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NerdWallet > Credit Cards for Bad Credit & No Credit History > Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers
Review / Compare / Reward Calculations / Interest Calculations / Rankings / Comments
Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers
Capital+One Cash+Rewards+for+Newcomers Credit Card

(3.5/5 - 157 Votes)
Net Annual Rewards
$216
of Cash
Reward Rate
1.00%
Annual Fee
$0
Signing Promo
None
APR, variable*
APR:
24.9%(V)
Default:
29.4%(V)
Cash Adv:
24.9%(V)
Intro APR Promotions
Purchase:
None
Transfer:
None
Summary
  • A card designed to help those new to the U.S. establish credit and earn cash back
  • Build credit with automatic reporting to the three major credit bureaus
  • Get 2% cash back on travel purchases
  • Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • No annual fee

Compare To Our Most Popular Cards For The Category

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Compare To Blue Cash Preferred℠ Card from American Express

Why do we think you should consider this card?

Earn $150 cash back after spending $1,000 in eligible purchases in the first 3 months of Cardmembership

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Reward Details & Calculator

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Rewards Type: Cash

Signing Promotion
$0
Estimated Annual Rewards
$21,600 * 1.00%
$216
Annual Fee, 2 yr avg
$0
Annual Rewards (Rewards less Fees)
$216

Details

  • Earn 1% on purchases
  • 2% on travel

Calculate Interest & Finance Charges

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Use the sliders to the left to calculate balance transfer interest and APR interest for this particular card.

Finance Charge, Balance Transfer of $10,000*

Balance Transfer Fee, 0.0%
$0
APR, 24 months
$6,371
Total
$6,371

*Average APR for Balance Transfers of 24.9% includes transfer fees and APR promotions.

Effective Annual Rate, Purchases

Promo EAR, 0 months
0.00%
Ongoing EAR, 24 months
27.95%
Total EAR, 24 months
27.95%

APR Rankings

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APR
24.9%
ranks #1744 out of 1751 cards.
Average is 11.78%.
Balance Transfer Fee
0%
ranks #1 out of 1639 cards.
Average is 1.67%.
Cash Advance APR
24.9%
ranks #782 out of 1002 cards.
Average is 18.74%.

Rewards Rankings

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Annual Fee
$0
ranks #1 out of 1773 cards.
Average is $9.
Base Reward Rate
1%
ranks #69 out of 963 cards.
Average is 0.99%.
Effective Reward Rate
1%
ranks #187 out of 958 cards.
Average is 1.04%.
Sign-up Bonus
$0
ranks #1762 out of 1762 cards.
Average is $33.
Credit Card Review: Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers


Author:
NERDBOT

Should you get the Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers? We'll give you the ins and outs of this card and give you a head-to-head comparison with the Blue Cash Preferred℠ Card from American Express. Also, be sure to check out our interactive credit card comparison tool.

NerdWallet Review: The Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers

No foreign transaction fee: The Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers has no foreign transaction fee." This charge, usually 3% of all your international purchases, can take a big dent out of your wallet. Spend just $1,000 abroad, and you're out $30. If you're the type to travel abroad often, you should probably consider a waived foreign transaction fee to be standard, instead of a nice-to-have.

No annual fee: The Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers has no annual fee. No-fee cards are ideal for those looking to keep the account open for a long time. Your credit score includes your average account age, so keeping cards open boosts your FICO score.

No balance transfer fee: The card has no balance transfer fee, the one-time charge assessed on the money you transfer from a different credit card. This is one of those fees that people forget about, so many banks get away with jacking it up to 5%. If you're looking to transfer a balance and you will pay it off early enough that a long 0% period but a high BT isn't worth it, keep this one in mind.

Credit Card Showdown: Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers vs. Blue Cash Preferred℠ Card from American Express

Same late payment fee: The Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers and the Blue Cash Preferred℠ Card from American Express have the same late fee. In theory, you should avoid incurring late payment fees altogether. Not only do you have to pay this one-time charge, you might incur a penalty APR that stays with you for 6 months or more.

Smaller signup bonus: The Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers has a smaller signup bonus than its competitor, so you're leaving a bit of money on the table. Obviously this isn't the only consideration you should take into account, but hey, we thought you should know.

Read the full review of the Blue Cash Preferred℠ Card from American Express on our blog

  • Ryan

    Do I have to be new to the US to get this card?

    Also do I get cash back or some sort of points? It’s always hard to tell.

    • http://www.nerdwallet.com NerdWallet

      The card is marketed to those who are new to the U.S., but there’s nothing in the card offer to make me believe that anyone with limited or average credit would be denied (including those who are just new to credit cards in general).

      If anyone has been rejected solely for being a long-time US citizen, I’d like to know, that would be great information to have!

      As for the rewards, they are cash. You can claim the cash as a check or account credit whenever you want, or set up automatic redemptions.

      • Petal_sue

        I’ve just applied and was denied and I am a newcomer to the US of only 5mths.

        • Ultimateflite

          I just applied. I’ve been here for several years but have been on athlete visas. I’ll keep you posted on the outcome. I should know in 7-10 days… Of course

      • Fixture

        I was approved for the card, and I have been a US citizen my entire life, so it’s not limited to people new to the US. I chose the card because I have no credit history and I’m trying to build credit. I think its a good card for my needs because I didn’t have to pay up front like with a secured card, and there are no annual fees.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/5JXMV5EO2FHE5QG5Z2K4B3SP5M Shannon Preston

      No you dont have to be new to the U.S. to get the card. Im born and raised in the U.S. and was approved for the card. I really just wanted a card to help build my credit without having to deal with annual fees and such which this card does. I use it to pay my cell phone and cable bill and then turn around and pay it off in full each month.

  • newcomer

    this card is like scam  to promote secured card. I am in USA for 8 month and i applied for this credit card and got denied. I talk with the customer care why i was denied. they said you don’t have credit history. I was surprise, how would new comers have credit history. 

  • chorwad

    I have this card since about 11 months now. This is not for absolute newcomers to USA with zero credit history. I got a pre-approved offer for a capital one card and I applied for this particular card for the zero annual fees and 2% travel cashback. Got approved with $500 limit which increased to $750. I think thats the most I will ever get out of it. I had a couple of bank accounts and was getting denied for even store dept cards.
    Does this card help to build a credit history ? I think not. This allows you to get your foot in. I then got a secured credit with a 3k deposit from bofa. Since then my credit score has improved as seen on CK and I got respectable limits of 6k from chase freedom. I have >50k annual salary but being a migrant to US, faced a big issues in the beginning.

  • Zoltan

    ok, I felt the need to comment as I think most below are pretty unfair with this card. I moved to the US 9 months ago and my local Chase bank draw my attention to this card when I was asking about my credit card options as someone with no credit history in the USA. I got approved on the spot online for the card and I had no credit score, no history.

    It was that simple, I didn’t do anything extra, just applied online.

    Starting limit: 500
    Increased to 750 after initial 6 months
    Next increase is expected after first 12 months of usage (3 more months to go)

    With regards to credit score, it does help. as I said in a matter of 9 months my score got pretty good currently is at 712 based on the latest report from a few days ago.

    So yes, it does the job as it was design to, it did certainly help me to get my credit score right.

    With the above features I already received 2 pre-approved credit card invitation from American Express and another bank for their cards. I didn’t take those…why? because those cards carried an annual fee and I am just patient enough to wait till I get offers for non-annual fee credit cards ;)

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