Capital One Quicksilver Review: A No-Fuss, No-Gimmicks Card
The Bottom Line
4.6
You’ll get a decent flat rate on all your spending, as well as a welcome offer and interest-free window. But there are other card options that feature more lucrative flat rate rewards.
Rates, fees and offers
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1.5%-5%
Bonus offer
Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
Intro APR
0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers; balance transfer fee applies
Ongoing APR
APR: 19.74%-29.74% Variable APR
Cash Advance APR: 29.74%, Variable
Balance transfer fee
Balance transfer fee applies
Foreign transaction fee
0%
More details from Capital One
- Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day
- $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
- 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
- No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how much you can earn
- 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.74% - 29.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
Pros and Cons
Pros
No annual fee
High rewards rate
Intro APR period
No foreign transaction fees
Cons
Requires good/excellent credit
No bonus categories
Detailed Review
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a good option if you value the simplicity of earning a flat rate on all your purchases. You’ll get 1.5% cash back on nearly every purchase, without a bunch of bonus categories to remember or spending limits to keep track of.
The card features other attractive benefits as well, including a solid sign-up bonus, an introductory 0% APR period and low fees (see rates and fees). And if you don’t mind managing multiple cards, you can pair it with a tiered-rewards or rotating bonus card to maximize your earnings.
However, there are a number of flat rate cards on the market that will out-earn the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card.
Capital One offers a suite of Quicksilver-branded cards for different kinds of consumers. This page describes the standard Quicksilver, which is for people with good to excellent credit. There are also cards designed for good credit, fair or average credit and for college students, as well as a secured version for those looking to build credit.
Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card: Basics
Card type: Cash back.
Annual fee: $0.
Sign-up bonus: Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
Rewards: Unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, plus 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
Interest rate: 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.74%-29.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies.
Foreign transaction fees: None.
Credit score requirement: The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is available to applicants with good to excellent credit. However, some applicants with less-than-excellent credit may be offered a different version of this card, one that has the same cash back rewards but not the sign-up bonus or intro APR period. If this is the case, you'll be told during the application process and given the chance to accept or decline.
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
Simple rewards earning and redemption
Those who value simplicity will appreciate the straightforward 1.5% cash back rewards on the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card.
And the ease of use doesn't apply only on the rewards-earning side. The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card doesn't have a minimum redemption amount, so you’ll be able to redeem your cash back for any amount and at any time.
Sign-up bonus
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card has a solid sign-up bonus: Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. While you can find higher sign-up bonuses on credit cards with annual fees, you'd have a hard time finding a higher bonus on a card with no annual fee.
0% intro APR offer
This card features an introductory APR of 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; 19.74%-29.74% variable APR after that; balance transfer fee applies(see rates and fees). The lengthy window for purchases and balance transfers can offer some breathing room on interest payments and can help those who need to make a big purchase or pay down transferred debt. Weigh the cost of the balance transfer fee against current long-term interest payments to determine if it's right for you.
Low fees
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a good option for the fee-averse. It charges an annual fee of $0. And because it has no foreign transaction fees, it can be a good option to take with you when traveling internationally.
MORE NERDY PERSPECTIVE
 | The 1.5% cash back isn't the best-in-class rate it once was, but I still get a lot of value out of this card. I use a single card for most online subscriptions and bills, and this is the one I have tabbed for that. You also get your rewards in real time, rather than having to wait for a month or two to see them show up. Paul Soucy, content director, credit cards and travel rewards |
Drawbacks and Considerations
You can get a higher flat rate
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card set the 1.5% standard for an entire generation of cash-back credit cards. But nowadays, there are a growing number of cards on the market that offer a flat rate of at least 2% back.
For example, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card pays an unlimited 2% cash back on purchases. It also features a sign-up bonus as well as an introductory interest-free period on purchases and balance transfers: 0% intro APR on Purchases for 12 months and 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers 12 months from account opening on qualifying balance transfers, and then the ongoing APR of 19.49%, 24.49%, or 29.49% Variable APR.
Limited opportunities for bonus rewards
The card only earns more than 1.5% for a very specific type of purchase through the issuer: 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Otherwise, it earns 1.5% on everything. Flat-rate rewards are ideal for people with varied spending habits. However, if you spend a significant chunk of your budget in specific spending areas, like gas and groceries for example, consider a card that specifically rewards these types of transactions. The $0-annual-fee Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, for instance, earns 3% cash back* at U.S. supermarkets, at U.S. gas stations and on U.S. online retail purchases (on up to $6,000 per year in spending in each category). Other purchases earn 1% back. (Terms apply — see rates and fees.)
If you spend a lot at the supermarket, take a look at the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. It charges a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95. Still, it packs richer rewards: 6% cash back* at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $6,000 a year in spending (then 1%); 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions; 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and on transit; and 1% cash back on all other purchases. These cards also include welcome offers for new cardholders and 0% introductory APR periods. (Terms apply — see rates and fees.)
Alternatively, if you don't mind logging into your account every quarter to opt into bonus rewards categories, you may want to opt for a 5% rotating bonus category card like the Chase Freedom Flex® or the Discover it® Cash Back.
Both of these cards earn 5% cash back in categories that change every three months; you have to opt in to the category each time it changes. The 5% cash back is good on up to $1,500 per quarter in spending (enrollment required). All other spending earns 1% cash back. The current bonus categories for both cards can be found here.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a simple and easy-to-use option. Although the card doesn't pay the highest flat cash-back rate on the market, it offers a compelling combination of rewards and redemption simplicity, low fees, sign-up bonus and 0% APR period (see rates and fees).
But if what you mostly care about is a card's ongoing rewards rate, you can find richer options.
To learn more about how your cash-back credit card options might stack up, check out our best credit cards page.
To view rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, see this page. To view rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, see this page.
*Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
The $0-annual-fee Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card offers an excellent rewards rate on everything you buy, as well as a bundle of other goodies not often found on cards like it.
Looking For Something Else?
Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of credit card is the Capital One Quicksilver?
The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases. The annual fee is $0, and new cardholders get this offer: Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.(see rates and fees).
Is there an annual fee for the Capital One Quicksilver?
The annual fee for the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is $0.
What's better: Capital One Quicksilver or Capital One Platinum?
The Capital One Platinum Credit Card is designed for people with fair or average credit (generally defined as a score of 630 to 689). It can help you build credit if used carefully, but it doesn’t offer rewards. The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases, but you'll need good credit or better to qualify.
What is the difference between Quicksilver and QuicksilverOne?
Both cards earn 1.5% cash back, but the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card requires good to excellent credit to qualify. It has a $0 annual fee and a sign-up bonus (see rates and fees). You can qualify for the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card with fair credit, but it charges a $39 annual fee and doesn’t offer a bonus (see rates and fees).
Is the Capital One Quicksilver hard to get?
To qualify for the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card, you'll need good to excellent credit — generally defined as a score of 690 or higher. You'll also have to meet other approval criteria, such as having sufficient income.
