If you have less than perfect credit, it can be hard to find the best credit card for your needs. The temptation is to apply the top card with the best rewards and the lowest rates and fees, but this can lead to disappointment when you are rejected.
Thankfully, Capital One is a credit card issuer that offers several different products that are designed for applicants with fair or good credit. Fair credit is generally defined as having a FICO score between 640-699, while good credit is generally in the range of 700-749. In fact, some of these cards even offer competitive rewards. Capital One offers both its QuicksilverOne cash rewards cards and its Platinum credit card to those with fair credit, but otherwise these cards are very different from each other.
Capital One QuicksilverOne Card
The Capital One QuicksilverOne card offers cash back rewards on all purchases with no limits. Cardholders receive 1.5% cash back on all of their purchases. In addition, new applicants receive nine months of interest free financing on both new purchases and balance transfers. Subsequently, the standard interest rate of 22.9% will apply to both new purchases and cash advances. This is a variable interest rate that can rise with the prime rate, although that has remained steady for several years.
Capital One also offers QuicksilverOne cardholders the opportunity to increase their credit line after making their first five monthly payments on time. Another benefit is Capital One's Credit Tracker app which offers cardholders a free monthly FICO score and a what-if scenario calculator that allows customers to see what would happen to their credit score under various potential circumstances. This card also offers extended warranty coverage, auto rental insurance, and a price protection policy that reimburses you for a difference in price should an eligible items be found at a lower price within 60 days of purchase when you make the purchase with your credit card. Finally, Capital One has partnered with Uber to offer 20% cash back on rides purchased with the QuicksilverOne card through April of 2016.
There is a $39 annual fee for this card, and no foreign transaction fees imposed on charges processed outside of the United States.
Capital One Platinum Card
The Capital One Platinum card has no rewards program, but also does not have an annual fee. Like the QuicksilverOne, it offers new cardholders the chance to receive a higher line of credit when they make their first five monthly payments on time. It also offers most of the same benefits of the more expensive QuicksilverOne including extended warranty coverage, auto rental insurance, and the price protection policy. Capital One's Credit Tracker app is also included.
The standard interest rate for this card is 24.9% (variable), and there is no promotional financing offer, but there is no annual fee for this card and no foreign transaction fees.
Which card should you get?
Both of these cards have a lot going for them including Capital One's great Credit Tracker app and their outstanding policy of no foreign transaction fees, which stands in contrast to most credit card issuers that impose a 3% fee anytime a charge is processed over the border. These cards also come with an exceptional slate of benefits, especially considering that they are competing for applicants with just fair credit.
The Capital One QuicksilverOne is clearly the better card in all but one respect. QuicksilverOne cardholders enjoy the 1.5% cash back rewards, but they also receive the interest free financing offer that the Platinum card lacks. In addition, QuicksilverOne cardholders have a slightly lower standard interest rate, and get to use the 20% discount on rides from Uber.
The one area where the Capital One Platinum card exceeds the QuicksilverOne card is that it has no annual fee. As annual fees go, $39 isn't extravagant, but it can be an important consideration for some applicants.
But there is one other way that some might consider the Platinum card to be better than the QuicksilverOne card: in the area of rewards.
Since the QuicksilverOne card offers rewards and the Platinum card doesn't, how can the Platinum card be superior? The answer is that rewards can be seen as an incentive to spend more money, and some credit card users who have struggled with debt do not need to have those potential rewards prodding their subconscious to spend more. These cardholders know that earning a mere 1.5% in rewards means they may be wasting of 98.5% of the cost of an unnecessary purchase, not to mention the cost of any interest incurred.
So for those who can afford the modest annual fee, and are not tempted to spend more money to earn rewards, the QuicksilverOne card makes sense. For those looking for a simpler card with no annual fee, the Platinum card is the easy choice. By examining the strengths and weaknesses of these two cards, you can choose the ideal product for your individual needs.
