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In 2021, Capital One discontinued the Spark Cash for Business credit card, which earned 2% cash back everywhere, and replaced it with the Spark Cash Plus, a charge card with the same earnings structure, no preset spending limit and the requirement that you pay the balance in full monthly.
Over the weekend, Dave over at MilesTalk noticed that the card is suddenly open again for new applications – without Capital One making any sort of announcement (that I’m aware of). Not only that, but there’s a decent welcome offer attached that’s good for $750 cash back after spending $7,500 within the first 3 months in addition to the $95 annual fee being waived for the first year.
The Offer & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
$750 Cash Back ⓘ Affiliate Earn a $750 cash bonus when you spend $7,500 within the first 3 months. $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 FM Mini Review: A good option for business owners who prefer simple cash back rewards. Earning rate: 2% everywhere ✦ 5% on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel Base: 2% Card Info: Visa Signature issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: No foreign transaction fees |
Quick Thoughts
This is a bit of a bizarre development, as we normally see some PR going into a card launching, or in this case re-launching, but we haven’t heard a peep from C1. It’s also interesting that this card still has the same 2% everywhere earning structure as the Spark Cash Plus, the only difference being that this is a credit card with a spending limit and the ability to run a balance, whereas the Spark Cash Plus is a charge card with no preset spending limit that’s paid off monthly. Oh, and the “regular” Cash is $55/year cheaper.
As far as the welcome offer goes, while the required spend is on the high side, you would end up with an effective 12% total cash back on the first $7.5K in purchases between the $750 and the 2% you’d earn on all purchases with this card.
That said, where the welcome offer really shines is if you also have a Capital One card that earns miles. It’s possible to convert cash back to Capital One miles at a rate of $0.01 per mile, so the cash back could become 90,000 transferable miles (including the $150 you earn from completing the $7,500 spend). Given that Capital One has a good set of transfer partners, that could make for an even better deal.
Although there was a period where Capital One was reporting the Spark Cash on personal credit reports, it stopped doing so at the end of 2021 for new approvals as long as the account remained in good standing. As of now, we don’t have any confirmation as to whether or not that remains the case.
Capital One Application Tips
- 48 Month Rule: Existing or previous cardholders are not eligible for the same personal card if they have received a new cardmember bonus for the same product within the last 48 months. This doesn't apply to business cards.
- 2 card limit no more? Conventional wisdom and user experience used to be that you can have at most 2 Capital One cards. However, there are now frequent data points of some people having many more.
- 1 Charge Card Limit: Capital One only allows cardholders to be have one business charge card, so it's not possible to be the primary cardholders on both the Venture X Business and Spark Cash Plus. This doesn't apply to authorized users.
- Hard inquiries often get issued through all 3 credit bureaus.
- Velocity Limits? It used to be thought that Capital One will only approve you for one card every six months. While this is still many people's experience, we've now frequently seen data points of approvals for a second card within that timeframe.
- Application Status: Call (800) 903-9177 to check your application status.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (800) 625-7866 for reconsideration.
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The MilesTalk post has an update that this card reports to personal credit bureaus for 5/24 just fyi.
The only 2 C1 biz cards *before this card’s re-introduction* that do not report to personal bueaus are the Venture X Biz and the Spark Cash Plus. They’re both charge cards and the terms and conditions for both specifically reference that they do not report unless your account becomes delinquent. This card – the Spark Cash is not a charge card.
There is also the following language present in the Rates and Fees Information page on the Venture X Biz and Spark Cash Plus: “Will this card be reflected on my Personal Credit Report? late payments, missed payments or defaults on your account may be reflected on your personal credit report.” This language is conspicuously absent on the Spark Cash card Rates and Fees page; the Spark Cash Rates and Fees page is nearly identical to the Rates and Fees page of the Cap 1 biz cards that *do* report to personal credit bureaus. As such, I think it’s pretty reasonable to infer that this card is pretty likely to report to personal bureaus.
No guarantees in life but I’d personally be willing to bet a fiver that this’ll report.
I mean I’d love to be wrong and if there’s data or confirmation that it doesn’t report, I’ll be the first in line for 90k cap 1 points but as the kids say, “X to Doubt.”
Interestingly, about 2 months ago I applied for the Cash Plus card and was denied, but was offered this exact offer as an alternative! So I jumped on it. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t previously available.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this business card does report to personal bureaus.
I actually mentioned that in the post. It didn’t when when it was last offered, but we don’t have confirmation that that’s still the case now that it’s been relaunched.
I skimmed past the part where it was mentioned and jumped to the bullet points my bad. Although I would be willing to wager that the “relaunched” card has the same credit-reporting behavior as before, because… Capital One.
I can confirm that both my wife and I got the Spark Biz cards Dec 2023 and they both counted against our 5/24s. 🙁
Can you tell us which Spark card you applied for? There’s several and this one wasn’t available in December 2023. There are different reporting rules depending on which one you got: Spark Cash Plus, Spark Cash Miles, Spark Cash Select
They were both Spark Cash Select cards. $750 bonus after $6K spend.
Thanks for the info! That’s a different product from the Spark Cash for Business. The Spark Select and the Spark Miles card both report to personal bureaus…the Spark Cash Plus does not. This card did not report when it was last offered publicly, but that may have changed this time around.