Is the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card worth it?
The Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is a worthy card for students who want to earn cash back without paying an annual fee. This card lets you earn 1.5% cash back on most purchases and comes with perks, such as extended warranties and access to Capital One Shopping.
Capital One Quicksilver Student: Rewards
Welcome bonus
The Quicksilver student card comes with an easy-to-earn sign-up bonus tailored to student spenders. You can get $50 in bonus cash back by spending $100 with this cash-back credit card in the first three months you’re a cardholder.
For example, if you enjoy lunch out every Saturday at a local sandwich shop, you might use your card to cover that expense. Say your meal is around $10 every week — that adds up to enough in three months to earn the bonus. And that $50 bonus could cover your Saturday treat for more than a month.
Earning rewards
When you use your Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card, you earn a flat cash-back rate. That means you earn the same amount on all eligible purchases — not different amounts on various spending categories. This makes it easy to understand how your cash back adds up.
The earnings rate on this card is 1.5% cash back on daily purchases.
Here are some examples:
- Spend $200 dining out in a month and earn $3
- Spend $1,000 on groceries over the course of the year and earn $15
- Use your credit card to cover your $50 cell phone bill each month and earn $9 over the course of the year
If you purchase travel through Capital One Travel, you can earn 5% cash back on rental car and hotel bookings.
You can also earn referral bonuses via Capital One’s Refer a Friend program. Referral bonus details are unique for each credit card, and you can get a personal referral link from our online account once you’re a cardholder. To earn the referral, you must be a cardholder in good standing — that means you pay your bills on time and don’t carry a balance over your credit limit.
It’s important to note that cash-back rewards only really benefit you if your interest expenses don’t outpace them. Paying your statement balance off every month is important, so plan to use your credit card for purchases already in your budget.
Redeeming rewards
Capital One rewards don’t expire, and you can redeem them in a variety of ways, including:
Capital One Quicksilver Student Rewards Card: Benefits
In addition to cash-back rewards, the Capital One Quicksilver student card offers other benefits.
Travel benefits
While this isn’t a travel rewards credit card, student cardholders get some general Capital One travel perks, including:
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Capital One Travel. You can book travel through this service to access unique discounts and pay with a combination of your card and rewards.
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Travel insurance. If you pay for 100% of a travel expense with your card — such as the total cost of airfare or a hotel booking — that part of your trip is automatically covered by travel accident insurance.
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Concierge service. This 24/7 service is available to cardholders at no cost. It offers help with making travel arrangements or finding dining and entertainment options when you travel.
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Uber One membership. As a Capital One credit cardholder, you can get your Uber One fee covered. As of March 2024, this benefit is good through November 2024.
Protections and alerts
Capital One offers benefits that help cardholders manage their accounts and get the most out of each purchase, including those below:
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Extended warranty. When you purchase eligible items with your card, you can get an extended warranty that adds covered time after the manufacturer warranty expires.
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Price protection. If you purchase recommended travel via Capital One Travel and the price drops shortly after that, Capital One will reimburse you for the difference.
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$0 fraud liability. You aren’t held liable for unauthorized charges on your account if you report them in a timely manner.
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Eno. Capital One’s virtual assistant helps you manage your account. It can provide automatic notifications about spending, subscriptions and billing.
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CreditWise. As a Capital One cardholder, you get complimentary access to CreditWise. You can see your credit score and some information about your credit reports to better manage your credit.
Other benefits
As a Capital One cardholder, you also get some perks related to shopping, dining and entertainment. Capital One Shopping is a browser extension or app that you can use to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible when shopping online. Capital One Dining and Capital One Entertainment are perks that help you access unique dining and entertainment opportunities, and Capital One Cafe discounts lets you save 50% on handcrafted beverages at Capital One Cafe locations.
Fees, rates & limit
Rewards and perks can enhance your experience with a rewards credit card, but it’s essential to ensure you know how much you’re paying, if anything, for those perks. Digging into the fine print regarding fees and interest rates before you open a credit card account helps you do that.
Fees
This card doesn’t come with an annual fee, which means you don’t pay anything simply to have it in your wallet.
Some other fees — or lack of fees — to know about include:
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Foreign transaction fees. You won’t pay any fees if you use this card to make purchases outside of the country.
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Balance transfer fees. You won’t pay any fees to transfer balances to this card at the standard APR. If you are offered a promotional APR for balance transfer, the fee is 4% of the transferred amount.
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Cash advance fees. If you use your card to get a cash advance at an ATM or other location, you will pay 5% of the advance amount or $5, whichever is greater.
Interest rates
Your credit card interest rates determine how much you pay when you carry a balance from statement to statement.
Here’s a look at the interest rates for the Capital One Quicksilver Student Rewards credit card:
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Regular APR. You’ll pay a rate of 19.99%, 26.24%, or 29.99%, depending on your credit, and this rate is variable, which means it can change.
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Introductory APR on purchases. This card doesn’t come with an introductory APR offer for purchases.
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Introductory APR on balance transfers. This card doesn’t come with an introductory APR offer for balance transfers.
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APR for cash advances. The APR for cash advances is 29.99%.
Credit limit
The credit limit you’re offered on the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card depends on your credit score and other financial factors. Cardholders have reported credit limits starting around $750, but you might be offered a limit that is higher or lower. You’re automatically considered for the potential to increase your credit limit after six months, though.
How the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card compares
The Quicksilver Capital One student credit card compares favorably to other offers for college students on the market.
It doesn’t require a security deposit, and you typically start with a decent credit limit with this card. However, there are some other teen cards on the market aimed at students that could offer better rewards, especially if you tend to spend a lot in specific categories.
Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card vs. Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is a good example of a card that might let you earn more cash back in certain categories.
With this card, you earn:
- 3% cash back on certain streaming service subscriptions and entertainment and dining purchases
- 8% cash back on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 10% cash back on purchases through Uber and Uber Eats
- 1% cash back on everything else
In general, the SavorOne student card is otherwise similar to the Quicksilver card. The SavorOne might be a better choice if you mostly spend on entertainment and dining, as you can earn more rewards.
▶︎ Read more: Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards card review
Is the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card right for me?
This Capital One credit card for college students is best for enrolled students who have at least fair credit but want to continue to build their credit. Capital One will report your timely payments to all three major credit bureaus, which helps you build a stronger credit history.
▶︎ See our picks: Best credit cards for fair credit
If you’re still not convinced that the Quicksilver student card is the best credit card for you, these other options may be a good fit:
How do I apply for the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card?
You can learn more about the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card and apply online.
You’ll need your full name, a residential address and other contact information. You will also need to provide an image of a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license. You can usually take this image with your smartphone.
To demonstrate your status as a student, you may need a current student ID or a .edu email address.
Capital One advertises this credit card for students with fair credit. That means a credit score ranging between around 580 and 660. You can also get approved for this card if you have a good credit score, and if you don’t have a score at all, you may still have some chance at approval. If your score is lower than 580, you are unlikely to be approved for this card and may want to consider secured credit cards as an easy credit card to get.
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