Review of the Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards Card

Last Reviewed: 8/5/2010

capital-one-no-hassle-cash The Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards credit card is a fairly straightforward cashback credit card. It’s not an all-star card, but neither is it a laggard-somewhat North of middle-of-the-pack. One callout is that Capital One tends to tailor their offers based on your credit worthiness. In the case of the No Hassle Cash Rewards card, both the purchase APR and the annual fee vary depending on your credit score. We call out those differences below.

How Does the Capital One No Hassle Rewards Card Stack Up Against The Competition
Rank 7 out of 31 cashback cards tracked by GetDebit (excellent credit)
11/12 out of 31 cashback cards (for average/limited credit history)
Value of rewards* $887 (excellent credit)
$770 (average credit/limited history)
Value of rewards for top cash-back card* (Discover Escape) $1,466

*Based on GetDebit’s standard spending profile for 3 years of card usage. Includes impact of various fees, including annual fees and international fees.

Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards

Here’s a quick table summarizing some of the key features of the No Hassle Rewards card:

Snapshot: Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards Card
Rewards 1% standard cashback; 2% cashback for supermarket and gas station purchases
Redemption requirements Rewards can be redeemed for cash at any time in any amount
Sign up bonus None
Rewards expiration None
Rewards Caps None
Annual Fee
  • None with excellent credit
  • $39 with average credit or limited credit history
International Transaction Fee CapitalOne terms indicate they do not charge a foreign transaction fee, but GetDebit is investigating whether they apply a worse-than-market exchange rate conversion.

Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards Expenses and Fees

There seems to be some “noise” and controversy in the blogosphere about Capital One’s international transaction fees. According to CapitalOne’s own terms and conditions, they do not charge international transaction fees. However, I have come across various posts around the web claiming that CapitalOne offers an unfavorable exchange rate (since all transactions made with your No Hassle Cash Rewards Card in a foreign currency need to be converted to US dollars).

If you do decide to use the Capital One card for travel overseas, make sure you keep an eye on what sort of exchange rate you are getting. It would be an interesting experiment to purchase an identical object (say, a pack of gum) at nearly the same time with this card and a card from another issuer, and see how the exchange rates compare.

GetDebit’s Final Assessment of the No Hassle Cash Rewards Card

The 2% cashback at supermarkets and gas stations isn’t bad at all, and if the international exchange rate issue turns out not to be an issue, then there might be a role for this card in your portfolio. If you are interested in cash rewards, then you should check out our post, 3 Best Cash-Back Credit Cards for some excellent ideas on plastic.

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