Wells Fargo Cash Wise vs Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card (1.5%+ back) [2020]

The Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the most well known credit cards on the market due to Capital One’s marketing efforts. Meanwhile the Wells Fargo Cash Wise credit card is probably one of the least talked about credit cards. But that shouldn’t be the case. Here’s a look at the Wells Fargo Cash Wise vs Capital One Quicksilver with my preferred choice chosen at the end. 

You might also be interested in seeing the comparison between the Freedom Unlimited vs the Wells Fargo Cash Wise here. 

Update: Some offers are no longer available — click here for the latest deals!

Early spend bonus

With the Wells Fargo Cash Wise you can earn $200 cash back after spending $1,000 in the first three months. One drawback to the Wells Fargo Cash Wise is that you may have to wait up to three months to receive your bonus which many people find frustrating since they can usually hit the spend requirement in much less time.

With the Capital One Quicksilver, you’re only given $150 after spending $500 in the first three months so the early spend bonus is not quite as lucrative as the offer from the Wells Fargo Cash Wise but the spend requirement is also 50% less.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Cash Wise vs Quicksilver bonus earning

Both credit cards earn 1.5% back on purchases so it’s a tie on the standard bonus earning.

However, the Cash Wise offers an additional 20% bonus on mobile wallet transactions for a total of 1.8% cash rewards during the first 12 months from the date the account is opened. So if you use things like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay then you could earn 1.8% back on all of those purchases for a year.

Other bonus earning potential

If you want a Wells Fargo card with bonus earning on categories like dining gas, the Wells Fargo Propel card could be a good fit for you.

Also, Capital One has a fantastic no annual fee credit card that is one of the best cash back credit cards for dining known as the Capital One Savor. It earns 3% cash back on dining and 2% cash back on groceries and also comes with a $150 early spend bonus after you spend $500 in the first 3 months. 

No annual fees

Both cards come with no annual fee. 

Cash Wise vs Quicksilver: 0% intro APR

0% intro APR on purchases

The Wells Fargo Cash Wise earns 0% APR on the first 12 months but the Capital One Quicksilver earns 0% intro APR for 9 months, so the Wells Fargo Cash Wise definitely has the edge with the 0% APR period.

Balance transfer fees

The Wells Fargo Cash Wise incurs a balance transfer fee of 3% and the 0% APR balance transfer period lasts for lasts for 12 months. The Quicksilver also has a balance transfer fee of 3% but once again its intro period only lasts for 9 months.

Thus if your plan is to take a year to pay down or pay off a balance then the Wells Fargo Cash Wise is going to be the best option.

Also it’s worth noting that Wells Fargo has the Wells Fargo Platinum Visa Card which offers a 0% APR period for up to 18 months.

Cell phone benefit

The Wells Fargo Cash Wise comes with built-in cell phone protection. All you have to do is pay your monthly cell phone bill with the Wells Fargo Cash Wise and you’ll get up to $600 protection for damage or theft of a cell phone.

Reimbursement is limited to the repair or replacement of your original cell phone, less a $25 deductible with a maximum benefit limit of $600 per claim and $1,200 per 12 month period. This benefit does not cover cell phones that are lost.

Paying a $25 deductible is nothing. Consider that other cards like the Chase Ink Preferred charge $100 as a deductible.

Also, AppleCare for the iPhone X is $199 and would cost you an additional $29 fee for screen damage and a $99 fee for other damage. Without AppleCare, a screen repair on the iPhone X costs $279 and “other damage” costs $549.

So while the Wells Fargo Cash Wise cell phone benefit won’t provide you with the full range of support as AppleCare, knowing that you can repair an iPhone for only $25 out of pocket is a very valuable perk and arguably one of the best features of the Wells Fargo Cash Wise.

Cash Wise vs Quicksilver: Redemption minimums

The Wells Fargo Cash Wise redemptions are redeemable in $25 increments only. Note that this is not just a minimum but a fixed incremental amount. So you’d have to redeem your cash back in increments of $25, $50, $75, etc.

In order to earn $25 cash back you’d have to spend $1,667 so some people find themselves getting stranded with points with the Cash Wise.

However, with the Capital One Quicksilver, there is no minimum for cash back so you don’t have to worry about your points ever getting stranded.

It might not seem like a big issue, but leaving sums like $10 or $20 in a rewards account is something that turns off many people to redemption minimums.

Photo by frankieleon.

Shopping portals

Wells Fargo has a shopping portal that you can use to earn additional cash back. Meanwhile, Capital One does not have one so that means that you might be missing out on some additional rewards with the Quicksilver.

Cash Wise vs Quicksilver: Foreign transaction fees

The Cash Wise has a foreign transaction fees of 3%. However, the Quicksilver has no foreign transaction fees. So the Quicksilver has the obvious edge when it comes to travel. It should be noted that not a lot of no annual fee cards that earn 1.5% back come with no foreign transaction fees so the Quicksilver is a little unique in this regard.

Approval odds

In my experience Wells Fargo shows a clear preference for people who bank with them when it comes to approving them for credit cards. So if you don’t have any kind of relationship with Wells Fargo you could struggle to get approved for their credit cards.

Meanwhile Capital One doesn’t seem to require you to have a prior relationship with them. They’ve also given me my highest credit limits with credit card approvals. While you still need good credit, it will probably be easier on average for many people to get approved for the Quicksilver than the Cash Wise.

And if you have average or fair credit, you can also look into the Quicksilver One which is easier to get approved for but still earns 1.5% cash back. 

Wells Fargo Cash Wise vs Capital One QuickSilver

So in the end where are all of the advantages with these two cards?

Wells Fargo Cash Wise strengths

The Wells Fargo Cash Wise has the following strengths:

• Better sign-up bonus (worth $50 more)
• 1.8% on mobile wallet transactions during the first 12 months
• Longer 0% APR period for purchases and balance transfers
• Cell phone benefit
• Shopping portal

Capital One Quicksilver strengths

The Capital One Quicksilver has the following strengths:

• No foreign transaction fees
• No minimum redemption
• Probably easier to get approved for some

Final word

In the end the Wells Fargo Cash Wise is overall the more robust credit card with more value potential. The early spend bonus provides more up-front value and the 1.8% on mobile wallet transactions along with the cell phone benefit offer even more value potential. Also, the longer 0% APR period could be very handy for many. I don’t like the minimum $25 increments needed for redemptions but that’s something I could live with in light of the other perks. 

But if you don’t have relationship with Well Fargo you may not be able to get approved and so the Quicksilver could be more appealing. If you’re looking for a good cash back rewards card with no annual fee to take with you on international trips then the Quicksilver might be made just for your. It’s also better for squeezing all of your cash back value out of it since you don’t have to worry about minimum redemption requirements.

Cover photo by 401kcalculator.org.