Capital One Platinum vs Quicksilver

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Capital One’s credit card portfolio includes a variety of no-annual-fee personal cards, each with its own rewards and benefits. The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card and Capital One Platinum Credit Card are among the most popular, but while the two cards have a few features in common, they differ in most respects.

Read on to see what you’ll get from each card, and why one is clearly superior if you can get it.

We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Capital One Quicksilver and Platinum Welcome Bonus Offers

The contrast between these two cards is apparent from the outset due to their disparate welcome bonuses. The Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card offers a one-time $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within three months of account opening. Plenty of credit cards come with more substantial sign-up bonuses, but the Quicksilver welcome offer is on par with what you’ll get from other top no-annual-fee credit cards.

In comparison, the Capital One Platinum does not offer a welcome bonus. This is common among credit cards for average or fair credit, though some cards in that class still come with incentives to apply (like an introductory 0% APR or cash back match). The lack of a welcome bonus is just one of several ways the Platinum card fails to measure up to the Quicksilver card.

Ongoing Rewards Earning

The Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card has a simple, consistent rewards structure. You’ll earn 5% cash back on hotels and car rentals booked through the Capital One travel portal, plus unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases. You can redeem rewards as a statement credit to your card account (among other options) with no minimum redemption threshold. Your rewards won’t expire so long as your account remains open and in good standing, so you can save them up or cash them out as frequently as you’d like.

The Capital One Platinum also has a simple, consistent rewards structure: It doesn’t earn points, miles, or cash back of any kind for ongoing spending. A lack of rewards is also common among credit cards for fair credit, but not universal, as several competing card products offer cash-back rates of 1% or higher. That means with respect to your return on purchases, the Platinum card falls short of not only the Quicksilver card, but also other cards in its own class.

To illustrate the difference, consider a cardholder who charges an average of $500 per month ($6,000 annually). Assuming none of those purchases are hotels or rental cars booked through Capital One, then that $6,000 in spending on the Quicksilver card would earn $90 of rewards each year. The same spending on the Platinum card would earn $0 in rewards, and that gap in returned value would replicate every year.

Benefits and Features

Both the Capital One Quicksilver and Platinum cards offer an assortment of standard features you’ll find on most credit cards, such as zero fraud liability, contactless payment, autopay, and the ability to add authorized users. You can opt into security alerts by phone, text, or email in the event of suspicious transactions, and lock your account instantly by phone or through the Capital One mobile app in case your card is lost or stolen.

The Quicksilver card offers several valuable benefits on top of the basics. You’ll get up to six months of complimentary Uber One membership, which normally costs $9.99 per month, and provides perks like discounts and waived fees. You’ll also get extended warranty protection to cover purchases beyond what’s provided by the manufacturer, and travel accident insurance when you use your card to pay for eligible fares.

As with rewards and welcome bonuses, the Platinum card offers very little in terms of additional benefits. You’ll be automatically considered for a credit limit increase in as little as six months, which is useful if you’re approved initially for an insufficient line of credit, but provides little value otherwise.

Annual Fees and Other Costs

The fee structures of the two cards are similar, but not identical. Neither one charges an annual fee, and both are free of foreign transaction fees, so there’s no added cost for using them in other countries. 

Where the two cards differ is in their respective interest rates. The Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card offers a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months (3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months), and a 19.74% – 29.74% Variable APR beyond that. In contrast, the Capital One Platinum has a 29.99% Variable APR with no introductory rate.

The difference in interest rates between the two cards isn’t compelling, since carrying a balance at the standard APR is not an attractive option in either case. If you do need to carry a balance, however, then the Quicksilver card is by far the better option thanks to its introductory 0% APR offer.

Capital One Platinum and Quicksilver Side-by-Side Comparison

Is the Capital One Quicksilver or Platinum Right for You?

Given the disparities in welcome bonus offers, ongoing rewards, benefits, and interest rates, the Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card is clearly preferable to the Capital One Platinum for those who qualify. However, not all applicants will qualify, so deciding between these two cards is also a question of eligibility.

Quicksilver cardholders typically have good credit or better, based on Insider assumptions. Good credit is defined as a FICO score of 670 or above by FICO. If your credit score falls short, then it’s hard to argue the Quicksilver card is a better option even if it offers superior benefits and rewards, since you likely won’t be able to get it anyway. Applying will add a hard inquiry to your credit history with a low chance of approval. Keep in mind that credit scores are guidelines and not a guarantee of approval or denial since there are many variables considered. 

Those with fair credit are often fit for the Platinum card, based on Insider assumptions, so a FICO score between 580-669 should suffice to be considered. If your credit score is in that range, then the Platinum card is the better bet despite its lackluster features.

If you’re uncertain whether you’re eligible for either card, Capital One offers a pre-approval application to help you estimate your chances of approval without formally applying. Pre-approval is a strong indication your application will succeed, but not a guarantee. If you don’t get pre-approval, Capital One also offers secured versions of both cards and a student version of the Quicksilver card, all of which have less stringent credit requirements.