Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students review 2024: Start building your credit and earn cash back on all your purchases

The Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card * The information for the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. is geared toward helping undergrads begin their credit journey and comes with a cash-back rewards program for every purchase made with the card.

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students basics

• Annual fee: $0.
• Welcome bonus: $50 cash bonus after spending $100 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. 
• Rewards: 10% cash back on Uber & Uber Eats through 11/14/2024, 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.5% cash back on every other purchase.
• Other perks and benefits: Extended warranty protection, travel accident insurance, concierge service, travel assistance, virtual card numbers, account alerts, card lock, credit score and credit reports alerts through CreditWise. 
• Does it report to all three credit bureaus? Yes.
• Does the issuer offer a preapproval tool? Yes.
• Recommended credit score: Fair.

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students review

The best time to start building credit is arguably while you are in college. If you own and use a student credit card responsibly, when you graduate, your credit score should be in a good place. This in turn can help you qualify for other important expenses like an apartment lease, your own cell phone plan and future loans. 

The Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Student credit card comes with a $0 annual fee and a simple rewards program of 10% cash back on Uber & Uber Eats through 11/14/2024, 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 1.5% cash back on every other purchase. Granted, there are other student cards that offer higher rewards rates on certain purchases, such as gas and restaurants, but those generally require you to remember to opt-in every quarter to the higher rewards categories and often have spending caps on the higher rewards rate.

The card offers some solid travel benefits and carries no foreign transaction fees if you’re planning to travel abroad. Overall, it’s an easy and uncomplicated starter card that can benefit anyone who uses it responsibly.

Be aware that Capital One has the following requirements for your card application to be considered:

• You must be at least 18 years old to apply.
• You have to have a valid Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.
• You must be a student who is currently enrolled or accepted at an accredited university, community college or other higher education institution or planning to enroll in the next three months.
• You must show some sort of income that exceeds your monthly rent or mortgage payments by at least $425.
• You haven’t mismanaged any other Capital One credit cards in the past.

Pros

• Build credit while still in school: If used responsibly, you could graduate with a solid credit history and credit score – which will help you qualify for a lease, car loan or mortgage.
• No annual fee: You won’t be charged an annual fee for this card.
• Welcome bonus: Earn a $50 cash bonus after spending $100 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
• Travel benefits: Not all student cards offer travel accident insurance, complimentary concierge services or free price drop protection for travel reservations.
• No foreign transaction fees: If you’re going to travel abroad, you won’t have to pay a fee for converting purchases to U.S. dollars.

Cons

• Potentially high APR: Once approved for the card, you may end up with a very high APR anywhere between 19.99% to 29.99% variable APR on purchases and balance transfers. Avoid carrying a balance from month to month as interest charges will inflate what you owe.
• No 0% intro APR offer: Some student credit cards offer an intro APR of 0% for a specified period of time. This card does not and if you don’t pay off your full balance every month, interest charges will be added to what you owe.
• Low credit limit: You may be granted a low credit limit at first, which is not unusual for a student credit card. Once you demonstrate that you are a responsible borrower by paying at least the minimum amount due every month, on time every month, as well as keeping your balance low – know that Capital One will review your account for a credit limit increase after six months of having the card.

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students rewards

The Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students card earns:

• 10% cash back on Uber & Uber Eats through 11/14/2024.
• 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
• 1.5% cash back on every other purchase.

To give you an idea of how much cash back you could earn the first year (which includes the welcome bonus), we estimated how much you would spend in those categories in the table below:

SPENDING CATEGORY	SPENDING AMOUNT	CASH-BACK RATE	CASH BACK EARNED
Uber & Uber Eats	$1,000	10%	$100.00
Hotels & rental cars booked through Capital One Travel	$1,470	5%	$73.50
All purchases	$10,074	1.50%	$151.11
TOTAL	$12,544		$324.61

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There’s also a first-year welcome bonus of a $50 cash bonus after spending $100 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. 

While the cash back you earn isn’t going to make you rich, your focus should be to learn how to use a credit card responsibly by only charging what you can afford to repay every month and pay on time, every time, as well as not routinely maxing out the card. All these factors will contribute to building up your credit history and a good credit score.

You can redeem any amount of the rewards you earn for cash, statement credits, gift cards, for Amazon.com and PayPal purchases or to cover a recent card purchase.

What is a good credit score? Find out more. 

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students perks

The Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students card comes with some nice benefits for cardholders including:

• Extended warranty coverage on your eligible purchases.
• Travel accident insurance. 
• Complimentary concierge service to get personalized help with dining, entertainment and travel plans.
• 24-hour travel assistance services if your card is lost or stolen.
• Virtual account numbers from Eno – a Capital One tool that allows you to use a unique card number when shopping online.
• Access to Capital One’s CreditWise program, which alerts you to credit report changes as well as free access to your credit score.

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students credit-building features

Learning how to responsibly manage a credit card early on has numerous benefits, including learning from your mistakes. It’s not unusual for someone new to credit cards to miss a payment, max out their credit limit or fall into debt, so moving past these hurdles while you’re establishing credit can help prevent you from making the same errors down the line.

Like many student credit cards, the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students card will most likely come with a low credit limit at first, which can prevent you from getting into too much trouble by spending more than what you can repay. Plus, Capital One offers numerous tools to help you keep on track to becoming a responsible borrower, including:

• Setting up autopayments to ensure your bill is paid on time.
• Managing your account through the Capital One mobile app.
• Monitor recurring charges such as subscriptions.
• Eno, the Capital One assistant, allows you to check your balance or pay your bill via text.
• Monitor your credit score progress and credit reports through CreditWise.

Plus, potential applicants can see if they have a good chance of being approved for the card without harming their credit score through Capital One’s pre-qualification tool. While pre-qualification doesn’t guarantee approval, as you will still have to formally apply, it does provide you with better approval odds.

How the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students compares to other student cards 

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students vs. Discover it® Student Cash Back

The Discover it® Student Cash Back offers a higher rewards rate than the Quicksilver Rewards for Students card, earning 5% cash back at different places each quarter up to the quarterly maximum once activated and 1% cash back on all other purchases. However, this requires you to log into your account and “activate” the elevated rewards categories each quarter. Depending on where you tend to spend, these bonus opportunities on the Discover it® Student Cash Back may or may not earn better rewards for you.

There is no annual fee and you don’t need to have a credit score to apply. Plus, if you pay late one time, you won’t incur a late fee and paying late won’t result in a higher APR. While the Discover it® Student Cash Back doesn’t offer any travel benefits, it does come with a 0% intro APR on purchases for 6 months, then a variable APR of 18.24% to 27.24% applies. There's a 3% intro balance transfer fee, up to 5% fee on future balance transfers (see terms). The better pick between the two will come down to your ability and desire to manage rotating rewards categories.

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students vs. Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card for Students * The information for the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card for Students has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Another $0-annual-fee student card with a flat-rate rewards program to consider is the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card for Students * The information for the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card for Students has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. . Cardholders can earn 1.5 points per $1 on purchases, plus get a 0% intro APR for 15 billing cycles on purchases and balance transfers made in the first 60 days, and then a 19.24% to 29.24% variable APR. A 3% intro balance transfer fee will apply for the first 60 days; then a 4% fee applies to future balance transfers. If you need extra time to pay off big-ticket items like a new laptop or textbooks, that lengthy intro APR period can be a boon as long as you pay it off completely before the intro offer expires. The card also offers 25,000 points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. 

However, rewards with this card can only be redeemed for a statement credit to pay for flights, hotels, vacation packages, cruises, rental cars or baggage fees, and for restaurant spending, including takeout. You might be better off earning rewards to use any way you’d like.

Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students vs. Petal® 1 “No Annual Fee” Visa® Credit Card * The information for the Petal® 1 “No Annual Fee” Visa® Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The Petal® 1 “No Annual Fee” Visa® Credit Card * The information for the Petal® 1 “No Annual Fee” Visa® Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. (issued by WebBank) is a credit-building credit card that has no annual fee and is aimed at those who have a poor credit score or no credit history. You won’t earn rewards on every purchase, but you could earn between 2% to 10% cash back at select local and national merchants via Petal Perks.

There are no meaningful perks or benefits that come with the Petal 1 card, and it also comes with a very high 25.24% to 34.74% variable APR, so you’ll want to pay off the entire balance every statement period to avoid high interest charges. And while your initial credit limit may be low, Petal will increase your limit after six months of making on-time payments.

The Petal 1 card reports to all three credit bureaus, has no foreign transaction fees and offers a preapproval tool to see if you can qualify. If you’ve made some credit mistakes in the past that would prevent you from being approved for any of the other cards mentioned in this post, then you may want to take a look at the Petal 1 card instead.

Should you get the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students?

If you’re a college student who meets the criteria listed above and you pre-qualify for the Capital One Quicksilver Rewards for Students, then this card could be a fit as you embark on your credit-building journey. It has no annual fee, some unique travel protections for a student card (plus no foreign transaction fees), a straightforward rewards program and a bevy of tools to help you keep on the right track when building your credit score. 

Before making your decision, it’s worth reviewing other credit card options designed for students. Our list of the best student credit cards for no credit is a good place to start.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

^{For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.}