Capital one quicksilver credit card international fees

Full Review of Capital One Quicksilver Credit Card

Pros

• Simple rewards program with a decent return

• Decent introductory offers

• No annual or foreign transaction fees

• No penalty APR

Cons

• No opportunities for bonus rewards rates

• The APR can be comparatively high

Pros Explained

• Simple Rewards Program With A Decent Return: If you’re looking for a no-fuss cash-back credit card that pays respectably, this one is worth considering. It offers a flat 1.5% cash-back rewards rate on every purchase you make, and there’s no limit to how much you can earn. While many other rewards credit cards offer bonus rewards rates on certain spending categories, some of those also offer only 1% cash back on all other spending. With its mid-level standard rate (there are cards that pay more), this card might prove not only simpler to use but more lucrative in the long run. 
• Decent Introductory Offers: As a new cardholder, you’ll earn a $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. That’s an effective 40% return on the required spending and it’s achievable even for someone who has a relatively small budget. On top of that, you’ll also get access to an introductory 0% APR on purchases for 15 months, after which the variable APR is 17.99% to 27.99%.
• No Annual or Foreign Transaction Fees: The card not only charges no annual fee—common among cash-back credit cards—but also no foreign transaction fee. It’s not the only cash-back card that waives this fee on purchases made abroad, but you’ll find more cards in that category that do charge it than not. Foreign transaction fees typically run close to 3% on each international purchase, so this card could save you a good amount on a long trip. 
• No Penalty APR: Unlike most cards, the APR doesn’t increase to a penalty rate—usually the highest interest rate charged on the card—after you’ve been in arrears on payments for 60 days or more.

Cons Explained

• No Opportunity for Bonus Rewards Rates: The card's flat-rate rewards structure is appealing in its simplicity. But if you’re willing to complicate your life a little with a card that offers more rewards in areas where you spend a lot, this one won’t do it. What's more, it doesn’t even offer the highest flat rewards rate out there. For example, the Citi Double Cash Card, another card with no annual fee, offers 1% back on every purchase plus another 1% when you pay your bill. The Alliant Cashback Visa Signature card gives you 2.5% cash back on all purchases.

The APR Can be Comparatively High: After the card’s introductory 0% APR promotion ends, the ongoing variable APR can range from 17.99% to 27.99%, based on your creditworthiness. Some other cards have a lower range of APRs. According to the Federal Reserve, the average credit card interest rate across all credit card accounts that access interest is 16.44%. Of course, this APR won’t matter if you pay your balance in full each month, which we recommend. But if you think you might have a balance left over after the promotional period, or you habitually carry a balance, think twice about applying as there may be lower-priced card options available to consider.

The Capital One Quicksilver Credit Card is a solid choice for people who either don’t spend a lot in any one budget category or prefer one rewards rate instead of multiple rates, depending on the purchase. 

It’s also a good option if you're looking for a long introductory 0% APR promotion on purchases.

The card’s lack of an annual fee is also appealing for people who are generally fee-averse and don’t want to worry about earning enough rewards justify a yearly cost. Just be sure to take time to compare it with other no-annual-fee cards to ensure you pick the right one for you.

Finally, given its absence of a foreign-transaction fee, think about getting the card if you want a cash-back credit card to use abroad. The fees of up to three percent charged by other cards may not seem like a lot, but can add up to a surprisingly high figure over the course of an international trip. 

Capital One Quicksilver Credit Card One-Time Offer

You’ll earn $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. In other words, you’d only need to spend only an average of $167 per month during the first three months you own the card in order to earn the incentive. That’s an achievable pace of purchases even if you’re not a big spender.

Rewards Earning Details

Cardholders earn a flat 1.5% cash back on every purchase, with no limit to how those earnings. On the one hand, that eliminates any need to emphasize certain spending habits in order to earn more rewards on certain purchases. But on the other, it also means there’s no opportunity to earn more than 1.5% in rewards on categories in which you spend a lot.

Rewards Redemption Details

You have three choices when redeeming your rewards: a paper check, a statement credit (general or against a specific purchase), and gift cards. Your rewards don’t expire as long as your account is open, so you don’t need to worry about allowing them to accumulate. That said, there’s no minimum redemption amount, so you can truly gain access to your cash back anytime you want.

How to Maximize Your Rewards

Because the Capital One Quicksilver doesn’t offer any bonus rewards rates, the best thing you can do to maximize your rewards is to use the card every chance you get. 

However, because this card’s flat rate is lower than the cash back percentage for some other cards, be careful in the event that a merchant charges extra to use a credit card, as do some gas stations for example. If the credit card price exceeds the cash price by more than your rewards amount of 1.5%, you may want to simply pay in cash or debit—or use another credit card that rewards you at least as much as the price difference, if you have one. That way, you aren’t losing money by opting for paying with this card. 

When it comes to redeeming rewards, you might also want to consider buying a gift card, and going online to check the redemption rates for those. Partners include Amazon and Paypal. While the gift card rewards are a great benefit, Capital One's website does not include detailed information about which firms it partners with. You'll need to talk to a customer representative for further information.

Standard Benefits

• Travel accident insurance
• Travel assistance services
• Extended warranty protection
• Access to premier culinary experiences, as well as music and sporting events

Cardholder Experience

Capital One ranked third out of 11 national card issuers and scored above average in the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study.

The card issuer provides free access to your VantageScore credit score through its CreditWise feature, but that platform is available whether you’re a cardholder or not. Many other card issuers provide free access to your FICO credit score, which is the score used by most major lenders.

If you have a question, you can reach Capital One customer service. However, unlike almost all other card issuers, access is only by phone or physical mail; no email or online chat options are offered. You can also manage your account through Capital One’s mobile app, which was ranked third out of ten in the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Credit Card Mobile App Satisfaction Study.

Security Features

Capital One offers a couple of security features that aren’t standard for the industry. While almost all issuers now allow you to freeze your card temporarily if it’s misplaced, Capital One is among a select number of issuers that allow you to do so in a mobile app. And if you’re concerned about using your card number online, Capital One allows you to create a virtual number tied to the account that keeps your card information number safe.

You can create a virtual card number for each website you use and lock and unlock numbers whenever you want. 

Our Verdict

The Capital One Quicksilver Credit Card is best for people who prioritize simplicity in their financial lives. The card’s flat rewards rate makes it easy to remember what you’re earning every time you use it. And the absence of an annual fee means that as long as you’re paying off your balance in full every month, and so aren’t incurring interest charges, the rewards you earn represent pure gains, with no offsetting expenses.

The card’s decent introductory 0% APR promotion on purchases also makes it a good option if you’re also looking for some interest savings. However, if this feature is a priority for you, you may want to shop around. There are a few other cards are available that provide a longer period of 0% APR on purchases than the 15 months provided by the Capital One Quicksilver.

Some of those cards may also offer other features that appeal to you more than the corresponding ones on this card, as well. While the one-time offer for the Capital One Quicksilver Credit Card is easily earned, and represents an excellent return on required spending, the offers for some other cards deliver a bigger total reward, albeit with a larger required spending requirement as well. 

Also, if you spend heavily in certain categories, a rewards credit card that maximizes cash back on that particular spending might be a good substitute—or worthy complement—to the Capital One Quicksilver, which pays a steady but unremarkable 1.5% on virtually all purchases. For instance, some cards offer a tiered rewards system, giving you a higher rate on things like groceries, gas, dining, travel, or other spending categories.

Investopedia Credit Card Rating Methodology

Investopedia is committed to delivering the best credit card recommendations in the industry. We’ll tell you when a card is good, we’ll tell you when a card is bad, and we’ll only call a card the best if we would recommend it to our friends or family members.

Overall Star Rating Explained

To rate credit cards we objectively assess, score and weight nearly 100 individual card features which roll up into five major feature sets: fees, interest, rewards, benefits and security/customer service. Here’s how we weighted those feature sets for the overall star rating of a card:

We have applied our proprietary rating methodology to every generally-accepted credit card in the U.S. domestic market to allow consumers to make fully informed choices. It’s important to note that for our overall score that we make a number of assumptions about how you would be using your credit card:

1. While we make no assumption as to whether balances are carried on a given card we do assign varying weights to all credit cards’ introductory APR (if present) in addition to the regular, long term purchase and balance transfer interest rates.
2. We utilize BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) income and average category spending data to calculate annual earnings rates for rewards cards that offer cash back, points or miles rewards at a set rate on all spending or in consideration of bonus rewards for certain spending categories, like gasoline, groceries, restaurants or travel.
3. We determine the maximum points value of rewards cards by dividing the points, cash back or miles required to exchange for the retail price of the most valuable redemption option (for example, in the case of a card that offers a domestic roundtrip airline ticket as a redemption option vs. another redemption option of lesser value that requires the same amount of points or miles to acquire, we would base the rewards value on the airline ticket).

• Cards that are selected best overall in their respective categories generally feature most if not all of the following attributes:
• Low or Reasonable Fees Credit card fees come in many forms but the primary ones involve those for annual card membership and balance transfer. There are a myriad of reward and non-reward card options that charge no annual fee but for the many that do assess an annual fee the cost is often justified by their lucrative ongoing rewards and initial signup bonuses. Balance transfer fees are occasionally waived during introductory periods with certain cards, a factor which is heavily and positively weighted in our scoring model for cards offering this benefit. When charged, balance transfer fees range between 3% - 5%, which we grade accordingly. Other standard fees can generally be avoided, such as those for paying late or taking cash advances but we rate those relative to other cards in the market for reference, though with less weight assigned
• Competitive Interest Many cards offer 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for varying lengths and then revert to a permanent or regular APR (based on a variable rate tied to the prime rate) that applies to any balances not paid in full. We rate both introductory APR percentage and length (in months) along with the midpoint of the variable regular APR interest rate range.
• Valuable Rewards Credit card reward programs can be based on cash back, points or travel rewards (which can be generic or travel partner-specific, as with airline and hotel co-brand card programs). For cards that offer rewards we determine the value per dollar spent along with average redemption values and assign more favorable ratings to cards that offer superior consumer value. We also assign value to sign-up bonus offers and their initial spending requirements, when present.
• Excellent Benefits Credit card benefits cover a range of offerings like concierge service, TSA Pre-check, auto rental coverage, travel accident insurance, lost luggage assistance and free credit scores. We rate cards on the number and level of over a dozen standard and upscale benefits and provide extra weighting emphasis for those travel-related perks that apply to premium travel cards when present.
• Solid Security/Customer Service Security and customer service features like lost or stolen card replacement, being able to lock one’s card from an issuer app and 24 hour customer support are becoming more standard across the card market and we provide a significant amount of weighting to features in this area.
• You can also read the full version of our methodology for a more in-depth look at how we assess cards and award them the best in various categories.

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