Capital One Spark Cash Select: An Excellent Card That Requires Excellent Credit

The Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit delivers flat-rate rewards (1.5% on all purchases) with no annual fee or foreign transaction fees. Plus, there’s a welcome offer: Earn a $750 bonus when you spend $6,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.

That equation of simplicity plus rewards, minus fees makes the calculation for carrying this card a relatively easy one, if you can qualify. As the name suggests, you need excellent credit — typically a personal FICO score of 720 or higher — to qualify for the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit.

The Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit is best for small-business owners who:

• Prefer a flat cash-back rate to managing bonus categories. 

• Buy inventory from international vendors.

• Don’t want to pay an annual fee.

• Have excellent credit.

If you have less-than-perfect credit, there are plenty of equally solid cash-back business credit cards available — including another from Capital One:

• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card: Earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases, has a long intro APR period and nice welcome bonus.

• Capital One Spark Cash Select for Good Credit: Unlike the Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit, this card has no welcome offer. Instead, you get 0% intro APR on Purchases for 12 months, and then the ongoing APR of 21.24%-29.24% Variable APR. (See rates and fees).

• Capital on Tap Business Credit Card: Earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases and is one of the few business cards for average credit. Capital on Tap is not available to sole proprietors.

Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit: Basics

• Card type: Small business.

• Annual fee: $0.

• Welcome bonus: Earn a $750 bonus when you spend $6,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.

• Rewards: Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back for your business on every purchase, everywhere — with no limits or category restrictions. Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

• Interest rate: The ongoing APR is 18.49%-24.49% Variable APR.

• Foreign transaction fees: None.

• Other benefits:

  • Itemized year-end spending reports.

  • Option to download purchase records quickly and securely to accounting software, including Quicken, QuickBooks and Excel.

Why you might want the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit

Simple flat-rate rewards

Many business cash-back cards offer bonus categories that can supercharge your rewards if your business spending fits into them — or limit your rewards if it doesn't. By offering a 1.5% flat rate on all spending, the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit does away with such complications. That makes this card a good choice for a business whose spending is all over the map, or not concentrated in typical bonus categories like office supplies or travel.

The Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit pays 1.5% on all purchases, even inventory orders. Put $10,000 a month in inventory spending on the card, for example, and you've got $1,800 in rewards in a year.

No foreign transaction fees

Most cash-back cards slap on foreign transaction fees when you make international purchases, but this one doesn't. That's great if you buy inventory overseas and helpful if you occasionally travel overseas (frequent travelers should explore business travel cards instead). Credit card foreign transaction fees are typically 3%, meaning they can easily wipe out the value of any rewards you earn. That's not a concern with this card.

Why you might want a different card

You want an intro APR period

If you want a Spark Cash Select card, Capital One makes you choose between an intro APR period or a welcome offer. The Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit has a welcome offer but no intro APR period; the Spark Cash Select for Good Credit has an intro APR period but no welcome offer.

But you don’t have to sacrifice one to get the other.

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has an excellent sign-up bonus: Earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. And a great intro APR offer: 0% intro APR on Purchases for 12 months, and then the ongoing APR of 18.49%-24.49% Variable APR.

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card has no annual fee and matches the 1.5% cash back rate offered by the Spark Cash Select cards.

The Wells Fargo Signify Business Cash℠ Card is another excellent option that give your intro APR period, includes a welcome offer and earns 2% cash back on all purchases. Both alternatives charge foreign transaction fees (3%) though, which is something to consider if you make international purchases.

Your spending aligns with bonus categories, like gas or office supplies

If your priority is simplicity, stick with a flat-rate card like the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit. But if maximizing rewards is your top aim, consider a cash-back business card that pays a higher rate in select bonus categories.

The U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard®, for example, offers the following bonus categories: Earn 3% cash back on eligible purchases at gas stations, office supply stores, cell phone service providers and restaurants. Earn 1% cash back on all other eligible net purchases. The card also has a long intro APR period for purchases and balance transfers (a rare feature for business cards) and a competitive welcome offer: Earn $500 in cash back. Just spend $4500 on the Account Owner's card in the first 150 days of opening your account.

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is another solid option for bonus categories. Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year, Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year, Earn 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn.

You don’t have excellent personal credit

Most business credit cards require at least good personal credit — typically a FICO score of at least 690. The Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit ups the ante to the “excellent” credit range (usually scores starting at 720).

If you can’t hit that number, there are other Capital One business credit cards worth considering.

The Capital One Spark Cash Select for Good Credit fills the gap for applicants with scores between 690 and 720. But CapOne is also the rare issuer with a business card for entrepreneurs owners with fair credit (typically a FICO between 630-690): the Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business. The Spark Classic for Business has an annual fee of $0 and earns 1% on all purchases.

Is the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit right for you?

The Capital One Spark Cash Select for Excellent Credit is an easy choice for small-business owners who want simple cash-back rewards, no foreign transaction fees and an annual fee of $0. (See rates and fees). If foreign transaction fees aren’t a dealbreaker for you, though, you'd be better off with a different, more rewarding card.