On top of a great boost to its welcome bonus, this card’s simple rewards structure and list of protections can make it worthwhile.

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Snapshot

4.1

Bankrate rating

Rating: 4.1 stars out of 5

Bottom line

This card could be an excellent choice if you value simplicity and want to avoid annual fees, but a card that earns more cash back in specific business spending categories may be more rewarding.

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Capital One Spark Cash Select Overview

The Capital One Spark Cash Select is a hassle-free business card that earns cash back on every purchase, offering a decent flat rewards rate and sign-up bonus for no annual fee (See Rates & Fees).

The card is an offshoot of the original Spark Cash Select for Business, which was split into two versions: The Capital One Spark Cash Select, which comes with a welcome bonus but no intro APR, and the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Good Credit, which carries an intro APR for new purchases, but no welcome bonus.

Although this business card doesn’t earn the highest rewards rate, it’s a decent low-interest credit card that comes with no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees and the opportunity to get you started with business rewards without tracking spending caps or bonus categories.

Rewards
- 5 percent cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One's travel booking site
- 1.5 percent cash back on every purchase
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis
Welcome offer
- $500 bonus when you spend $4,500 within the first three months of account opening
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis
Rates and fees
- Annual fee: $0
- Late payment fee: up to $39
- Penalty APR: 33.65% (variable)
- Regular APR: 17.49% - 23.49% (Variable)
- No foreign transaction fee
- Cash advance fee: 5 percent of the amount of the cash advance, but not less than $5
- (See Rates & Fees)
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis
Other cardholder perks
- Free employee cards
- $0 fraud liability for unauthorized charges
- Travel and emergency assistance
- Extended warranty protection(*)
- Roadside assistance (fees apply)
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis

Capital One Spark Cash Select pros and cons

Pros

This card has no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, which is a great perk for small business owners and employees who need to travel internationally.
If you can meet the spending requirement easily, you can enjoy a generous welcome offer.
Free employee cards also earn this card's flat-rate rewards, increasing your earnings potential.

Cons

Other business cards offer more cash back rewards in bonus categories that could boost your rewards earnings from business expenses.
This card doesn’t have an intro APR period, a disadvantage for business owners who want time to pay down debt without accruing interest.
You won't be able to transfer rewards to other loyalty programs, resulting in limited redemption flexibility.

First-year value vs. ongoing value

The Capital One Spark Cash Select is a relatively straightforward card to use without many bells and whistles, earning 5 percent cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One's travel booking site and 1.5 percent cash back on everything else.

We’ve calculated the card’s first-year and ongoing value based on a $48,000 annual spend*, with $16,000 of that being spent on eligible travel through Capital One's travel booking site and the remaining $32,000 spent on miscellaneous purchases. Here’s what you could expect to earn in rewards value:

Benefits and Costs	First-year value	Ongoing value (no welcome offers)
Yearly rewards*	+$1,280	+$1,280
Welcome offers	+$500 (after spending $4,500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening)	—
Perks (of monetary value)	—	—
Annual fee	$0	-$0
Total value	$1,780	$1, 280

*Based on our formula used to calculate each card’s average rewards rates and average ongoing rewards value, usingBureau of Labor Statistics spending data and an assumed $48,000 yearly spend over three years ($4,000 per month).

Why you might want the Capital One Spark Cash Select

Although it’s not brimming with luxury perks for business travel, the Capital One business card carries enough features and benefits to add long-term value.

Welcome offer: A worthy upgrade

New cardholders can earn a $500 bonus after spending $4,500 within the first three months. Unfortunately, that’s a step down from the card's previous bonus offer (which gave you a chance at a $750 bonus with a $6,000 spending requirement in the same time frame).

Still, a $500 bonus is a great deal, considering you’d have to spend over $30,000 to earn that much via the card’s 1.5 percent cash back rate. Once earned, you can use it at your leisure since rewards don’t expire as long as your card is in good standing.

Perks: Decent purchase and travel benefits

Capital One offers several ways to secure your card for your peace of mind while shopping and traveling. Along with basic features like $0 fraud coverage for unauthorized charges and travel and emergency assistance, you’ll receive purchase security*, extended warranty protection (*), roadside assistance (fees apply) and MasterRental® insurance*.

You can also monitor and manage the transactions on your free employee cards or assign the task to an account manager. You can even set custom spending limits on each employee’s card. Combined with the year-end purchase summaries and the auto-pay feature, keeping track of your business credit card expenses and incoming cash back can be a streamlined process.

Rates and fees: Low-cost option for business owners

This card is an excellent option for most business owners because it has no annual fee or foreign transaction fee (See Rates & Fees), making it a strong candidate for both day-to-day use and traveling abroad. However, this card does not offer balance transfers, so if you are looking to transfer a balance you'll need to look elsewhere.

Why you might not want the Capital One Spark Cash Select

The Capital One Spark Cash Select is a decent all-around card that goes toe-to-toe with top no-annual-fee cards, but you can find better rewards and redemption options on similar cards as well as features like intro APR offers.

Redemption options: Few and far between

Considering that excellent credit is needed for this card, the redemption options are quite limited. Capital One offers a couple of ways to redeem your points for cash back, but that’s the only saving grace. Through the issuer, you can receive your cash rewards as:

A statement credit
A check
A gift card

Rewards rate: Simple but not competitive

The rewards structure is straightforward — you’ll earn 1.5 percent cash back for every qualified purchase made with the card. You’ll also earn 5 percent cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One's travel booking site. There is no limit to the cash back you can earn, and your cash rewards will never expire as long as your account remains open and in good standing.

This is a typical rewards structure for Capital One flat-rate rewards cards. However, when compared to other cards, the Capital One Spark Cash Select falls behind. There are plenty of cards — including other flat-rate cards — that earn more than the cash back rate on this card.

Credit requirement: Too high for minimal features

The Capital One Spark Cash Select may keep costs low, but it lacks valuable intro APR offers for purchases. This card also does not offer balance transfers, and it doesn’t offer much outside of standard perks, such as basic travel protections and employee cards.

Considering the level of benefits available, there may not be enough to match the excellent credit level suggested for this card, especially when there are similar options available for good credit that also offer flat-rate cash back and a more attainable welcome bonus.

Best cards to pair with the Capital One Spark Cash

The Capital One Spark Cash Select is a flat-rate cash back card, so the best way to maximize its rewards rate is to pair it with another business card that has a higher rewards rate on your biggest expenses.

How the Capital One Spark Cash Select compares to other business cards

The Capital One Spark Cash Select is a great choice for those who prefer a low-maintenance card with its straightforward flat-rate rewards and lack of an annual fee. However, the credit score requirement might be too high for business owners just starting out. Also, other flat-rate cards have more versatile redemption options, which can come in handy for travel and general cash back.

Capital One Spark Cash Select

Bankrate Score

Rating: 4.1 stars out of 5 4.1

See Rates & Fees

Apply now

on Capital One's secure site

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

Earn $500 cash back

Rewards rate

1.5% - 5%

Recommended Credit Score

Excellent (740 – 850)

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

Bankrate Score

Rating: 4.2 stars out of 5 4.2

See Rates & Fees

Apply now

on Chase's secure site

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

Earn $750 bonus cash back

Rewards rate

1.5%

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)

The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card

Bankrate Score

Rating: 4.3 stars out of 5 4.3

See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply

Apply now

on American Express's secure site

Annual fee

No annual fee

Intro offer

$250 statement credit

Rewards rate

1% - 2%

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent

Is the Capital One Spark Cash Select right for you?

The Capital One Spark Cash Select is a great option for small business owners with little or no debt, who want to earn rewards and take advantage of a sign-up bonus.

This might be the right card for your business if:

You’re a new business owner. Because there’s no spending cap, you can cover as many purchases as needed within your credit limit without worrying that you’ll be rewarded at a reduced rate. To cap it off, there’s no annual fee or foreign transaction fee (See Rates & Fees) to outpace.
You want a simplistic rewards strategy. A flat-rate cash back card means you don’t need to track category bonuses, making it easy to rack up cash back and focus on keeping your balance in check.
You want to pair this card with other cards. Since it has no annual fee (See Rates & Fees) and offers a flat rewards rate of 1.5 percent, you can use this card for miscellaneous spending and another card for more category-specific expenses.

However, the Spark Cash Select still lacks intro APR offers, which can be a dealbreaker for new business owners. Other issuers still offer equivalent or better value without the trade-off. It also may not be the best option if you travel often on flights or spend big in specific categories and don’t plan on pairing it with a different card to offset those shortcomings.

*Eligible purchases made with this card are replaced, repaired or reimbursed if you experience a loss in the first 90 days after purchase.

**You may be eligible for reimbursement due to theft or misdirection when your common carrier tickets are purchased with your card.

(*) Automatically extends the original manufacturer's warranty on eligible purchases made with this card.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Alternative picks

The Spark Cash Select notably lacks an introductory APR offer, which is an invaluable tool for a lot of business owners who need to finance large purchases upfront. Alternative options that do offer intro APRs include:

Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

Best for financing office supplies with an intro APR offer

U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card

Best for a long intro APR offer

*Information about the U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card has been collected independently by Bankrate. Card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.

Frequently asked questions

How we rated this card

100+

card ratings

400+

APRs tracked

3000

data points analyzed

40+

perks evaluated

Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring balance transfer and low-interest cards, including each card’s introductory APR, intro APR period length, ongoing APR, balance transfer fee, perks and more.

While balance transfer and general low-interest cards share a similar ratings rubric, we weigh features differently based on how a card is categorized. We categorize cards that carry an especially long intro APR offer on balance transfers as dedicated balance transfer cards, while cards that offer an especially low ongoing APR are considered general low-interest cards.

Based on its features, we assigned this card a primary category of balance transfer and tailored our ratings accordingly.

We analyzed over 100 of the most popular balance transfer and low-interest cards and scored each based on where its key features stood in relation to others in its category.

Here’s a breakdown of what gave this card its score:

Compare the best business credit cards

Written by

Garrett Yarbrough

Writer, Credit cards

Read more from Garrett

Bankrate expert Garrett Yarbrough strives to make navigating credit cards and credit building smooth sailing for his readers. After regularly featuring his credit card, credit monitoring and identity theft analysis on NextAdvisor.com, he joined the CreditCards.com and Bankrate teams as a staff writer to develop product reviews and comprehensive credit card guides focused on cash back, credit scores and card offers.

Edited by Credit Cards Editor

* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.