5% cash back on all your purchases, plus, cardholders can earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options (terms apply).
• A one-time $200 bonus after spending $500 within your first three months.
• Enjoy up to six months of complimentary Uber One membership statement credits through 11/14/2024.
• Intro 0% APR for 15 months – you won't pay interest on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months. Then, RegAPR after that. A 3% fee applies on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months.
• No foreign transaction fees. (More on this below.)
• Complimentary concierge service, ready to help you around the clock.

FEATURED CARD

 

Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card

• No fees whatsoever. No late fee, foreign transaction fee, annual fee, or any-other-kind-of-fee, fee.
• Variable APRs range from 17.74% - 31.74%
• Up to 1.5% cash back on eligible purchases after making 12 on-time monthly payments.
• 1% cash back on eligible purchases right away
• 2% - 10% cash back at select merchants
• $300 - $10,000 credit limits
• No credit score? No problem. If eligible, we'll create your Cash Score instead.
• See if you're pre-approved within minutes without impacting your credit score.
• Build credit alongside hundreds of thousands of Petal card members.
• Petal reports to all 3 major credit bureaus.
• No deposits required
• Card issued by WebBank

Apply Now

See Rates and Fees

Credit Needed:

Excellent, Good, Limited History, No History, Limited, No Credit

WHAT OUR EDITORS LIKE MOST ABOUT THE CardName

The CardName is good for earning consistent 1.5% cash back without registering for quarterly promotions, which means it’s also your best bet if your purchasing habits don't fall into predictable patterns.

Because Capital One has reserved this version of its credit card for those with excellent credit, the bank can afford to load this account up with special benefits that stack up nicely against cards with annual fees and higher APRs. The CardName gives you a full slate of cardholder privileges.

CAPITAL ONE QUICKSILVER FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEE

We have a hunger for "free" and the CardName has plenty to feed that hunger. Not only does the card feature a $0 annual fee, there is no fee on all foreign transactions. This benefit should not be overlooked, as it is rare for a cash rewards card not to charge a foreign transaction fee. Many cash back cards charge an average of 3% on each foreign transaction made. With a modest 1.5% cash back reward rate, the $0 annual fee and 0% fee for foreign transactions helps to boost the benefits of this card.

What does this perk mean in terms of real savings? Think of it this way: For a family on a two-week vacation abroad, spending $300 per day on food, entertainment, souvenirs, transportation, etc., no foreign transaction would mean a savings of $126 on just that one vacation alone.

POTENTIAL DOWNSIDES OF THE CardName

While the CardName is a no-gimmick card with a straight-and-to-the-point cash-back rewards structure, you could earn quite a bit more cash back with a card that offer rewards in rotating categories of up to 5%. You might be someone who does shop a lot at home improvement stores, does a lot of grocery shopping or fills up on gas frequently, so a card that rewards those purchases at a higher rate could certainly benefit you.

Savvy spenders might want to consider carrying the CardName alongside a card with rotating categories to make the most of rewards. Take the CardName, for example. It earns users 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target), and 1% on all other purchases. A strategic plan would be to use this no annual fee card for dining, entertainment, and grocery purchases, and then to use the CardName for everything else to earn 1.5% cash back instead of just 1%.

If you'd prefer not to juggle multiple cards though, 1.5% back on all purchases is still a good offer, especially because this card doesn't have an annual fee.

CAPITAL ONE QUICKSILVER CARDHOLDER SCORES

CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results:

HOW THE CardName COMPARES TO OTHER CREDIT CARDS

CardName vs. CardName

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The CardName and the CardName are both great options for those who want straightforward cash back earning and no annual fee. Citi is a CardRatings advertiser.

The big difference between the two cards is in the introductory bonus offers. The CardName doesn't offer a traditional bonus, but it does offer an 18 month 0% APR offer on balance transfers (then, RegAPR). The Quicksilver card, on the other hand, offers a one-time $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases during the first three months of card membership offer. For those looking for a bonus cash back boost with minimal spend, the Quicksilver card is a great option, but if a lengthy intro 0% APR period on balance transfers is on your list, as well as a longer time period to meet the minimum spend, the CardName offer may be worth more to you.

The cash back earnings rate of the CardName is a little higher with 1% cash back earned when you buy plus 1% cash back as you pay for those purchases for a possible total of 2% cash back on all your purchases (to earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time), while the CardName earns a flat rate 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

CardName vs. CardName

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The CardName is somewhat of a sibling to the CardName in terms of the rewards they both offer. Both allow cardholders to earn a flat rate of 1.5% cash back on all purchases. But Freedom Unlimited® also offers 5% on travel purchased through Chase, 3% on dining at restaurants and drugstores. You also earn an extra 1.5% cash back on every purchase (up to $20,000 spent) during the first year, for a bonus worth up to $300. Neither card comes with an annual fee.

CardName rewards are combinable with other Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, so this could be the better card for you if you’re already collecting points with another Ultimate Rewards® product.

The Capital One card, however, beats out CardName for those who travel abroad often by not charging foreign transaction fees.

To learn more about how these cards line up, check out our in depth Capital One Quicksilver vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited® comparison.

CardName vs. CardName

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For those who want to earn a possible effective cash back rate of 10% in the first year of card ownership, the CardName deserves your attention. Like the CardName, the CardName has no annual fee, the ability to redeem cash back at any time with no minimum, and rewards that never expire as long as the account is open. The bonus for the CardName is where it really sets itself apart. Cardholders can earn 5% cash back in rotating categories each quarter (up to $1,500 spent quarterly; activation required), and 1% on everything else. At the end of your first year, Discover matches all the cash that you’ve earned – effectively meaning you earn 10% cash back in those categories during your first year as a cardholder.

The quarterly bonus cash back earning does require activation though, and because the categories rotate, you have to pay attention to which category earns bonus cash back. For straightforward cash back earning without these extra steps, the uncapped 1.5% cash back earned by the CardName is hard to beat.

IS CAPITAL ONE QUICKSILVER A GOOD CARD?

It's hard to find a consistently stronger flat-rate cash-back credit card with no annual fee than the CardName. This is a decent choice for the credit card user who wants an everyday card and doesn't want to have to keep up with rotating categories or even tiered reward levels. Plus, the CardName travels well with its lack of foreign transaction fees, which again, is a rare perk for cash back credit cards.

Survey Methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September and October 2022 to conduct surveys among 1,554 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2022-Aug. 31, 2022 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents' scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. "Current Scores" reflect scores from the most recent survey (2022); "Past Scores" reflect scores from the 2021 survey.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.