Review of the Capital One® QuicksilverOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is a cash back card designed for people with fair or average credit. It’s one of the better cards you’ll find for this level of credit, because most don’t offer any rewards at all.

You’ll get 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make, a fairly good rate. But you’ll need to pay a $39 annual fee to use this card.

Cards for average credit don’t typically come with very high credit limits, but when using the QuicksilverOne, you may be automatically considered for a higher credit line after six months. It also comes with several Platinum Mastercard benefits, like Price Protection and Travel Accident Insurance.

It’s pretty simple and it’s not the most rewarding card, but if you don’t have the best credit your options will be somewhat limited. There’s an upgraded version with better rewards and benefits, but it also requires better credit: the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Card. If you have good or excellent credit, check out that card first. There’s also another Capital One card for average credit that offers rewards.

Keep reading to learn more about the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards, and see if you should be using it to help build your credit while earning some cash back in the process.

Our Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

We gave this card 5 out of 5 Stars because even though this card is designed for fair credit, it provides a decent amount of cash back for every purchase.

Why We Like It

• Designed for average credit but still offers some cash back
• You may be automatically considered for a higher credit line after six months
• The CreditWise tool can help you improve your credit
• No foreign transaction fees

Why It Could Be Better

• No welcome bonus
• $39 annual fee you’ll need to pay
• Extra benefits are pretty basic for the most part

There are some upsides and some downsides to the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards card. See some other general-use cash back credit cards below, with different reward programs and features.

Insider Advice: Using This Card as Part of Your Credit Card Strategy

• Use this card for all of your spending to earn a flat 1.5% cash back on everything you buy.
• Or, consider combining this card with a different rewards card with bonus categories. Then you can use that other card to earn more cash back in those spending categories, while using the QuicksilverOne for all your other purchases.
• Pay your first six monthly payments on time, as this will likely determine whether or not you’re considered to get access to a higher credit line.
• Use the CreditWise credit monitoring service to track your VantageScore 3.0 over time, see your TransUnion credit report, and get advice to build up your credit.
• Use this card responsibly, always paying your bills on time, to improve your credit scores. Eventually, with good financial habits in general, you’ll be able to qualify for a more rewarding card. Then you can close out the QuicksilverOne so you don’t need to pay the annual fee any longer.
• Make a habit of paying your statement balance in full every billing period. This will prevent interest from accruing, helping you stay away from credit card debt. It will be better for your credit utilization too, leading to higher scores.

The Rewards

Earning

1.5% cash back may not seem like much, but remember that this card is designed for fair or average credit. So its main purpose is to help you improve your credit scores.

The cash back is more like a nice extra feature to find on a card like this. If you don’t have good credit you won’t be able to qualify for better cards, and rewards cards designed for average credit are rare. One of the others to strongly consider is the Journey Student Card, also issued by Capital One.

Redeeming

You can redeem your cash back whenever you want and for any amount. It won’t expire as long as your account remains open and in good standing.

Many credit cards require you to reach a certain amount before you can redeem it, and then you may only be able to do so in certain denominations. So being able to redeem any amount whenever you want is pretty convenient. The Chase Freedom Unlimited is another card that lets you redeem any amount at any time.

The Benefits

You’ll get a decent set of extra benefits compared to other cards designed for a similar credit range. Especially useful are the credit tracking and education tools you can access, which will help you fine-tune your efforts to build or rebuild your credit.

Access a Higher Credit Line

Capital One may automatically consider you for a higher credit line after six months. Credit cards for average credit typically come with credit limits on the small side, like $1,000 or less at first, so this is a nice feature to have.

You can usually request a credit line increase periodically, as long as your credit history warrants it, but most cards don’t have an automatic increase feature like this. Some card issuers, including Capital One, may increase your credit limit automatically as you show responsible card behavior.

Capital One CreditWise

The CreditWise service provides free access to one of your VantageScore 3.0 credit scores, based on your TransUnion credit report. You can monitor your score over time and get alerts about any changes.

Users can see data from their actual TransUnion credit reports for free, which is an interesting feature that most credit card issuers don’t offer. There’s also a credit simulator which will show how certain decisions would impact your credit, for better or worse.

Anyone can enroll in the CreditWise service, cardholder or not. Although the VantageScore credit scoring models aren’t as popular as the FICO scoring models, this is still a good way to track your credit over time and see how it changes based on your financial activity. See some alternatives below for other cards that provide free access to a credit score. Most issuers don’t provide credit report access, like Capital One, but the Chase Freedom Unlimited does offer a similar service.

Travel Assistance Services

If you have an emergency while traveling, call the number on the back of the card or 1-800-992-6029 for help getting connected to local emergency services. You will be responsible for any third-party charges. You can also call for non-emergency help of some kinds.

This benefit is available when traveling 50 miles or more from home. If you live in New York there is no distance requirement.

Included Assistance Services

• Medical Assistance to help you find local doctors, dentists, hospitals, etc., and for relaying emergency messages.
• MasterLegal® Referral Service to help you find English-speaking attorneys or U.S. embassies in your area, and for transfers of bail money.
• Master Trip® Travel Assistance to inform you about weather conditions, health precautions, the passport visas needed, ATM locations, and for help finding lost luggage.

Identity Theft Resolution Services

Finding out that someone has stolen your identity and is pretending to be you is going to be stressful. Thankfully, Capital One is ready to help. If you believe that you’ve been a victim of identity theft call 1-800-MC-ASSIST. These services are available at no charge.

There are certain steps you can take to minimize and potentially reverse the damage. Capital One will help you out by:

• Providing you with an Identity Theft Affidavit, and helping you fill it out. But you’ll have to send it in yourself.
• Notifying the three major credit bureaus, and putting an alert on your records with them: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
• Getting you a free credit report to figure out what happened.
• Assisting in replacing your credit and debit cards, and cancelling any relevant checks.
• Providing education on how identity theft can occur, and what you can do to protect yourself.
• Providing you with an “Identity Theft Resolution Kit.”

You won’t be eligible for this service if you commit any dishonest, criminal, or malicious acts. And if Capital One determines that you were somehow the cause of the event, they won’t provide the service.

With identity theft on the rise, and several massive data breaches per year, it’s good to have a card like this that will offer some assistance. You’ll be eligible for help even if the identity theft doesn’t involve your QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards account.

Other Shopping Protections

• Extended Warranty: Will double an eligible manufacturer’s warranty of up to 12 months.

Other Travel Protections

• 24/7 Roadside Assistance: If your car breaks down just call 1-800-MC-ASSIST to get help sent right away (you must pay for any third-party charges).
• Travel Accident Insurance: Provides up to $100,000 in coverage against accidental loss of life, limb, sight, speech, or hearing while riding on common carriers.
• Auto Rental Insurance Waiver: Your eligible rented vehicles are covered against collision damage and theft, as long as you decline the rental company’s insurance.

Other Benefits

• Mastercard Global Service: For lost and stolen card reporting, emergency card replacement, and emergency cash advances.
• Personalized Payment Date: Choose your own due date to make paying bills more convenient.
• Security and Account Alerts: Will notify you about changes to your account or unauthorized activity.
• Capital One Second Look Fraud Coverage: Automatically monitors your account 24/7 for fraudulent activity.
• Zero Liability Protection: You won’t be held responsible for fraudulent charges.

The Costs & Fees

You’ll need to pay a $39 annual fee to use this card, but when it comes to improving credit this is a pretty small price to pay. You can offset this by spending $2,600 per year, as we discussed above.

The other terms are pretty straightforward. Any purchases will accrue interest at the rate shown above, unless you pay off your entire balance in full each billing period. This is our recommended strategy, and it’s even more important if you’re working to build or rebuild your credit.

Paying your balance in full each month will have several positive effects on your credit and your finances in general:

1. Interest won’t accrue on purchases, making it easier to stay out of credit card debt
2. It will keep your credit utilization lower, which is better for your credit scores
3. The credit line will be freed up so you can use the card again
4. Establishing a history of timely payments will show the card issuer and the credit reporting agencies that you’re a responsible card user

To make things more convenient you can set up autopay for the full statement balance each month. This will also ensure that you never forget and get a late payment fee.

Read more

Capital One Cash Advances: What They Are and Why to Avoid Them

The Bottom Line

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is designed for fair credit, and with that in mind it’s a pretty good offer.

The fee might seem a bit high, but remember that you’re paying for the privilege of building up your credit. There’s no need to pay extra in interest charges because you can just pay off your balance in full each month, preventing any interest from accruing.

The 1.5% cash back will help you pay for the annual fee every year, and, depending on how much you spend, you may have quite a bit left over too. Most cards that are meant for less than good or excellent credit don’t provide any rewards at all, so 1.5% is not bad. It’s even competitive with some cards designed for better credit.

You won’t get a ton of valuable extra perks, but you may get a higher credit line just six months into using your card. And the CreditWise tool is a good way to keep an eye on your credit as you work to improve it, providing tips to increase your credit scores faster.

The QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards isn’t a bad card, but it might not be right for you. Check out some alternatives to this card below, which offer general cash back rewards but have no annual fee.

How to Apply for the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Card

You can apply securely on Capital One’s website.

Most people will get an instant decision, either approved or denied, but in some cases it could take longer. Capital One may request more information from you.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Must not have applied for a Capital One credit card two or more times in the last 30 days
• Must not have two or more open credit card accounts with Capital One
• Must not be past due or over the credit line with any Capital One credit accounts
• Must be 18 to apply
• Personal identifying information, including SSN, address, and phone number
• Total annual income, and source of income
• Monthly mortgage/rent payment

Alternatives to the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Card

• Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Card: No annual fee, designed for good or excellent credit, 1.5% cash back for all purchases
• Capital One® Journey® Student Credit Card (Review): No annual fee, designed for average credit, no need to be a student, up to 1.25% cash back for all purchases
• Citi Double Cash Card (Review): No annual fee, 2% cash back on all purchases (1% for purchases, 1% for payments)
• Chase Freedom Unlimited (Review): No annual fee, 5% cash back on Lyft rides, 1.5% cash back on all other purchases

 

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card is basically an upgraded version of the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards, and it’s designed for good or excellent credit instead of average. This refers to a FICO 8 Credit Score of about 700 or higher, although this isn’t the only factor involved when applying for cards. If your credit is near that level, it might be worth trying to apply for this card before the QuicksilverOne.

Since it’s meant for people with better credit it comes with better terms and rewards. Just remember this: the Quicksilver is for good credit, while the QuicksilverOne is for average credit. The Quicksilver is also issued as a Mastercard, though this doesn’t make much difference unless you want to use it at Costco, which only takes Visa.

Rewards

• 1.5% cash back on every purchase
• Welcome bonus: $150 for spending $500 in the first 3 months after account opening
  

So you’ll still get 1.5% cash back, but in this case you also get a cash bonus too.

You’ll be able to earn unlimited cash back, just like the QuicksilverOne. All of the redemption details are the same for these cards.

Benefits

You won’t get quick access to a higher credit line with the Quicksilver card. But that shouldn’t be a problem because you’ll probably be approved with a higher credit limit than you would with the QuicksilverOne.

Other than that, many of the shopping and travel protections will be similar, though you’ll likely get a better selection with the Quicksilver.

Costs & Fees

There’s no annual fee to use the Quicksilver card. It also comes with a 0% intro APR for 15 months for purchases and balance transfers before the 15.49% - 25.49% Variable APR starts. Those are two great features that the QuicksilverOne doesn’t have, and that’s because it’s only designed for average credit.

Since there’s no annual fee, you won’t need to worry about using the card a certain amount each year. You’d need to spend $2,600 to offset the annual fee of the QuicksilverOne, but if you spent that much with this card you’d be $39 richer in cash back. And that doesn’t count the $150 welcome bonus either.

As you can see, the Quicksilver Cash Rewards is superior in every category. That’s what you’d expect of a card for better credit scores.

 

The Capital One Journey Student Credit Card (Review) is billed as a student card, but you don’t actually need to be a student to apply for this card. This isn’t a top secret loophole or anything, a Capital One rep informed us about it.

As a student card it’s designed for average credit, like the QuicksilverOne. But it has a different reward and fee structure that could make it a better card for you.

Rewards

• 1% cash back for every purchase
  • pay on time and that goes up to 1.25% cash back

So you’ll be able to get 1.25% cash back, a bit less than the 1.5% you’ll get with the QuicksilverOne. That’s only when you pay on time, of course, which you should be doing anyway. But you may actually prefer the Journey Student because it has no annual fee.

That means any cash back you earn will be profit, without any used to offset an annual fee. You’ll earn rewards at a lesser rate compared to the Quicksilver, but you’ll be $39 ahead without the fee.

Eventually, with enough spending per year, the Quicksilver will become more profitable than the Journey Student.

As you can see, you’ll need to spend $16,000 before you’ll end up getting more cash back with the QuicksilverOne, after accounting for the annual fee. This shows that even though you’ll earn rewards at a lesser rate, the Journey Student will be more rewarding unless you’re going to spend $16,000 per year. Remember that this assumes you’re paying on time and earning 1.25% cash back, rather than just 1% back.

Benefits

The benefits of the Journey Student are similar to the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards. From the higher credit line to the standard Mastercard benefits, you’ll have the same selection.

Costs & Fees

There’s no annual fee for the Journey Student card, meaning it can be a completely free way to earn rewards and build your credit. That’s clearly better than the $39 you need to pay for the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards.

Other than that, pretty much all of the other terms are the same.

The only important differences between these cards are that the Journey Student offers rewards at a lesser rate, and it has no annual fee. We saw above that the Journey Student will be more rewarding than the QuicksilverOne unless you’re going to spend $16,000 or more with the card per year. Since the other card features are the same, you can use that to decide which card would be better for you.

Read more in our Review of the Capital One Journey Student Card

 

The Citi Double Cash Card (Review) is the most rewarding general-use cash back card with no annual fee on the market today. If 1.5% cash back isn’t good enough for you, this card might have what you’re looking for.

Rewards

• 2% cash back for every purchase you make
  • 1% back when you make a purchase
  • 1% back when you pay for that purchase

It’s another very simple rewards program, but in this case your cash back is split up. You’ll get that second 1% whether you pay your balance in full, like we recommend, or only in part.

Benefits

The Double Cash offers a similar set of benefits as the QuicksilverOne. It used to have quite a few shopping and travel protections, like Purchase Protection and Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, but now only comes with Citi Identity Theft Solutions, and a couple other benefits.

A personal concierge service is available, ready to help with tasks like making reservations or finding interesting gifts. And the Citi Private Pass provides presale and preferred access to tickets in select large cities.

Citi will provide you with your FICO Bankcard Score 8 credit score, based on your Equifax credit report.

Costs & Fees

The Citi Double Cash has no annual fee. It has 0% intro APR for 18 months on Balance Transfers followed by a rate of 13.99% – 23.99% (Variable). There’s still a 3% fee for transfers, but this is one of the longest balance transfer offers available today.

You’ll need to pay a fee of 3% on foreign transactions with the Double Cash, while there’s no such fee for the QuicksilverOne. But this isn’t a travel credit card, so it’s not a very important point to consider.

You’ll be able to earn more cash back with the Double Cash than the QuicksilverOne, and it also has no annual fee. It’s easy to see which is the better card offer.

Read more in our Review of the Citi Double Cash Card

 

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® (Review) is a bit like the QuicksilverOne, but it has slightly more favorable terms.

Rewards

The Freedom Unlimited offers 1.5% cash back, just like the QuicksilverOne. But it also provides a fairly rewarding welcome bonus, which is a step up.

Benefits

The benefits of the Freedom Unlimited and the QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards are pretty much the same, for the most part. They each come with protections like Extended Warranty and Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver.

There are some minor differences in the details, however. And the Freedom Unlimited may be available at an upgraded Visa Signature level, which could include additional benefits like Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance

The Freedom Unlimited comes with easy access to the Chase Credit Journey tool, which is a lot like Capital One’s CreditWise service. They each provide your VantageScore 3.0 based on your TransUnion credit report, along with information from your credit report.

Costs & Fees

The Freedom Unlimited has more attractive terms, with no annual fee. It comes with 15 months at 0% APR for purchases before its 14.99 - 23.74% Variable APR starts, a good deal compared to most credit cards. If you want to earn cash back on purchases and pay them off over time at no interest, this card has one of the better offers.

Foreign transactions are charged a 3% fee with the Freedom Unlimited, but this isn’t a major deciding factor between these cards.

The QuicksilverOne can’t match the welcome bonus of the Freedom Unlimited, and it’s also more expensive at None per year. The Freedom Unlimited is made for people with better credit, so consider this card if you’re on the edge of average and good credit.

Read more in our Review of the Chase Freedom Unlimited Card

Do you use this card? How do you like it? Leave your own review of the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card, we’d love to hear from you!