Why the Capital One Spark Cash Plus is an easy-to-use card for businesses
Key Takeaways
- With the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, business owners can take advantage of a $2,000 cash back welcome offer if their business spends at least $30,000 in the first 3 months they have the card.
- Cardholders also appreciate earning 5 percent cash back on rental car and hotel bookings through Capital One Travel and 2 percent cash back on all other business purchases.
- The card does come with a $150 annual fee, so make sure you’ll spend at least $7,500 each year on the card to offset the expense
The Capital One Spark Cash Plus is an easy-to-use business credit card that offers straightforward rewards — in this case, 5 percent cash back on hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One Travel and an unlimited 2 percent cash back on all other purchases. It’s also a charge card, which means cardholders have to pay their balance in full each month, and there’s no APR or preset spending limit. This card’s spending bonuses, flat cash back, unlimited spending and attractive perks make it easy for business owners to use.
Read on to learn more about what makes this card a great choice and whether its offerings will meet your business’s needs.
Why you should get the Capital One Spark Cash Plus
Do you need a solid charge card for your business? Here are some perks of the Capital One Spark Cash Plus that could make it a solid choice for your unique situation.
Generous welcome bonus
The Capital One Spark Cash Plus offers a $2,000 cash back bonus once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months after opening the account. You can earn an additional $2,0000 cash bonus for every $500,000 you spend during the first year. While this may be unattainable for smaller businesses, it should be easier to achieve for larger companies.
Unlimited, flat cash back on all purchases
If you want to avoid the hassle of keeping track of bonus spending categories, the Capital One Spark Cash Plus for business card offers a high 2 percent cash back rate on all general business purchases. You’ll also earn 5 percent cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
Additionally, there’s no spending cap on rewards — which is a feature common to cards with higher earning rates. So, if you don’t want to worry about spending limits and want to earn straightforward rewards on your business spending, this card is a good option to consider.
While this card does come with an annual fee of $150, the unlimited 2 percent cash back on purchases will cover the fee if you spend at least $7,500 per year — an amount that should be easy for businesses of almost any size to reach. The annual fee is also refundable if your business makes at least $150,000 in purchases per year with the card.
No preset spending limit
Because this is a charge card rather than a credit card, it’s best suited for business owners who have a positive cash flow and are fully confident they’ll be able to pay their balance in full every month. Since there is no preset credit limit, the Spark Cash Plus is also a good choice for business owners who may need to charge large amounts of money during certain times of the year — provided they have the cash flow to pay it off at the end of each billing cycle.
Keep in mind that this card comes with a late fee of 2.99 percent on the unpaid portion of your minimum payment, which is equal to your balance due. Of course, it’s best not to miss any payments, as doing so puts your account at risk of being closed.
Travel benefits
This card is an easy choice for business owners who travel infrequently for business yet still want some travel-related perks. For instance, this card comes with no foreign transaction fees, making it a great choice for traveling abroad. You’ll also get access to roadside assistance and Capital One’s travel portal.
Business perks
The Spark Cash Plus also comes with a number of business-related perks that can help streamline business operations and improve security, such as:
- Free employee cards
- Customized spending limits for employee cards and access to transaction history in real-time
- Year-end, itemized summary reports to make budgeting and tax filing easier
- Quick access to purchase records, which can be downloaded into programs like QuickBooks and Excel
- Virtual card payments for safer online payments
- Payment flexibility, allowing you to choose a monthly due date that works best for you
How the Capital One Spark Cash Plus compares to other Capital One Spark cards
The Spark Cash Plus card is a part of the Capital One Spark card family. Here’s how some of the Spark cards compare to one another:
| Cards | Welcome bonus | Rewards rate | Annual fee |
| Capital One Spark Cash Plus | $2,000 cash bonus when you spend $30,000 in within 3 months of account opening; earn an additional $2,000 bonus for every $500,000 spent during the first year |
|
$150 |
| Capital One Spark Cash Select for Good Credit | N/A |
|
$0 |
| Capital One Spark Cash Select | $500 bonus when you spend $4,500 within 3 months of account opening |
|
$0 |
| Capital One Spark Miles for Business | 50,000 miles after spending $4,500 within 3 months of account opening |
|
$95 ($0 for the first year) |
| Capital One Spark 1.5X Miles Select* | 20,000 miles after spending $3,000 within 3 months of account opening |
|
$0 |
If you want a credit card instead of a charge card, the Capital One Spark Cash Select for Good Credit is a good option to consider. In addition to no annual fee, this card offers 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases and 5 percent cash back on hotel stays and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. Though the cash back rate is lower than what the Spark Cash Plus offers, it’s a better choice if you don’t want to pay an annual fee. It also has a 0 percent intro APR offer on purchases for the first 12 months (21.24 percent to 29.24 percent variable APR thereafter).
Capital One also offers a variation of the same card for those with excellent credit called the Capital One Spark Cash Select. This option features a welcome offer that allows you to earn a $500 cash bonus when you spend $4,500 within the first 3 months. However, there’s no introductory APR offer with this card, and it comes with a 17.99 percent to 23.99 percent variable APR.
For business owners who’d prefer to receive rewards in the form of Capital One miles, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business is another option to consider. You can earn 50,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,500 within the first 3 months of holding the card. You’ll also earn an unlimited 2X miles on all purchases and 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. This card has a 25.74 percent variable APR and a $95 annual fee ($0 for the first year). It’s also worth noting that this card allows you to transfer miles to Capital One’s airline and hotel partners.
Alternatively, Capital One offers a sister version of this card that doesn’t charge an annual fee — the Capital One Spark 1.5X Miles Select*. With this card, you can earn 20,000 bonus miles once you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months. Though the rewards are smaller, this card is geared toward business owners who don’t want to pay an annual fee while still retaining the ability to transfer miles to travel partners.
The bottom line
The Capital One Spark Cash Plus is an easy-to-use card for business owners. It offers flat cash back on all purchases, no preset spending limit and numerous card perks. For larger businesses, the spending bonuses should be easy to attain, too.
Before choosing a business card, however, it’s important to compare other top business cards to ensure you choose the right card for your business needs and spending style.
*The information about the Capital One Spark 1.5X Miles Select has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
