Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card: One of the best student credit cards

(See Rates & Fees)

The Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards card is an excellent choice for a first cash back card. It comes with a solid foundation of perks and benefits for a student card to get students started on the road to good credit.

Rewards: Excellent everyday categories

This card earns excellent rates for dining, qualifying entertainment purchases, grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®) and popular streaming service purchases. You can get even higher rates through the Capital One Travel and Capital One Entertainment portals. The rate for purchases outside your bonus categories isn’t great, but the bonus categories cover many common expenses. The bonus categories have no spending limit or need for enrollment, making earning rewards simple.

You can check the merchant’s category code if you aren’t sure what counts as eligible streaming services or entertainment purchases. Here are more details on how Capital One defines these two types of purchases:

Cash back rewards are simple to understand and have a 1 cent per point value. You can redeem your rewards for statement credits, gift cards, a check or through Amazon.com or PayPal.

Perks: Solid foundation for students

Student cards don’t typically carry additional perks since their primary goal is to build credit. Still, the Capital One SavorOne Student card carries benefits on par with a no-annual-fee credit card for good credit (See Rates & Fees). Although you won’t find any student-centric perks, the valuable combination of account, travel and shopping protections is a solid foundation for students.

You’ll get extended warranty coverage that goes above and beyond, doubling your warranty (terms, conditions and exclusions apply. Refer to your Guide to Benefits for more details). You’ll also have price protection to reimburse a price drop within 120 days of purchase. 

You’ll also have access to CreditWise and virtual credit card number features. CreditWise is a free credit monitoring service that alerts you of suspicious credit report changes and social security number leaks on the dark web. Capital One’s Eno browser extension can generate unique card numbers for each online merchant as an extra wall of security. This feature is a rare but worthwhile safeguard for students who frequently shop online.

Your SavorOne Student card also covers eligible rental vehicles against damage and theft with MasterRental® Coverage (by paying with your card), and protects you with 24-hour Master RoadAssist® Service (fees apply). Although these are typical credit card network perks, they can be beneficial if needed.

Credit line reviews: Automatic as quickly as six months

Automatic account reviews are an excellent benefit when you’re building credit. After only six months, Capital One will review your account and may increase your credit line. This can help increase your credit score since a higher credit limit can lower your credit utilization ratio. Capital One is one of the best issuers for quick credit line upgrades since its automatic review period typically starts sooner than other issuers. The quicker your score improves, the sooner you can qualify for the best credit cards.

While the Capital One SavorOne Student card has great features for a student card, you may want to look elsewhere for a slightly better welcome offer or an intro APR offer. 

Welcome offer: Not quite on the level of other cards

Welcome offers like sign-up bonuses and zero-interest periods aren’t common for student cards. However, the Capital One SavorOne Student card offers a modest $50 cash bonus after spending $100 on purchases within your first three months. This is ideal for lower spenders who would benefit from a welcome offer.

However, other starter cards do a bit better. The Discover it® Student Cash Back Card matches all cash back earned at the end of your first year, which can provide outsized value depending on your spending. The deciding factor should be how much you will need to spend when considering if this welcome offer moves the needle for you.

Rates and fees: Decent for a student card

The SavorOne Student cash back card has low fees but isn’t the best choice if you need to carry a balance. The purchase and balance transfer APR can range from relatively low to a fairly high rate compared to the average APR rates. Interest charges can add up quickly, wipe out your rewards and make it harder to pay off your debt.

Like most student cards, the SavorOne Student has no intro APR offer. If you already have a starter card and want to transfer your balance to Capital One, you won’t pay a balance transfer fee, which can help consolidate your debt. But, if you need some time to finance a large purchase, a better option might be the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Card for Students, which has a decent intro APR for both purchases and balance transfers. An intro APR offer gives you the flexibility to cover larger purchases and builds credit if paid off successfully.

The SavorOne Student card’s other fees are typical for a student card. You won’t have to worry about paying an annual fee, foreign transaction fees or a penalty APR, although there are late payment fees if you miss a payment. The lack of punitive fees makes this a decent option if you want to travel abroad or think you need to carry a balance, but shouldn’t be enough to sway your decision.

The SavorOne Student Cash Rewards card is great for any student who spends in the card’s bonus categories, but the lack of an intro APR can be detrimental if students need to make large purchases. Consider a flat-rate rewards card if the SavorOne Student card’s rewards categories aren’t as useful or if you value simplicity.

The Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards card is ideal for college students and responsible spenders. It offers common everyday categories and excellent rewards for people who can manage their spending.

The Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the best overall credit cards for students. It’s simple to manage since there are no spending caps, and it’s also great for its automatic credit line review after only six months. Plus, its structure is comparable to the full-fledged Capital One SavorOne card.

While you may be better off with a card with an intro APR or lower interest rate if you need to carry a balance, the SavorOne Student card is a top choice for students who want a low-cost, simple cash back card to use until graduating to a traditional rewards card.

*All information about the Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring credit cards for students and people building credit, including each card’s cost, APR, credit-building tools and more.

We analyzed over 50 of the most popular cards designed for students and people with no credit history, bad credit or a fair credit score and scored each based on where its key features stood in relation to others in its category. 

Here are some of the key factors that gave this card its score: