Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Review: Build Credit, Earn Cashback

Having a strong credit score opens doors: It can help you get a loan, lower your interest rate, and qualify you for credit cards that earn valuable rewards. 

But even if some financial challenges or poor spending has dropped your credit score, that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck with credit cards.

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card offers a foot in the door if your credit isn’t where you want it to be. 

Overview of the Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards 

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card provides a way for you to access a credit card even with less-than-fabulous credit history. 

A secured card requires a deposit, and in this case, you’ll need to make an initial deposit of $200 to establish your credit line. You can also deposit more than the minimum if you want a higher credit limit (the maximum is between $1,000 and $3,000, depending on your creditworthiness). 

Over time, Capital One will report your payment activity to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, and your credit score should increase. 

After you’ve proven responsible credit use, your card will become an unsecured card and your deposit will be returned to you. 

Beyond the credit-building aspect, this card also pays cashback on your purchase. It’s a no-frills benefit that’s easy to get and not offered by many credit-building cards. 

Earning Rewards

The Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards pays a nice 1.5% cashback on all purchases, without the stress of rotating categories. 

While 1.5% is low compared to some cards that reward you with 5% or 3% cashback on certain categories, when you’re still building your credit, it’s not bad.

Plus, if you book rental cars or hotels through Capital One Travel, those purchases net you 5% cashback. 

Two more perks are that Capital One doesn’t cap your rewards earnings and your rewards never expire.

Learn more about the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card. 

Redeeming Rewards

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured has a fairly simple rewards program. You can redeem your rewards for:

• A check or statement credit
• Gift cards
• Shopping at Amazon and certain online retailers with PayPal
• Flights, hotels, or rental cars through the Capital One Travel portal 

You can also set up automatic redemptions to “set it and forget it,” with the option of either redeeming them at a set point of the year or when your account reaches a specific cash amount. 

Benefits of the Quicksilver Secured

Cash rewards and credit-building are the main reasons to get this card, but the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card also comes with other benefits:

• Eno, a digital assistant that provides account alerts
• Autopay option or personalized payment setup
• Authorized users permitted
• 24/7 customer service
• Virtual (alias) card numbers 
• $0 fraud liability on unauthorized charges
• Mobile app
• CreditWise free credit monitoring
• No foreign transaction fees
• Capital One Offers and Capital One Shopping for extra coupons, discounts, and statement credits

Who Should Get the Quicksilver Secured?

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card is an excellent option if you’re struggling with your credit score or haven’t had much of an opportunity to build up a credit history yet.

All you need is $200 for your initial deposit (which will be returned to you after you’ve proven responsible use), which makes it fairly accessible to most new borrowers.

Who Shouldn’t Get the Quicksilver Secured?

If you don’t have the cash to make the initial $200 security deposit, then you may want to seek out credit-builder cards that have more lenient requirements.

Also, if your credit score is good or excellent, go for a card that has more robust features and rewards. You likely don’t need a secured credit card.

Alternatives to the Quicksilver Secured

For cashback on restaurants and gas

Like the Capital One Quicksilver Secured, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card requires a $200 security deposit, has no annual fee, and helps you build credit while earning rewards. 

Rewards with Discover it are a bit more varied, but if gas and dining are a large percentage of your spending, this card may be more appealing. 

For customizable rewards

Similar to the Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card has no annual fee and requires a $200 initial deposit to sign up. 

However, your $200 deposit is not necessarily refundable — Bank of America says that “not all customers will qualify” to have their deposit returned. 

It offers the same credit-building benefits as the Capital One Quicksilver Secured card, with more customizable rewards, plus a free FICO score update each month.

For no hard inquiry

If you are having trouble getting approved for any of the above cards, the Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa® Credit Card may offer a remedy. 

There’s no hard credit check to open this account, making it a solid option for those with truly poor or lacking credit history. Plus, the account doesn’t charge any interest on purchases.¹

For this credit card, you must open a Chime® Checking account. Then, you can move an amount of your choosing from the checking account to the secured credit account, and that’s your spending limit.²

A glaring difference with the Chime secured card is the lack of rewards. You won’t earn any cashback, and there’s no unsecured card to upgrade to — so once you don’t need a credit-building card, you’ll have to apply for a card elsewhere. 

Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

1. Out-of-network ATM withdrawal and OTC advance fees may apply. View The Bancorp agreement or Stride agreement for details; see back of card for issuer.

2. Money added to Credit Builder will be held in a secured deposit account as collateral for your Credit Builder Visa card, and you can spend up to this amount. You can use money deposited in your Secured Deposit Account to pay off your charges at the end of every month.

The Bottom Line

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card helps accomplish two primary goals: building your credit and earning cash rewards. You earn a flat rate of cashback on all purchases and even more on travel booked through Capital One’s travel portal. 

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Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.