Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card Review – 1.5% Cash Back

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a popular cash back credit card that pays a flat, unlimited 1.5% cash back rate on all purchases and doesn’t charge an annual fee. Like many fellow cash back cards, it boasts a nice early spend bonus, a special introductory APR promotion for purchases, and some other user-friendly perks.

The Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card is comparable to a number of other cash back cards, most of which also lack annual fees. Popular alternatives include the Chase Freedom Flex Card, the Citi Double Cash Card, and the American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card.

Quicksilver is very similar to its Capital One cash back stablemate, the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card, which is easier to qualify for and offers similar cash back benefits, but comes with a $39 annual fee and higher interest rates.

How the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card Stacks Up

Is Quicksilver right for you? Before you answer, see how it stacks up against another popular flat-rate cash-back credit card: the Citi Double Cash Card.

Key Features of the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

These are the key features of the Capital One Quicksilver card.

Early Spend Bonus

Cash Back Rewards and Redemption

The Capital One Quicksilver card earns unlimited 1.5% cash back on most purchases, with no caps, restrictions, or tiered spending categories. Eligible hotel and car rental bookings earn unlimited 5% cash back when made through Capital One Travel.

You can manually redeem accumulated rewards in any amount for statement credits, gift cards, or paper checks. You can also schedule automatic redemptions that are triggered when you pass a specified cash back increment: $25, $50, $100, or $200.

Introductory APR

Capital One Quicksilver has a 0% introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, after which variable regular APR applies (currently 19.99% to 29.99%).

Important Fees

There is no annual fee or foreign transaction fee associated with this card.

Capital One CreditWise

You get free access to Capital One CreditWise, a useful collection of tools and content to help you build and stay on top of your personal credit. It includes a free credit score accessible in your account dashboard and visible on your monthly statement.

Additional Cardholder Benefits

As a Capital One Quicksilver cardholder, you’re entitled to a number of general fringe benefits: 24/7 concierge service and travel booking assistance, 24/7 emergency card replacement for lost or compromised cards, and VIP/priority access to events such as sporting contests and special golf outings.

Credit Required

This card requires good to excellent credit. Minor credit blemishes aren’t likely to be disqualifying, but major issues can cause problems.

Advantages of the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

Here’s what the Capital One Quicksilver card has going for it. Note the attainable early spend bonus, long 0% APR intro period, and no annual fee, among other choice benefits.

• No Annual Fee. The Quicksilver card doesn’t come with an annual fee, which is a great help for cardholders who wish to maximize their cash back earnings. Some popular cash back cards (or cards that earn rewards which can be redeemed for cash) do have annual fees, including American Express Blue Cash Preferred.
• Attainable Early Spend Bonus. Quicksilver has one of the most attainable early spend bonuses of any cash-back credit card. This is great news if you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to juice your earnings early on.
• Intro APR Period Stretches 15 Months for Purchases. This card’s introductory APR period lasts 15 months for purchases, putting it on par with competitors such as Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited.
• No Minimum Redemption Threshold. Although you need to have at least $25 in earned cash back to schedule automatic redemptions, you can manually redeem your cash back in any amount, at any time.
• No Spending Categories or Manual Activation Required. Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards earns a flat 1.5% cash back on most purchases. You never have to worry about keeping track of tiered spending categories or – even worse – manually activating quarterly rotating categories. Chase Freedom Flex requires you to manually activate cash back categories once per quarter.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees. This card doesn’t come with a foreign transaction fee. That’s great news for cardholders who want to maximize their cash back earnings while traveling abroad.
• No Penalty APR. This card doesn’t have a penalty APR. That’s great news for cardholders who occasionally miss payments, and a big advantage over Citi Double Cash and American Express EveryDay.
• Free Credit Score and Credit-Building Tools. This card comes with a free credit score on-demand (and with your card statement every month), as well as a slate of useful credit-building and credit-tracking tools under the Capital One CreditWise aegis.

Disadvantages of the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

Consider these drawbacks before applying for Quicksilver. There aren’t too many, but notables include 1.5% cash back on most purchases (a mediocre rate) and strict underwriting requirements.

• Rewards Accumulate at a Fixed Rate. The Capital One Quicksilver Card always earns cash back at a fixed rate of 1.5% on most purchases. With no tiered spending categories (such as the Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card‘s 3% gas and 2% grocery categories) or rotating 5% categories (such as Chase Freedom Flex’s 5% quarterly categories), there’s limited opportunity to earn more than the cash back baseline here. This could be a drawback if you concentrate your spending in specific categories that other cards reward more generously.
• Can’t Redeem for Merchandise or Travel. Capital One Quicksilver doesn’t let you redeem your accumulated cash back rewards for merchandise, travel, or other non-cash-equivalents. Thanks to Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal, Chase Freedom lets you redeem for nearly anything that can be sold in stores or online.
• Requires Good to Excellent Credit. The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards card requires good to excellent credit. If you have any significant blemishes on your credit history, you’re not likely to qualify for this card outright. For a more attainable cash back rewards card, consider Quicksilver’s stablemate: the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Card. Just mind QuicksilverOne’s $39 annual fee. Chase Freedom Flex is a nice no-annual-fee alternative.

Final Word

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card belongs to a newer generation of cash back cards that emphasize simplicity, consistency, and accessibility. Think of it as a response or reaction to cards like Chase Freedom, which now seems a bit dated and quaint due to their continued reliance on rotating spending categories and other gimmicks. That’s not to say that Chase Freedom has no place in your wallet – just that the cash back tide seems to be ebbing away from them and toward cards like Quicksilver.