Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Review

Pros

• Flat 2% cash-back on all purchases
• Generous welcome bonus
• Annual cash bonus

Cons

• $150 annual fee
• Requires excellent credit

What Is Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus?

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 earn 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. Unfortunately, these perks come with a price — excellent credit is required to qualify.

Is Capital One’s Spark Cash Plus the business credit card for you? Read on to find out! Or, if you already know you don’t have the credit score to qualify for a Spark 2% Cash Plus card, check out these top business credit cards instead.

Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Rewards & Perks

Spark Cash Plus features an easy-to-understand reward structure with a competitive unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases. Add in a few extra perks like an early spend welcome bonus and annual bonus, and it’s easy to see why the Spark 2% Cash Plus Card gets a 4.0/5 star rating for rewards.

• An Early Spend Bonus Worth $1,200: With the Spark Cash card, you’ll be rewarded with a tidy sum of $1,200 if you spend $30,000 on purchases within the first three months after opening your account.
• A $150 Annual Cash Bonus: If you spend $150K or more on purchases with your Spark Cash Plus card annually, you’ll collect $150, which can be used to cover the card’s $150 annual fee.
• 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.
• 5% Cash Back On Travel: Additionally, you can unlock 5% cash-back on certain travel purchases.

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. 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.

Besides cash back or statement credits, Capital One enables multiple other redemption methods. Available options include credits for previous purchases, gift cards, Amazon shopping, PayPal purchases, and travel. Be aware that other kinds of rewards might be worth less (or more) than cash-back rewards.

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.

Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus 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, but you’ll need to pay your balance off every month. The lack of APR and of foreign transaction fees results in a 4.2/5 star rating for the Spark 2% Cash Plus Card in this section.

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 who venture overseas frequently may like the Spark Cash Plus card.

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.

Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Card Features & 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, resulting in a 4.2/5 star rating for features. Many included perks cover travel and shopping, even though the card isn’t specifically marketed for those purposes, as well as other helpful business perks like employee cards, fraud coverage, and more.

• Free Employee Cards
• Custom spending limits
• Employee spend controls
• Fraud alerts
• $0 fraud liability coverage
• Lock stolen or lost employee cards
• Automatic payments
• Reporting
• Repeating transaction insights
• Purchase security
• Ability to extend warranties (you can double the manufacturer’s warranty up t0 1 year)
• 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

Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Eligibility Requirements

You must have excellent credit to qualify for Spark Cash Plus. Because this card is more difficult to qualify for, it gets a 2.6/5 star rating for this section.

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. However, 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 credit score services.

Capital One Customer Service

The best way to get ahold of Capital One support is via phone. However, there is a digital assistant app support option or a fairly built-out help center as well. While there aren’t quite as many support options as we would like to see, having used Capital One’s customer support firsthand, I was always satisfied with the level of care I received.

That being said, there are plenty of mixed reviews from other customers regarding Capital One’s credit card support division. All in all, these factors lead us to give a 3.5/5 star rating for this section.

Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus User Reviews

Finding reviews specific to Capital One’s Spark 2% Cash Plus card is not easy. While there are about a dozen reviews specific to this card, there are thousands specific to Capital One in general. Capital One has an A+ rating on BBB. Reviews for the overall company are mixed with some die-hard Capital One fans and others with significant complaints against the company. The Spark 2% Cash Plus Card, in particular, gets 2.8/5 stars on WalletHub based on only nine reviews.

Here are some of the most common pros and cons that users list.

Negative Spark 2% Cash Plus Reviews

• Transaction approvals get tedious
• Multiple reports of legitimate transactions denied
• Annual fee
• Advertised “no spending limit” is untrue
• Excellent credit required

Positive Spark 2% Cash Plus Reviews

• Great rewards
• Pay-in-full structure
• Quick application process

Is The Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Right For You?

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.

Check out our best credit cards for bad credit or best business rewards credit cards for more options for your small business.

Credit Card Review Methodology

We spend hours researching and evaluating each credit card that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our ratings.

When rating credit cards and credit card issuers, we use an 18-point rubric that looks at rewards and perks, rates and fees, features, eligibility requirements, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.

• Rewards & Perks: 40% of the total star rating
• Rates & Fees: 30% of the total star rating
• Features: 15% of the total star rating
• Eligibility Requirements: 5% of the total star rating
• Customer Service: 5% of the total star rating
• User Reviews: 5% of the total star rating

Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we examine specific attributes like APR, introductory offers, cash back and travel rewards, credit score requirements and disclosures, foreign transaction fees, and the availability of employee cards.

Read more about how we rate business credit cards.