Key takeaways

  • Both flat-rate cash back cards and rotating bonus category cash back cards can make sense in different scenarios, depending on the type of spender you are.
  • Generally, you’ll earn more with the Discover it® Cash Back card’s boosted cash back categories — but only if you make sure your spending matches up with the rotating bonus categories.
  • And although the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card offers a lower cash back rate, there are plenty of features that make the card worth having.

Finding the best rewards card to add to your wallet doesn’t have to be difficult. By knowing the type of spender you are, you can make it easier to choose between a flat-rate cash back card or bonus category cash back card.

Let’s look at the flat-rate Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card and the rotating bonus category Discover it® Cash Back to see how these different types of rewards cards stack up against each other.

Main details

Capital One Quicksilver Discover it Cash Back
Welcome bonus $200 one-time cash bonus after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months Cashback Match™ — Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year.
Rewards rate
  • 5% back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
  • Unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases
  • 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in quarterly rotating categories (activation required; 1% back after meeting cap)
  • 1% back on all other purchases
Intro APR offer
  • 0% intro APR on both purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months (19.99% to 29.99% variable APR after)
  • 3 percent intro balance transfer fee for the first 15 months (see terms)
  • 0% intro APR on both purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months (18.24% to 28.24% variable APR after)
  • 3 percent intro balance transfer fee, then up to 5 percent fee on future balance transfers (see terms)
Annual fee $0 $0

Capital One Quicksilver vs. Discover it Cash Back highlights

These two popular cash back credit cards can benefit you in different ways — most of which are centered around your spending habits and whether you’d prefer a flat-rate card or a rotating category card. If you’re not quite sure which you prefer, use the following card highlights to help you decide:

Badge Welcome bonus winner
Discover it® Cash Back image

Discover it Cash Back

  • As a welcome bonus, the Discover it Cash Back card matches all of the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year through a program called Cashback Match. So if you end up earning $150 in cash back rewards, for example, Discover automatically awards you an additional $150 in cash back, for a total of $300 in rewards at the end of your first year.

    However, the Quicksilver’s welcome bonus is also still a good deal. It offers you a straightforward $200 after you spend $500 within the first three months from account opening. Unlike the Discover it Cash Back, which will make you wait until the end of the year to get your welcome bonus, the Quicksilver will give you your welcome bonus after just a few months.

    Still, because there’s no cap on the amount of rewards you can earn and match, the Discover card is the clear winner.

Badge Annual fee winner

Tie

  • Neither of these cards charge an annual fee, so they tie for this category.

Badge Intro APR winner

Tie

  • Both cards offer a 0 percent introductory APR for 15 months on both balance transfers and purchases. They also each have an introductory balance transfer fee of 3%.

    However, if you think you might carry a balance past your introductory period, the Discover it Cash Back might be better for you. The variable APR that kicks in after your introductory period ends is 18.24 percent to 28.24 for the Discover it Cash Back, which is a lower range than the Quicksilver’s variable APR of 19.99 percent to 29.99 percent. This means that you can potentially save a bit on interest if you get a low rate with the Discover it Cash Back.

Badge Rewards rate winner
Discover it® Cash Back image

Discover it Cash Back

  • The Discover it Cash Back has rotating bonus categories that change each quarter, meaning you can get:

    • 5 percent cash back on up to $1,500 spent in rotating category purchases each quarter on activation, then 1 percent
    • 1 percent cash back on all other purchases

    Bonus categories in the Discover cash back calendar tend to cover purchases from places like grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants, as well as online stores like Amazon.com, Target.com and Walmart.com.

    The high cash back rate it offers year-round makes it the winner of this category, too. However, this win comes with a few caveats. You have to spend in the right bonus categories at the right time to get the highest rate of cash back. If your normal spending habits mean you won’t spend $1,500 in a quarter in a given rotating category, you won’t be able to take advantage of the full 5 percent cash back bonus. Plus, you must remember to activate your bonus categories each quarter, or you’ll miss out on the 5 percent earning.

    That’s why the Capital One Quicksilver tends to be a better choice for no-fuss cash back. Although you earn only 1.5 percent back on your purchases (and 5 percent on hotels and rental cards through Capital One Travel), your earnings are unlimited with no categories to activate or keep track of. And if you can easily spend a good chunk of money on hotels and rental cars in the Capital One Travel portal, you might end up earning more with the Quicksilver.

Which card earns the most?

In terms of which cash back card earns the most, it all comes down to your spending habits and whether you’d be diligent about maximizing bonus category spending with the Discover it Cash Back. Here’s how your cash back comes out depending on how much you spend with each card.

Capital One Quicksilver vs. Discover it Cash Back spending example

If you maxed out your rotating category spending for every quarter and never charged anything else to your Discover it Cash Back, you’d spend $6,000 per year and earn $300 in cash back. Add your CashBack Match to that total, and you’d earn $600 in cash back in your first year of card ownership.

But let’s say you spent $6,000 on the Capital One Quicksilver instead. If all of that spending was part of its 1.5 percent cash back category, you’d earn $90 in cash back. Add in the welcome bonus, and you’d have $290 in cash back in your first year. In this example, the Discover it Cash Back clearly has the advantage. In fact, you’d have to spend $20,000 on the Quicksilver if you wanted to match the Discover it Cash Back and earn $300 by the end of the year.

But what if you didn’t max out your spending categories throughout the year? Let’s instead pretend that you have a set quarterly budget that has some overlap with Discover’s rotating bonus categories. For this spending example, we’ll use the Discover it Cash Back calendar from 2023, which had the following quarterly schedule:

  • Q1 (January to March): Grocery stores, drug stores, select streaming services
  • Q2 (April to June): Restaurants, wholesale clubs
  • Q3 (July to September): Gas stations, digital wallets
  • Q4 (October to December): Amazon.com, Target

And each quarter, let’s say your budget looks a little something like this:

  • $1,200 at grocery stores
  • $1,000 at restaurants
  • $600 at gas stations
  • $1,000 on gifts and apparel (assuming it’s all spent at Amazon.com or Target)
  • $2,500 on miscellaneous spending

Let’s also say that in Q4, you took an end-of-year vacation where you spent an extra $1,500 on hotel stays and a car rental. Here’s how much you’d earn in cash back each quarter with the Capital One Quicksilver versus the Discover it Cash Back:

Spending per quarter Cash back earned from the Discover it Cash Back Cash back earned from the Capital One Quicksilver
Q1 $6,300 $60 at 5% rate$51 at 1% rate $94.50 at 1.5% rate
Q2 $6,300 $50 at 5% rate$53 at 1% rate $94.50 at 1.5% rate
Q3 $6,300 $30 at 5% rate$57 at 1% rate $94.50 at 1.5% rate
Q4 $7,800 ($6,300 + $1,500 from vacation) $50 at 5% rate$68 at 1% rate $94.50 at 1.5% rate$75 at 5% rate
Yearly total  $26,700 $419 ($838 with welcome bonus factored in) $453 ($653 with welcome bonus factored in)

In this spending example, the Capital One Quicksilver actually earns slightly more cash back than the Discover it Cash Back — but only when we add in some vacation spending that takes advantage of the Quicksilver’s 5 percent cash back on hotel stays and car rentals when booked through Capital One Travel. And if we added in the welcome bonuses, the Discover it Cash Back still ultimately wins.

This example shows that even if you don’t max out your bonus categories each quarter, you’ll still be able to earn a hefty amount of cash back if your spending tends to overlap with Discover’s categories. If you’re constantly charging your everyday spending to your Quicksilver card and have the opportunity to take advantage of its 5 percent cash back category while traveling, however, you might be able to earn yourself a bit more cash back with the Quicksilver than the Discover it Cash Back.

Why should you get the Capital One Quicksilver?

The Capital One Quicksilver is a strong flat-rate cash back card with the added bonus of a 5 percent cash back rate for hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. It also offers a welcome bonus that’s pretty easy to obtain, plus a 0 percent introductory APR promotion.

Here are some other reasons you might want this card:

Additional benefits

Although this card doesn’t offer as high of a cash back rate as the Discover card (other than its 5 percent rate on select travel through the Capital One Travel portal), it’s still a respectable option for cardholders who don’t want to go through the trouble of activating categories and tracking spending.

With no annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, there are plenty of reasons to get the Quicksilver.

Finally, as a Mastercard, the Quicksilver card is more widely accepted than the Discover it Cash Back, especially if you travel abroad. Discover is always expanding its network, but it’s still not as wide-ranging as that of Mastercard and Visa.

It means the Quicksilver could bring a lot of value and benefits to the right cardholder.

Learn more: Capital One Quicksilver Card benefits guide

Redemption options

You can redeem your cash back rewards in several ways, including as:

  • Checks
  • Statement credits
  • Gift cards
  • Past credit card purchases
  • Online purchases at checkout on Amazon

You can also receive your cash back automatically at a set time each year or at a specific cash value.

Recommended credit score

You need good to excellent credit — or a FICO score between 670 and 850 — to qualify for this card.

Why should you get the Discover it Cash Back?

The Discover it Cash Back has high earning potential when it comes to cash back, especially in the first year of card ownership. It also offers a 0 percent introductory APR on both purchases and balance transfers.

Here are some additional reasons you might want the Discover it Cash Back for your wallet:

Additional benefits

Like the Quicksilver card, Discover it Cash Back is light on fees. There’s no annual fee or foreign transaction fees — but even better, there’s no penalty APR or late fee the first time you make a late payment (after which you’ll owe up to $41).

Of course, you also get $0 fraud liability, access to Discover’s Identity Alerts program and more.

It also doesn’t hurt that Discover is known for its customer service, with high ratings in the renowned J.D. Power credit card satisfaction survey from year to year.

Learn more: Discover it Cash Back card benefits guide

Redemption options

Redeem cash back earned with this Discover card as:

  • Cash (as a direct deposit into your account of choice)
  • Statement credits
  • Gift cards
  • Amazon purchases
  • Charitable donations

Recommended credit score

Similar to the Quicksilver, you need good to excellent credit to qualify for this card.

The bottom line

Both of these cash back credit cards offer plenty of perks and benefits aside from their rewards. The best option for you depends on your spending habits, as well as how much effort you’re willing to put forth into optimizing your cash back.

For the set-it-and-forget crowd, the Capital One Quicksilver will yield a respectable amount of cash back with its flat-rate structure. Though, those who are dead set on tracking bonus categories stand to earn more rewards with the Discover it Cash Back, both in the first year of card ownership and after.