Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card Review

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is a cash back credit card that charges a $39 annual fee and earns a flat, unlimited 1.5% cash back rate on every purchase. Cash back rewards can be redeemed for a variety of cash equivalents, including paper checks and statement credits.

Capital One QuicksilverOne is among a relative handful of cash back credit cards without an early spend bonus. On the other hand, this card has unusually lax credit requirements – prospects with average credit are welcome to apply. If you make timely, in full payments for at least six months following approval, you’re rewarded with a higher credit limit.

QuicksilverOne is similar to the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card, which is basically a no-annual-fee version of this card for consumers with good to excellent credit.

Other popular alternatives include the Citi Double Cash Card and the Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card, though both of those cards are also reserved for consumers with good to excellent credit.

Key Features of the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

These are the key features of the Capital One QuicksilverOne card. Note the straightforward rewards program, easy redemption, and additional cardholder benefits.

Earning and Redeeming Rewards

Capital One QuicksilverOne earns unlimited 1.5% cash back on most purchases. Eligible hotel and car rental bookings earn unlimited 5% cash back when made through Capital One Travel.

There are no caps, restrictions, or tiered spending categories to worry about here. You can manually redeem accumulated rewards at any time and in any amount for statement credits, gift cards, or paper checks. If you prefer, you can schedule automatic redemptions that execute when you hit a specified cash back increment: $25, $50, $100, or $200.

Important Fees

This card charges a $39 annual fee. There is no foreign transaction fee.

Capital One CreditWise

This card comes with access to Capital One CreditWise, a suite of credit-building and -education tools that includes a free credit score with your monthly statement. You can also access your score at any time through your online account dashboard.

Additional Cardholder Benefits

The QuicksilverOne card comes with a nice lineup of fringe benefits, including:

• 24/7 roadside assistance
• 24/7 emergency card replacement for lost cards or compromised accounts
• Complimentary collision and damage insurance on rental cars reserved with the card.

Credit Required

This card requires average or fair credit. Capital One tolerates some blemishes on applicants’ credit histories. After you make your first five payments on time, Capital One may grant you access to a higher credit line.

Advantages of the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

Here’s what the QuicksilverOne card has going for it. Note the loose underwriting standards and “redeem in any amount” flexibility.

• Accepts Applicants With Average Credit. One of QuicksilverOne’s biggest benefits is its relatively lax credit standards for new applicants, which makes it ideal for cardholders looking to build or rebuild credit. Even if you have some dings on your credit profile, your application has a good chance of being accepted. That’s certainly not the case for the regular Quicksilver card, nor for such competitors as Citi Double Cash.
• Rewards Can Be Redeemed in Any Amount. Capital One doesn’t impose any limits on how or when you can manually redeem accumulated cash back – you can do so in any amount, at any time. That’s not the case for some competing credit cards.
• No Balance Transfer Fee or Foreign Transaction Fee. QuicksilverOne doesn’t charge balance transfer fees or a foreign transaction fee. Together, these two breaks can significantly reduce the cost of using this card, and render QuicksilverOne more attractive to people who travel internationally or need to transfer high-interest balances from other cards.
• No Penalty APR. QuicksilverOne doesn’t impose penalty interest. That’s great news for cardholders who occasionally miss payments, and a big differentiator relative to Citi Double Cash, the American Express EveryDay Credit Card, and the American Express Blue Cash Everyday Credit Card.
• No Rotating Spending Categories or Manual Activation. QuicksilverOne’s cash back system couldn’t be simpler: The card earns a flat, unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases. You don’t have to worry about minding tiered spending categories or quarterly rotating categories, and there’s no manual activation hoop to jump through every 3 months. Notably, Chase Freedom Flex requires manual activation for its quarterly rotating 5% cash back categories.

Disadvantages of the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

Here’s why you might want to think twice about the QuicksilveOne card. Its annual fee is a disadvantage relative to other entry-level cash-back cards, and the lack of an early spend bonus and 0% intro APR promotion are problematics too.

• Has an Annual Fee. Though QuicksilverOne’s $39 annual fee is modest in the grand scheme of things, it’s still a disadvantage relative to the many cash back cards that have no annual fees at all. These include Chase Freedom Flex, Citi Double Cash, and many others.
• No Early Spend Bonus. Unlike many cash back cards, the QuicksilverOne Card doesn’t offer an early spend bonus. That’s a big disadvantage for new cardholders in search of an early cash boost. For a generous, attainable early spend bonus, look to Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited.
• No Intro APR Promotion. Unlike the regular Quicksilver Card, Capital One’s QuicksilverOne Card doesn’t have an introductory 0% APR promotion for purchases or balance transfers. That’s a drawback relative to many other cash back cards, including Citi Double Cash and Chase Freedom Flex. Both give at least 15 months for purchases and balance transfers.

How the Capital One QuicksilverOne Credit Card Stacks Up

Despite its flaws, the QuicksilverOne card is one of the best cash-back credit cards on the market for people with average credit. But what if your credit is on the upswing and you think you might be able to do a bit better?

Then QuicksilverOne’s grown-up cousin, the Capital One Quicksilver card, could be right for you. See how it compares to its junior.

Final Word

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the few cash back cards that openly advertises itself to applicants with average credit. Compared to Quicksilver, its stablemate, this is a big benefit. That said, you shouldn’t expect your QuicksilverOne account to come with a sky-high credit limit.

If your credit isn’t great, your initial approval is likely to include a restrictive limit that invites you to prove yourself capable of using credit responsibly. If successful, you’ll be rewarded after some months with a higher credit limit – and, if all goes well, an invitation to apply for the Quicksilver Card, which has a lower regular APR and no annual fee.