Do you have the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card in your wallet?
If so, you may soon notice some pretty significant changes to the card.
Capital One is notifying existing customers via email regarding a couple of key changes:
The card will no longer be a Mastercard. Instead, customers will be receiving a newly issued card on the Discover network. (Capital One acquired Discover in a major transaction in 2025.)
Cardholders will now receive a chance at unlimited 3% cash back for gas and grocery purchases. This is a HUGE addition for the card that previously awarded all purchases at 1.5% cash back.
Capital One appears to be rolling out these changes in waves for Quicksilver cardholders. Team Clark has spoken with customers who received a notification on April 24, as well as others who have not received one … yet.
Team Clark obtained a copy of the email being sent to impacted customers, which should help clarify what is to come for existing cardholders and what could be on the table for prospective applicants in the months ahead.
There are some benefits and drawbacks to this announcement that I’ll cover later in the article.
Let’s take a look at what we know so far.
What Capital One Is Telling Quicksilver Customers
Select cardholders have received notification of the changes to this card, which according to the email we obtained, will take effect soon.
The email we obtained told the cardholder that they will receive a new card in May and their existing card will no longer work effective July 9, 2026.
Here are the key takeaways for the changes, as delivered by Capital One in the email:
Image via Capital One email to cardholders
Other key distinctions covered in the email include:
What counts as a grocery store purchase for this new 3% cash back category?
“Grocery store purchases include those made at a supermarket, meat locker, freezer, dairy product store and specialty market. Grocery store purchases exclude superstores like Walmart® and Target®.”
This is in line with how most other rewards credit cards award grocery benefits. This is due to the merchant codes that each store uses to process credit card transactions.
What counts as a gas station purchase for this new 3% cash back category?
“Gas station purchases include those made at merchants classified as places that sell automotive gasoline that can be bought at the pump or inside the station. EV charging station purchases made at public electric vehicle charging stations are also included. Gas stations and EV charging stations affiliated with supermarkets, supercenters, and wholesale clubs may not be eligible. Certain parking garages where public electric vehicle charging is offered or included may not be eligible.”
This also aligns with how most top credit cards for gas rewards classify these purchases.
Pros and Cons of the Capital One Quicksilver Changes
To me, there are a couple of clear takeaways from this announcement.
The Pro: Cardholders can DOUBLE their cash back in two key spending categories
The unlimited 1.5% cash back this card offers on everyday purchases falls short of the 2% cash back that money expert Clark Howard recommends for an everyday spender. (This has kept us from recommending the card as a top option in the past.)
But giving unlimited 3% back on two important spending categories like gas and groceries could make this card a “part-time player” in the wallets of anyone building out a no-annual-fee cash back setup.
The Con: Cardholders who use this card internationally may be in trouble
One of the top perks of this card is that it’s a no-annual-fee card that offers no foreign transaction fees. That’s a rarity!
But this change to the processing network may throw a wrench into the usability of this card abroad moving forward.
While Discover is a perfectly good processing platform for purchases made in the United States, it is not broadly accepted internationally.
So, while Capital One will still keep the “no foreign transaction fee” policy for the card, you may find that you’re unable to use it to pay at certain retailers while traveling abroad.
Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
card_name
Annual Fee:
$0
Foreign Transaction Fee:
None
Card Description:
Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account openingEarn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day$0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees
Do you have this card in your wallet? Will you consider it with the upcoming changes? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the Clark.com community.
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