Key takeaways

  • The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card offers an unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases, making it the perfect card for everyday spending.
  • I prefer to keep my spending strategy simple with the no-annual-fee Quicksilver, and I especially enjoy the option to cover Amazon purchases with my rewards.
  • Though I have good credit, CreditWise was helpful in getting my score in tip-top shape as I prepared to apply for a mortgage.

This page was originally published in July 2023. See our Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards review for current rewards rates and card details.

I’m someone who likes to make as few unnecessary decisions as possible. As soon as I read about people like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg wearing the same outfit every day — and getting away with it! — I bought my favorite shirt in eight different colors (one for every day of the week, plus one to wear while you wash the other seven).

For me, making fewer small choices throughout the day helps me save brain space for all of the big stuff I want to think about — like writing articles, practicing the piano and challenging my boyfriend to another game of chess (that he’s destined to win).

That’s why I love the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card. It earns an unlimited flat rate of 1.5 percent cash back on every purchase. That means I can use it as my everyday spending card without having to decide, every time I want to buy something, whether or not I am using the right credit card to maximize my rewards.

Simple, flat-rate cash back

What I love most about the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards is its unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on every purchase. I’ve been writing about personal finance for nearly a decade, so I know I could be using a credit card that offers higher rewards on grocery purchases. But if I did that, I’d probably also want one of the best credit cards for restaurants. Then I’d tell myself I really ought to get a credit card that rewards online shopping, and suddenly I’d have a whole stack of credit cards and a mental decision tree that I’d have to run through every time I wanted to buy something. And that isn’t my style. Unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on everything is 100 percent my style.

Plus, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards card offers all kinds of flexible cash redemption options. I used to turn all of my cash back rewards into statement credits, but lately I’ve been using them to cover Amazon.com purchases. All I have to do is apply my Capital One rewards at checkout, and that’s one more problem solved without me having to think about it.

No annual fee

My second favorite thing about the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards is that it comes with no annual fee. I’ve had credit cards with annual fees before (airline credit cards, mostly), and I’ve always ended up in an awkward position of having to decide whether or not to close an account after learning a card is no longer serving my needs (for example, I moved from a Southwest Airlines hub to an Alaska Airlines hub).

I don’t like closing old credit card accounts. Losing all of that available credit can lower your credit score, and if it’s one of your older credit card accounts, you could also lose some of your credit history. But I don’t like paying annual fees on credit cards I’m not using every day. That’s why I love a good no-annual-fee credit card — and the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards is one of the best.

Monitors my credit score

I’ve had good credit for a long time, but it wasn’t until I bought a house and added a mortgage to my credit mix that I got my credit score above 800. I know that these are two factors that helped me earn an 800 credit score because of CreditWise from Capital One, a free credit-monitoring app that helps track your credit score and improve your credit.

I love CreditWise. Before applying for my mortgage, I used it to help me get my credit score as high as possible, and now I’m using it to track how my day-to-day activity affects my credit. For example, if I spend a little extra one month, my credit utilization ratio will go up and my credit score will go down (but only by a few points, thank goodness).

CreditWise also keeps track of any threats to my identity or personal information, which is another bonus. You also don’t need to have a Capital One credit card to use CreditWise. This service is free and available to everyone, and I highly recommend it.

Of course, the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards card isn’t the only top flat-rate cash back card out there, and you may find that there’s another card that would work better for you.

If you’re thinking about adding a flat-rate cash back card to your wallet, I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest that you take a look at the Citi Double Cash® Card, which gives you the opportunity to earn 2 percent cash back on every purchase — 1 percent when you make a purchase, and 1 percent when you pay that purchase off. If you regularly pay off your balances in full and on time, you could earn more cash back from the Citi Double Cash Card than I’m currently earning with the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards.

Or, if you’re still building your credit score, you might want to take a look at the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card instead. The QuicksilverOne is one of the few cash back credit cards for people with fair credit, and it offers 1.5 percent cash back on every purchase. That said, you’ll need to pay a $39 annual fee for the privilege of holding the card. If you were hoping to get a card that doesn’t charge an annual fee, this might not be for you.

The bottom line

I chose the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards because I already had a Capital One checking and savings account. Thus, adding a Capital One credit card was a very easy decision for me to make. However, check out all of your options to see which top cash back card might be the best fit for you before you apply for a new card.