Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card Review [2024]: Earn Cash Back, Build Credit, and Skip the Annual Fee

Student credit cards don’t often provide the best rewards or benefits available, typically because they’re designed as beginner cards. But certain credit card companies, such as Capital One, have been making progress with issuing cards that could help students build their credit while also providing them with helpful benefits.

This Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card review digs into the details of this new Capital One credit card, showing where its strengths and weaknesses lie. See whether it makes sense for your situation.

Build Credit & Earn Cash Back

Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

4.75

FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

Compare Credit Cards

Current Offer

Earn a one-time $50 cash bonus after spending $100 in the first 3 months

Annual Fee

$0

Rewards Rate

unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits

• Welcome bonus: Earn a one-time $50 cash bonus after spending $100 in the first 3 months
• Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day
• No annual fee
• No foreign transaction fees
• Automatic consideration for higher credit line after 6 months

Drawbacks

• No intro APR offer

Card Details

• Earn a one-time $50 cash bonus after spending $100 in the first 3 months
• unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel

Who should get the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card?

The Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card is available only to college or university students who are 18 or older and have a valid U.S. address. As with most student credit cards, you don’t need an excellent credit score to qualify for this card — below average credit or limited credit is likely enough for approval.

This card could make sense for any student who wants to start building their credit history while earning a flat cashback rewards rate at the same time. Many starter cards offer few benefits or no earning potential, so this card is a step above those options. If you would prefer a rewards program that allows you to earn bonus rewards in specific categories instead of a flat rate on every purchase, the Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card might not be the best fit for you.

The Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card has a $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. This should slot nicely into the typical financial situation for many students who don’t want to worry about fees. And if you’re planning to study abroad, having no foreign transaction fees could prove useful.

Card basics

Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards benefits and perks

• Earning potential: Cardholders can earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. This type of rewards rate can be helpful for students who often have a wide range of expenses, from food to books and more. The travel rewards are an added bonus if you book hotels or rental cars through Capital One Travel.
• Low credit requirement: You likely don’t need excellent credit or good credit to be approved. As with many student credit cards, this card typically requires limited or fair credit history — which could make it easier for students to qualify.
• $0 annual fee: The Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card has a $0 annual fee, so there’s no annual cost to worry about.
• No foreign transaction fees: If you’re traveling or studying abroad, you won’t have to deal with foreign transaction fees when using this card.
• Extended warranty protection: Eligible purchases made with this card have their warranty extended.
• Travel accident insurance: Eligible losses are covered when this card is used to pay for your fare.
• Important alerts: Account alerts from Eno can keep you updated on potential mistake charges, duplicate purchases, or recurring bill increases. Additionally, CreditWise can alert you to changes on your TransUnion or Experian credit reports.
• Capital One Entertainment: Receive special access to music, sporting, and dining events through the Capital One Entertainment portal. You have the option to use your rewards, your card, or a combination of the two to pay for tickets.

Drawbacks to this card

• No intro APR offer: Some credit cards offer 0% introductory APR offers, typically for balance transfers or purchases. Unfortunately, this card doesn’t have either of these options. For these types of credit card offers, check out our list of the best balance transfer cards.

Earning and redeeming cash back

Best ways to earn

This card doesn’t earn bonus rewards in different everyday categories, such as groceries or gas. Rather, it has a flat unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. 

So the best way to achieve cashback earnings with the Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card is to use it on all your everyday purchases, as well as hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.

Everyday purchases could include using your card for groceries, filling up your car, eating out, and anything else you’re already spending money on. If you’re able to pay any of your bills or utilities with a credit card (without incurring fees) then it could make sense to use your card for those as well.

Using your card for everything doesn’t mean spending more money than you typically do. It simply means changing your purchasing habits to take advantage of credit card rewards.

Maximizing your redemptions

If you use your card to make purchases, you’ll earn cash back at a 1.5% rate. Once you earn enough cash back, you can decide how you want to redeem your rewards.

The Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card offers multiple ways to redeem your cash back, including:

• Statement credits
• Mailed check
• Cover previous purchases
• Gift cards
• Cover PayPal purchases
• Shop with Points at Amazon.com

Capital One doesn’t offer public information about its reward redemption rates or how much value you can get from each redemption option. But for cashback credit cards, the best redemptions are typically the ones with an actual cash component. 

For example, getting statement credits or receiving a check in the mail are the closest options for converting your rewards into actual cash in hand. Other options include gift cards or covering online purchases, but these aren’t guaranteed to have the best value.

Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card FAQs

Other cards to consider

The Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards card offers college students an opportunity to build credit while earning cash back at a flat rate. But it might not be the best credit card for every situation. For other options, check out our list of the best credit cards for bad credit. You can also consider the Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card and the Chase Freedom Rise℠.

The SavorOne Student Cash Rewards card is another student card offered by Capital One. It has a $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. But the big difference between this card and the Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards is in the earning rate. Instead of flat cashback rewards on every purchase, you can earn 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment; 5% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 3% on dining, entertainment, streaming services, and grocery stores (excluding superstores such as Walmart® and Target®); and 1% on all other purchases.

For more details, check out our SavorOne Student Cash Rewards card review.

The Chase Freedom Rise has a $0 annual fee and provides 1.5% cash back on all purchases. Cardholders can also earn $25 statement credit for enrolling in automatic payments within the first three months of account opening.

Build Credit & Earn Cash Back

Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

4.75

FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

4.75

FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Why We Like It

Earn a one-time $50 cash bonus after spending $100 in the first 3 months

See how these cards compare:

Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

• Welcome bonus: Earn a one-time $50 cash bonus after spending $100 in the first 3 months
• No annual fee
• 3% unlimited cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services, and at grocery stores (excluding superstores such as Walmart® and Target®)
• 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment
• Automatic consideration for a higher credit limit after 6 months
• No foreign transaction fee

Chase Freedom Rise℠

• $0 annual fee
• Earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases
• Earn $25 statement credit for enrolling in automatic payments within the first three months of account opening