Just about every business needs a credit card for their operations, even if it’s only for the benefits that come along with the credit card instead of the actual credit line. The Capital One Spark card is one of the most popular business credit cards on the market today, and while it has a number of great benefits, it’s not necessarily the perfect card for every business. Here’s a look at the most important things to know about the Capital One Spark card.
Important Things to Know About the Capital One Sparks Business Card
- The Sparks Business card from Capital One has no annual fee for the first year of use, but has a $59 annual fee for each year after
- There is no foreign transaction fee for Capital One’s Spark card (meaning purchases outside of America won’t be charged any additional)
- Customers who use their Capital One Spark card often can take part in a cash back rewards program
- Once a Sparks cardholder spends $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months of approval, the account will get a $500 cash bonus
Looking at reviews for the Capital One Spark card, a lot of people say this card was a great fit for their business, and the cash back was a very welcome source of additional income. Of course, other Capital One Spark card reviews say the user got more benefit from another card. So what makes this card different than all the rest? Here’s a quick look.
If a business owner is looking for a simple, but flexible credit card with a rewards program, the Capital One Spark card is a great option, maybe even one of the best credit cards a business can sign up for. It’s good for business owners who frequently make purchases overseas as well. But it may not be the best if the cardholder is actually going overseas with the card, as there’s not a lot of travel protection.
In addition, the Spark card lets business owners add additional employees at no extra cost. And on top of not charging a fee, the Spark card has a $50 bonus for companies that add at least one employee within the first 60 days of the card being activated.
Biggest Advantages of the Capital One Business Spark Card
The Capital One Spark card is great for a busy business owner who doesn’t want to give too much thought to their credit card. The rewards program is simple (meaning there’s no need to worry about spending in a certain category at a certain time), and cardholders can even set up an automatic rewards redemption when the account hits a certain mark. Users can choose to get their Capital One Spark Rewards automatically via check every year (the option most people use), or they can call in and request a rewards payout at any time they have a rewards balance of increments of $25, $50, $75, or $100.
The Spark Business card by Capital One is one of the best business credit cards on the market today. A business can earn cask back on every single purchase they make, and there’s no additional fee for using it out of the USA (a fee that most credit cards have). If a business is constantly making purchases from another country, this is definitely a card to consider.
Downsides to the Spark Capital One Card
There are some negative sides to the Capital One Spark card, however. It doesn’t have a very long introductory period with 0% interest, so if a business plans on carrying a balance at first on their card (like if they need a credit card to finance a big purchase up front they won’t be able to pay off for a while), they might be best looking somewhere else. This card also is not good for a business who has a problem paying an annual fee for a credit card, as there is one after the first year of use.
There’s also no category bonus for cash back like many credit cards have: 2% is the only cash back that can be earned with the Capital One Spark Cash. Many credit cards have cash back bonuses of up to 5% for certain categories at certain times, but not this one.
And while there are no foreign transaction fees for the Capital One Spark card, there are also no travel perks, meaning this card won’t be the best for people who actually travel with it.
Will Applying For A Spark Business Card From Capital One Impact The Applicant’s Credit Score?
One very important thing to note is that personal finance information is required. There is no way to apply for a Capital One Spark card without using an individual Social Security Number. Approval of a Spark card from Capital One is tied directly to the cardholder’s personal credit history. And that means it will impact the applicant’s credit score.
But that also means using any Capital One Spark cards can help build credit for a business or an individual. This is actually a major benefit of this card, as it’s not something every card does. For example, no business credit cards from American Express actually report to business credit bureaus. That means they’re absolutely no good for building business credit. Every single Spark card from Capital One does report though, as long as the company’s tax ID number is included on the application.
- Even people who are not an LLC or who are listed as a sole proprietor can apply with their tax id number.
Reviews of the Capital One Spark Card
Most reviews of this card say that Capital One is very easy to work with, and they they’re actually quite generous when it comes to approving business owners and setting a limit for this card. In fact, many people who already have business credit cards with Capital One say they were approved for the Spark card with a limit of several thousand dollars.
Maybe the biggest factor about the Capital One Spark Cash for Business card is the annual fee. There’s not one for the first year, but there is almost a $60 fee for each year after that. So what a business owner has to do is decide whether that annual fee is worth the benefits.
And what most business owners don’t know is that there actually is a little cheaper version of this card available from the same company. There’s a card called the Spark Cash Select For Business from Capital One that only has 1.5 percent cash back (and actually has no foreign transaction fees as well), but it has absolutely no annual fee. The major difference between those cards though, is that the Capital One Spark card is reserved for individuals with “excellent” credit, the company says, while the Spark Cash Select card is better for people who are in the process of trying to establish credit or rebuild their credit.
What it boils down to is whether the business spends enough to make enough cash back to warrant the over $50 fee. The numbers work out to about $12,000 spending each year, or $1,000 a month. Spend more than that, and go with the Capital One Spark card, spend less than that, and go with the Capital One Cash Select.