Posted by: John S Kiernan

EDITOR’S RATING 4.4 / 5 PROS

• $150 initial bonus
• 1.5% cash back on all purchases
• No annual fee

CONS

• Potential for a very high interest rate
• 3% balance transfer fee

The Verdict:

The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card offers terms befitting excellent credit despite good credit being all that’s needed for approval. In addition to its solid suite of rewards – buoyed by a base earning rate that’s 50% higher than average and supplemented by a more modest $150 initial bonus – Quicksilver won’t hit you with annual fees and tends to offer regular financing promotions. For example, new applicants currently get 0% introductory interest rates on both purchases and balance transfers for up to 15 months (15.74% - 25.74% (V) APR thereafter).

It’s therefore a strong overall offer for people with above-average credit who want to get rewarded for everyday spending without paying for the privilege or putting too much thought into the process. Don’t be too upset if your credit standing isn’t quite up to stuff, though. There’s a version for limited credit too, the Capital One® QuicksilverOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card.

The Highlights

• Easily Attainable $150 Initial Bonus: Upfront incentives aren’t all that unique in and of themselves. Many credit cards offer them these days. But most require users to spend at least $3,000 in the first few months to qualify, thereby pricing out much of the applicant pool, or promoting counterproductive overspending in the name of rewards. Quicksilver, however, is a bit different, considering that you need only spend $500 during the first three months your account is open – roughly $167 per month – in order to reap a $150 bonus.

  Yes, $150 is a considerably lower amount in absolute terms than the $400 to $500 offered by cards with four-digit initial spending requirements. But Quicksilver’s bonus structure offers a higher return on investment in percentage terms, providing a 30% yield in contrast to the 13% you’d get from a card with a $400 bonus and a $3,000 spending prerequisite.

• 1.5% Cash Back On All Purchases, With No Restrictions: As rewarding as credit card rewards can be, they also have the potential to be equally maddening, thanks to earning limits, rotating bonus categories and points or miles whose values fluctuate based on redemption method – just to name a few downsides.

  Quicksilver’s caveat-free 1.5% across-the-board earning rate thus represents an answer to that problem for folks who want to rake in the green without feeling as if they’re raking the leaves or performing some other equally annoying chore. And while 1.5% cash back might not seem like all that much at first glance, it’s actually about 50% more earning power than the average cash back credit card provides, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report.

• 0% Financing For 15 Months (15.74% - 25.74% (V) thereafter): Capital One is currently running a promotion whereby new cardholders will not be charged interest on either new purchases or transferred balances for 15 months. That’s one reason to apply sooner rather than later if you wish to commingle your financing and everyday spending on a single card.
• No Annual Fee: Rewards earnings must always be viewed within the context of a card’s annual fee. That’s not to say cards charging annual fees should be avoided indiscriminately, but rather that you need to make sure you get what you’re paying for. With Quicksilver, you’re essentially playing with the house’s money in that you stand to reap lucrative rewards without spending any more than you would otherwise. This helps to level the playing field between Quicksilver and cards that may have higher overall earning rates but come at a cost.

The Lowlights

• Potential For A Very High Interest Rate: The rate at which you will accrue interest on revolving balances once Quicksilver’s introductory term concludes is a product of your credit standing and disposable income at the time you apply for the card. The strongest applicants will receive the lower ranges of the regular APR, while everyone else will be stuck accruing finance charges at an APR from the higher end of the range.

  Not only does this broad range of possibilities make it hard to anticipate future financing costs, but all three APR options are actually above the average charged by credit cards for both good and excellent credit. As a result, this clearly isn’t the card for people who routinely carry a balance from month to month.

• 3% Balance Transfer Fee: When evaluating the viability of a balance transfer, you need to take three crucial account terms into consideration: the introductory interest rate, the regular interest rate and the balance transfer fee. Quicksilver passes the first test by offering 0% on transfers. And while its high regular APR could be made a moot point by paying in full before it kicks in, a 3% transfer fee is a deal breaker for anyone with more than a minor balance.If you want to see how large this fee looms in your situation, try WalletHub’s Balance Transfer Calculator.

Other Things To Consider

• No Foreign Transaction Fee: None of Capital One’s credit cards charge foreign transaction fees. So while this is definitely a perk, it’s not one unique to Quicksilver in particular.

• Requires Good – Not Excellent – Credit For Approval: You may consider this to be either an advantage or a drawback, depending on the current state of your own credit, but few cards offer terms as good as the Capital One Quicksilver Card without an excellent-credit barrier to entry. So if you have a good, but not great, credit score – find out for free on WalletHub – this offer may help you deal with any excellent-credit envy that you’ve experienced.

Compared To The Competition

Quicksilver isn’t the only cash back card on the block. In fact, it’s not even the only Quicksilver. So, in order to help you make the right choice for your wallet, we took a look at how this offer stacks up against a crowded field of great deals.

	SponsoredCapital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card	SponsoredCiti® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer	SponsoredChase Freedom Unlimited®	SponsoredBlue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
Annual Fee	$0	$0	$0	$95
Rewards Bonus	$150	N/A	Double Cash Back	$250
Rewards Rate	1.5% Cash Back	2% Cash Back	1.5% Cash Back	1 - 6% Cash Back
Purchase Intro APR	0% for 15 months	Not Offered	0% for 15 months	0% for 12 months
Transfer Intro APR	0% for 15 monthsTransfer Fee: 3%	0% for 18 monthsTransfer Fee: 3% (min $5)	0% for 15 monthsTransfer Fee: Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.	0% for 12 monthsTransfer Fee: 3% (min $5)
Regular APR	15.74% - 25.74% (V)	15.74% - 25.74% (V)	16.99% - 25.74% (V)	14.74% - 25.74% (V)
Editors’ Rating	4.4 / 5	5.0 / 5	4.7 / 5	4.7 / 5
Details, Rates & Fees	Learn More	Learn More	Learn More	Learn MoreRates & FeesTerms Apply
Winners	Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer		Chase Freedom Unlimited®

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