Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card Review [2024]: Building Credit (While Earning Rewards)

CREDIT CARDS - CASH BACK CREDIT CARDS

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards card could help you build credit, earn rewards, and upgrade to an unsecured card.

By Ben Walker, CEPF, CFEI®

Edited by Yahia Barakah, CEPF

Updated Oct. 22, 2024

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Secured credit cards are often a viable option for obtaining and building credit, but they don’t typically offer many benefits. For example, secured cards might not offer options for earning rewards.

But with the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card, you could have the opportunity to build your credit while earning rewards on your purchases. And if you qualify, your secured card could eventually be upgraded to an unsecured version.

Learn about the pros and cons of the Quicksilver Secured and see whether it’s a good fit for you.

Build Credit and Earn Cash Back

Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

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Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

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Current Offer

1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day

Annual Fee

Rewards Rate

unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel

Benefits and Drawbacks

Card Details

In this Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards credit card review

Who should get the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card?
Card basics
Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card benefits and perks
Drawbacks to the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card
Earning & redeeming cash back
Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card FAQs
Other cards to consider

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

The Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards is designed to help individuals with poor or limited credit to qualify for a legitimate credit card. They would then have the opportunity to build their credit and potentially qualify for better financial opportunities in the future.

You can often qualify for secured credit cards without having a good or excellent credit score, but they still look and function like a typical card. Your credit limit is often tied to a refundable security deposit that you provide if you’re approved.

The minimum deposit amount for the Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards is $200. You could deposit more to raise your credit limit (depending on your creditworthiness). Using the card and making timely payments could help build your credit history and increase your credit score.

This card likely wouldn’t make sense if you have good or excellent credit and might already qualify for credit cards with more benefits.

Card basics

Card type	Secured
Credit card issuer	Capital One
Credit card network	Mastercard
Annual fee	$0
Reward rate	Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
Recommended credit score	Fair
Foreign transaction fee	None

Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card benefits and perks

Helpful rewards: Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
$0 annual cost: With a $0 annual fee, there’s no annual cost to worry about.
Refundable security deposit: You need to put down at least a $200 security deposit if you’re approved for this card. This deposit acts as your available credit and could be fully refundable in as few as six months if you use your card and make full on-time payments. You could also put a bigger refundable deposit if you qualify for a credit limit increase. The maximum deposit and credit limit is $3,000.
Availability to lower credit scores: This card might be available to individuals with poor credit or limited credit history and could help you improve your history with responsible use.
Credit history progress: Your credit activity on this card is reported to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, the three major credit bureaus. This means you may be able to improve your credit history and credit score as you use this card and make full on-time payments.
CreditWise: This is a free service from Capital One that helps you monitor your credit history, keep track of your credit score, and review your TransUnion credit report.
Automatic credit line reviews: Capital One offers automatic credit line reviews in as few as six months after account opening. This could help increase your initial credit line if you qualify.
Upgrade to unsecured: You might qualify to upgrade your card to the unsecured version in as few as six months with responsible use and full on-time payments. This wouldn’t change any card benefits, but your credit limit would no longer be tied to a security deposit. You get your deposit back minus any standing charges if you qualify for the upgrade.
No foreign transaction fees: This credit card offers zero foreign transaction fees, which means you wouldn’t have to pay additional fees if you make purchases abroad.
Eno: Eno is a virtual service that offers customizable options to help you stay aware of your Capital One accounts, including tracking your spending or sending alerts about potentially fraudulent transactions.
Capital One Travel: Access Capital One’s travel booking service where you could redeem your cashback rewards toward flights, hotel stays, and car rentals.

Drawbacks to the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

No early spend bonus: Many card issuers provide a welcome bonus on their credit cards to help new cardholders immediately earn rewards. The Quicksilver Secured doesn’t offer an early spend bonus. Check out our dedicated page to compare credit cards to see recommendations with welcome offers.
Security deposit: You have to put down a security deposit for this card, which is tied directly to your card’s credit limit. This is common for secured credit cards, but having some money tied up could be inconvenient.
High annual percentage rate (APR): It’s not recommended to carry a balance on most credit cards because of high interest rates that lead to costly interest charges. This is also true for the Quicksilver Secured, which has a 29.99% (variable) APR. The best credit cards for carrying balances are typically balance transfer credit cards with intro APR offers. Make sure to check for the balance transfer fees associated with these cards.

Earning & redeeming cash back

Best ways to earn

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured offers unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

With this rewards program, you could use your card for all your everyday purchases if you want to earn as much cash back as possible. This could include any existing expenses, such as groceries, gas, internet, streaming services, and more. Doing this would give you at least 1.5% in cash back on everything, as this card has no specific bonus categories.

If you have an upcoming trip, consider earning unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Using Capital One Travel for every travel booking might not make sense, but it’s typically worth comparing against other options to discover potential deals.

Categories	Rewards rate
Every purchase, every day	1.5%
Hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel	unlimited 5%

Maximizing your redemptions

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured offers these redemption options for your cash back:

Mailed check
Statement credit
Cover recent purchases
Gift cards
Capital One Travel

Cash back is typically redeemed at a 1:1 ratio, regardless of the redemption option. This means one cashback reward would be worth 1 cent. So 10,000 cashback rewards points would be worth $100.

Because the redemption options on this card typically hold the same value, the best option for you depends on your lifestyle and financial needs.

Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card FAQs

Is Quicksilver secured or unsecured?

Capital One offers several Quicksilver cards, including the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card, which, as the name suggests, is a secured card. Capital One also offers the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card and Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card, which are unsecured cards.

Is Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card a good card?

Yes, the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card is a good card for those with poor or bad credit. You may qualify for this card with poor credit yet get a healthy cashback rewards rate. Please note that credit scores are only one factor that card issuers look at and your score does I not guarantee approval. Capital One also offers automatic credit line reviews and the opportunity to upgrade this card to an unsecured card in as few as six months of responsible use.

Is it hard to get a Quicksilver Capital One credit card?

The difficulty of getting a Quicksilver Capital One credit card depends on your credit score and which card you apply for. If you’d like to qualify for Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card, you may want to have a good or excellent credit score, but the Quicksilver Secured is often available to those with limited or bad credit.

Is Quicksilver a good credit card to build credit?

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a good credit card to build credit if you’re able to qualify and use it responsibly. If you have limited or bad credit, consider applying for the Quicksilver Secured. You may qualify with a lower credit score (though credit scores are only one factor that credit card issuers look at), and your credit card account’s activity is reported to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, the three major credit bureaus.

What kind of credit score is needed for Capital One Quicksilver?

It could help to have a good or excellent credit score if you’d like to qualify for the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card. According to the FICO credit scoring model, a good credit score ranges between 670 and 739. If your credit score isn’t high enough to be in this range, you might have better chances of qualifying for the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card or Quicksilver Secured.

Do note that your credit score is only one factor that credit card issuers take into account and having a certain score does not guarantee approval.

Other cards to consider

If the Capital One Quicksilver Secured doesn’t seem like the right fit for you, consider other secured credit cards. Popular options include the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card or OpenSky^® Secured Visa^® Credit Card.

The Capital One Platinum Secured has a $0 annual fee and offers refundable security deposits as low as $49. This might be a better option in certain situations because the Quicksilver Secured requires at least a $200 security deposit.

This card doesn’t offer any rewards, but you might qualify for it even if you have a low credit score. Additionally, you could have the opportunity to upgrade to an unsecured version in the future.

Read our Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card review to learn more.

The OpenSky Secured Visa has a $35 annual fee and offers refundable security deposits from $200 to $3,000. The annual cost is higher than the Quicksilver Secured or Capital One Platinum Secured, but this card has no credit check involved. The card application might take fewer than five minutes to complete.

Check out our OpenSky^® Secured Visa^® Credit Card review for more information.