How to maximize your Capital One Quicksilver card

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card offers a solid cash back return on every purchase and enables you to earn that without activating a category every quarter.

Earn rewards on all your purchases

The card gives you 1.5 percent cash back on everything you buy. The introductory bonus ($200 after spending $500 in the first three months) is a nice, quick pop that’s easy to obtain. Both of these perks are very competitive among no-annual-fee cards. Speaking of fees, Quicksilver doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees either.

There are some cards that offer more cash back on every purchase, but they typically fall short in at least one of these other areas. Perhaps their sign-up bonuses are lower or they charge annual or foreign transaction fees.

Quicksilver sends out rewards on a daily basis as transactions are posted. Most of the best credit cards make you wait until your monthly statement closes. You can redeem your cash back as statement credits, plus you can get a check or a gift card. Cardholders can also donate rewards to charity or use them to offset their Amazon.com purchases.

Quicksilver rewards are very straightforward. There’s no need to calculate point values or ratios. Rewards are represented in terms of dollars and cents (“rewards cash”). And there’s no minimum redemption threshold.

If you have other credit cards that give more than 1.5 percent cash back in some categories but less in others, the Quicksilver can help you earn more rewards in those categories you aren’t able to maximize elsewhere.

You can earn even more rewards by using Capital One Offers, a free online shopping portal for Capital One cardholders. It delivers enhanced rewards (often 10 percent cash back or more) at certain retailers.

An intro APR, if you need to carry a balance

Generally speaking, rewards cards aren’t a good deal if you carry a balance, because the typical interest rate is much higher than the rewards payout. But the Quicksilver card has a compelling promotion for new cardholders: A 0 percent introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months from account opening. After that, the variable APR is 19.24 percent to 29.24 percent, based on creditworthiness.

The Quicksilver might be a good choice if you want more time to pay off big purchases, but make sure to knock them out before the 15-month mark, when interest starts accruing.

Helpful retail and travel benefits

Some Quicksilver cards run on the Visa network, while others carry the Mastercard logo. Both can include helpful benefits. Mine was a Visa Signature card. Those additional privileges include:

• Extended warranty coverage: It doubles the original manufacturer’s written U.S. repair warranty up to two years or less on warranties of up to two years or less.
• Purchase protection: If eligible purchases are damaged or stolen within 90 days of purchase (up to $1,000 per loss and a maximum of $25,000 every 12 months.)
• Auto rental collision damage waiver: This is secondary coverage, meaning you need to go through your personal car insurance policy first — if you have one — but it can still be useful.
• Lost luggage reimbursement: You can make up to two claims per year, charging the full cost of your common carrier ticket, for up to $1,500 each one.

World and World Elite Mastercard holders also get additional travel benefits like travel accident insurance and travel assistance services.

Note that some Quicksilver cards run on the Visa network, which can include helpful benefits, too.

Additional benefits

A couple of other Quicksilver perks that are nice to have, though not entirely unique, are contactless functionality and free credit monitoring. Contactless payments (tapping a card or phone at the point of sale) have rapidly grown in popularity since the pandemic made people concerned about touching potentially germy surfaces.

Free credit monitoring offers a different kind of protection. It can alert you to identity theft issues, and it also helps you improve your credit score, which is one of the most important numbers in your financial life.

CreditWise from Capital One, as it’s known, alerts you to changes in your credit history and keeps you up to date on your credit score and report. It also lets you run sample scenarios to see how certain activities (like opening a new account or paying down debt) might affect your score.

What credit score you’ll need to qualify

The Quicksilver card is marketed to individuals with good-to-excellent credit (which typically means a credit score of 670 or above, though that’s not a guarantee of approval).

The average FICO score is 716, so most people are in the ballpark. If your score is in the 580 to 669 range, you might be better off with the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card. It has fewer benefits but is easier to qualify for. You could always upgrade later on, once you’ve raised your credit score.

Bottom line

The Quicksilver credit card can be a good fit for those who want to “set it and forget it.” It comes with great perks and every purchase you make will earn you a flat-rate. Use the Capital One Offers portal to boost your cash back and get the most out of your rewards.