Posted by: John S Kiernan

EDITOR’S RATING 4.7 / 5 PROS

• 1.5% cash back on all purchases
• No balance transfer fee
• Available to people with limited or fair credit

CONS

• $39 annual fee
• Average regular APR for a limited-credit card

The Verdict: If you’re a newcomer or have fair credit, you certainly don’t want the Capital One® QuicksilverOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card (Capital One is a WalletHub partner) to become the one that got away. Much like its more mature sibling, the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card, which is among the best available “good-credit” credit cards, the version with “One” at the end is in rarefied air for its particular segment of the market.

Although it does charge a modest $39 annual fee and a fairly high 26.96% (V) regular APR, QuicksilverOne more than makes up for that by offering 1.5% cash back. It’s therefore an affordable means of credit building for any qualified applicant but promises to be especially beneficial if you spend at least $2,600 per year (the breakeven point at which rewards offset the annual fee).

The Highlights

• 1.5% Cash Back On All Purchases: The average cash-back credit card offers a 1.06% base earning rate, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report. You therefore stand to reap 50% more than the market average from QuicksilverOne, despite having decidedly below-average credit standing. And, as mentioned above, you only have to spend $2,600 per year – roughly $216.67 per month – to effectively pay your annual fee with earnings. If you spend $500 per month, on the other hand, you’ll pull in an annual profit of about $51 after subtracting the annual fee.You can also set up automatic redemption, either by date or based on amount of earnings accrued.

The Lowlights

• $39 Annual Fee: One of the main things distinguishing the Quicksilver Credit Card from the QuicksilverOne Credit Card is that while the former can be free to use, the latter costs at least $39 per year. It’s not a fatal flaw, however. QuicksilverOne gives you enough rewards firepower to offset this annual fee by spending just $2,600 per year, and everything beyond that is gravy. Yes, this $39 annual fee is more than twice as high as the market average of $18.15. But it’s still a fraction of what you’d have to spend on an unsecured credit card for bad credit, for example, as the average offer charges roughly $75 in first-year fees and $104 in fees each year thereafter for only a fraction of the benefit. QuicksilverOne’s annual fee also requires you to sacrifice far less liquidity than any secured card.

• Roughly Average Regular APR: You certainly don’t want to be carrying much of a balance at the rate charged by the QuicksilverOne card because while 26.96% (V) is roughly in line with what you might expect from a credit card designed for people with limited credit, it’s still higher than the averages for “fair-credit” credit cards (22.99%) and secured credit cards (18.54%). If you plan to either finance upcoming purchases or transfer a balance, you can use WalletHub’s credit card calculator to plan your monthly payments and gauge how expensive incurring interest would ultimately be.

Other Things To Consider

• $300 Minimum Credit Line: Although Capital One does not disclose the maximum credit limit that you could be awarded should you get approved for the QuicksilverOne Card, we do know that you will get at least $300. That’s at least $261 in spending power, when you factor in the annual fee, which is more than enough to cover minor emergency expenses and help you build credit. It’s generally a good idea to use less than 30% of your available credit, given the importance of credit utilization to your credit score, but surpassing that guideline isn’t as worrisome to lenders when a relatively low limit is in play. They understand that you have bills to pay and that a limit of just $300 or so only goes so far. Nevertheless, paying your bill multiple times per month could help make your utilization more presentable, if you have the necessary cash. 

• Credit Line-Increase Reviews: After paying your bill on time for five consecutive months, you will become eligible for a credit-line increase. That doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to get a higher spending limit, but one will be automatically applied if Capital One deems you worthy. Should you not receive a higher limit after promptly paying your bill for at least half a year, you can always just ask for one. You can find some tips for doing so in our guide to getting a higher credit limit. 

• No Foreign Transaction Fees: Despite the fact that we live in a global economy, most credit cards still penalize users for traveling abroad or making purchases from internationally based merchants. In fact, the average credit card still assesses a surcharge of 1.50% on such transactions.In contrast, however, QuicksilverOne does not charge foreign transaction fees, allowing you to travel and shop around the world at no added cost. This also enables you to maximize the average 5.76% currency-conversion savings you can derive from using a credit card on the Mastercard or Visa network, rather than exchanging hard currency at a bank or airport kiosk, when headed out of the country.

Compared To The Competition

	SponsoredCapital One® QuicksilverOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card	SponsoredCapital One® Platinum Credit Card	SponsoredCapital One® Secured Mastercard®
Annual Fee	$39	$0	$0
Rewards Bonus	N/A	N/A	N/A
Rewards Rate	1.5% Cash Back	N/A	N/A
Purchase Intro APR	Not Offered	Not Offered	Not Offered
Transfer Intro APR	Not Offered	Not Offered	Not Offered
Regular APR	26.96% (V)	26.96% (V)	26.99% (V)
Editors’ Rating	4.7 / 5	5.0 / 5	5.0 / 5
Details, Rates & Fees	Learn More	Learn More	Learn More
Winners	Capital One® QuicksilverOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card

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via Finance Xpress