Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Review
Unlimited 2% cash back sounds like a great deal -- but is it worth the $150 annual fee? Find out if Spark Cash Plus, offered by Capital One, is the right credit card for your small business.
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Expert Analyst & Reviewer
- 2 comments
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- Date Established
- 1988
- Location
- McLean, Virginia
Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus is one of the three cash back rewards business credit cards offered by Capital One. With an unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases, Spark Cash promises the highest rewards value, followed by Spark Cash Select at a rate of 1.5% back, and Spark Classic at 1% back.
Because of its flat rewards rate, Spark Cash Plus is a simple and easy way for businesses to save a little money without dealing with rewards tiers or point values. And, at 2% cash back, you will be able to save more money than you could with most flat-rate cash back business cards. However, because Capital One charges a $150 annual fee, some businesses will be able to save more money with a card that doesn’t carry an annual fee, such as Spark Cash Select.
Is Capital One’s Spark Cash Plus the business credit card for you? Read on to find out!
Table of Contents
Capital One Spark Cash Plus At A Glance
Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus | Annual Fee: $150
Purchase APR: N/A (balance due in full) |
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Eligibility
You must have excellent credit to qualify for Spark Cash Plus. Per its website, Capital One considers those with excellent credit to meet these qualifications:
- Never declared bankruptcy or defaulted on a loan
- Not have been more than 60 days late on any credit card, medical bill, or loan in the past year
- Maintained a loan or credit card for three+ years with a credit limit above $5,000
When it comes to distilling your credit strength into a singular number, those with a score above 740 are generally considered to have excellent credit. Note that Capital One does not market a specific qualifying minimum credit score for the Spark Cash Plus card. Not sure about your credit score? Find out what it is with one of these free websites.
Rewards For Spending
Spark Cash Plus features a minimal rewards scheme that won’t cause headaches when trying to calculate how much cash back you’ll get. Plus, it comes bundled with a solid early spend bonus too.
An Early Spend Bonus Worth $3,000
With the Spark Cash card, you’ll be rewarded with a tidy sum of $3,000 if you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months after opening your account and another $2,500 if you spend $50,000 in the first six months. Do note that this reward bonus is advertised as a “limited time” offer, so the exact bonus amount may change after publishing.
After you’ve qualified for the initial early spend bonus, you’ll receive the $500 reward within two billing cycles. Unsurprisingly, Spark Cash Plus’ early spend bonus is only available to those who aren’t current or previous Spark cardholders.
A $200 Annual Cash Bonus
Heavy spenders will get something extra — if you spend $200K or more on purchases with your Spark Cash Plus card annually you’ll collect $200. While this bonus isn’t a huge saving, it’s nothing to ignore. Plus, the yearly $200 bonus can help alleviate the card’s $150 annual fee — we will go into more detail about offsetting Spark Cash Plus’ annual fee below.
Unlimited 2% Cash Back On All Purchases
There’s no calculus required when it comes to Spark Cash Plus’ base reward scheme: You get an unlimited 2% cash back for every purchase you make with the card. That’s it — no further math needed.
A flat 2% cash back rate is a very generous proposal, especially considering that it’s for all purchases. Many cards do offer the same (or higher) cash back rates; however, these cards usually require spending within specific categories to earn bonus rates. So if you spend across a wide array of categories, Spark Cash Plus’ reward scheme could be a perfect fit for your business.
Redeeming Rewards
With the Spark Cash Plus card, your primary mode of redemption will be cash back. However, Capital One includes a few other ways to get rewarded for your spending.
Earn Rewards As Cash Back
As Spark Cash Plus is a cash back card, you can unsurprisingly redeem your rewards for cash. You can either choose to redeem rewards at your convenience or set your account to automatically redeem rewards on a periodic basis.
Capital One also provides a way to set an automatic redemption trigger, which can be edited through the company’s online portal or by contacting the rewards center. Available options for automatic redemption include a specific time each calendar year or when a spending threshold (such as $25, $100, or $500) has been met.
Multiple Redemption Options
Besides cash back, Capital One enables other redemption methods. Available options include credits for previous purchases, gift cards, and more. Be aware that other kinds of rewards might be worth less (or more) than cash back rewards.
Rewards Don’t Expire
Your rewards will not expire while your account is open, and they can be moved to other Capital One cards. Note that should you close your account, any unredeemed rewards will be trashed.
Card Benefits
Cardholders have access to Capital One’s business benefits as well as those offered by Visa Business Benefits. Both of these benefit programs will give you fairly comprehensive coverage. Many included perks cover travel and shopping, even though the card isn’t specifically marketed for those purposes.
Free Employee Cards
A nice bonus for any business credit card, Spark Cash Plus will let you dole out free cards to your employees. Once your employees have their cards, you’ll be able to collect all the rewards from their purchases. You’ll also be able to customize spending limits for employee cards and view employee-made transactions as soon as they’re posted.
Fraud Coverage & Alerts
Capital One markets “business-grade protection” when it comes to protecting your account. You’ll be able to receive alerts (via email, text message, or phone call) if Capital One notices any fraudulent or suspicious charges on your account.
This card also includes standard $0 fraud liability coverage. With this protection, you won’t be on the hook for unauthorized charges if your card goes missing.
On top of the above security perks, you’ll also be able to lock an employee’s card should one become lost or stolen.
Account & Business Management
A Capital One card promises an array of tools that can help you manage your account. You’ll be able to pick your own monthly due date, set up automatic payments, and get an itemized year-end report summarizing your annual spending.
Other account management features include a recurring transaction list that shows monthly charges to your business credit card for repeating payments like subscriptions or bills. Capital One also records a plethora of transaction details when available. These details can include tidbits such as addresses, logos, phone numbers, and maps of merchants you’ve made purchases with.
Finally, purchase records can be downloaded into multiple formats, such as Quicken, QuickBooks, and Excel.
Purchasing Perks
There are a couple of purchase protection services bundled in with a Spark Cash Plus card: purchase security and extended warranty. You may be eligible to have an item replaced, repaired, or reimbursed within 90 days of purchase with the purchase security feature. The extended warranty program can double the length of a manufacturer’s warranty (up to one additional year).
Other Benefits
The Spark Cash Plus card comes with numerous other benefits. These include:
- 24/7 emergency card replacement
- Rental collision coverage
- Travel assistance
- Roadside assistance
- Online/mobile app account access
- Virtual card numbers
- Eno, Capital One’s 24/7 virtual assistant
Rates & Fees
Like with any credit card, you can expect to see a few fees bundled into your agreement with Capital One’s Spark Cash Plus card. However, this card does do things a bit differently compared to other competitors on the market — you won’t collect interest with Spark Cash Plus in your wallet.
No APR
Because Spark Cash Plus requires that your balance be paid in full at the end of every pay period (effectively making this card a charge card), you won’t have to worry about an APR. However, keep in mind that monthly late fees do exist — you will be dinged 2.99% of your outstanding balance every month you fail to pay in full.
$150 Annual Fee
Spark Cash Plus’ annual fee of $150 will impact the amount you save with this card. Annual fees are never a fun part of credit cards, but if you spend enough every year, the annual fee becomes worth the upfront cost.
To recoup the cost of the annual fee, you will have to spend at least $7,500 per year*. With that in mind, business owners will be able to earn more from Capital One’s no annual fee cash back business card, Spark Cash Select, if they spend less than $30,000 per year*. After $30,000 spent, cardholders will be able to earn more from the Spark Cash Plus card, despite the fee.
It’s also worth noting that if you hit the $200,000 annual spend mark, the $200 cash bonus will more than cover the cost of the annual fee.
*How we got these numbers: You must spend at least $7,500 per year to recoup the cost of the annual fee: $150 / 2% cash back = $7,500. You must spend at least $30,000 to earn more cash back from Spark Cash Plus than Spark Cash Select: for Spark Cash Plus: $30,001 × 2% cash back rate – $150 annual fee = $450.02 cash back; for Spark Cash Select: $30,001 × 1.5% cash back rate = $450.015 cash back.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
Like all Capital One business cards, Spark Cash Plus does not carry foreign transaction fees. Because this means you’ll be able to spend outside the US without an associated fee, business travelers that venture overseas frequently may like the Spark Cash Plus card.
Other Fees
Because balance transfers and cash advances are not allowed on Spark Cash Plus, this card does not carry some of the other standard credit card fees. Late payments will incur the previously mentioned 2.99% fee.
Is The Capital One Spark Cash Plus Right For You?
Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus | Annual Fee: $150
Purchase APR: N/A (balance due in full) |
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You might want to apply for Spark Cash Plus if…
- You make purchases in a wide array of categories.
- You’ll spend enough to qualify for the bonus offer.
- You can take advantage of the card’s perks, like free employee cards, no foreign transaction fee, or extended warranty.
You might want to look for a different card if…
- You have one or two specific spending categories that match better with a card that offers higher reward rates.
- You spend enough to offset the $150 annual fee.
- You won’t qualify for the card because you lack excellent credit.
Jared Beilby
Expert Analyst & Reviewer at Merchant Maverick
A credit card analyst and expert in neobanking, Jared has been researching and writing about small business finance since 2018. His data studies have been cited in a number of media outlets, including Forbes, MSN, and NBC. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from George Fox University.
View Jared Beilby's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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Organization Name: SUPERIOR BAR PRODUCTS
BEWARE! Capital One, unlike ALL other business credit cards reports to your business name and your personal name. Businesses borrow on a bigger scale than personal. So when Capital One does this, your personal FICO score will take a big hit! This will obviously cause many issues to your personal credit.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Organization Name: Nates Cell Phone Repair
First let me say that we was approved for 15K for our small business. We had this card for several years and I have paid it off several times. I always paid more that was required to keep cash flow. I had to go out of town and forgot to set up a payment one time. The next day I got a email saying that I forgot to make a payment on my card which was one day late. I made the payment the right away, I thought all was good. Several months late I go into the account because I did not see my balance changing. I discovered that Capital One changed my APR from 18% to 31% for 12 months for missing that one payment that was one day late. They will punish you for missing one payment, I tried talking with them to fix this issue and they would not move on this. So I can say I paid the 9K I owned to them and will never use Capital One again. The best card out there for small business is Chase they will work with you and understand that things happen. All small businesses beware of what is in your wallet, because Capital One is out of my WALLET.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.