Capital One No Hassle Cash Rewards Review

Summary - The Capital One No Hassle Cash(SM) Rewards is a cash back card that actually has an annual fee. The reason why there is an annual fee is because this card is targeted to those with a very new credit history.

Rebate Formula - 2% cash back on purchases at gas stations and major grocery stores and 1% cash back on all other purchases. No limit on cash back and rewards won't expire for the life of your account as long as it is opened and it is in good standing. You can request your rebates via a statement credit, a check or a gift card (which may take up to 30 days).

Perk Central - Like most cash back cards these days, Capital One has a shopping portal called shop discover.com whereby you can earn up to 15% rebates when you shop with their merchant partners.

Fees - This card comes with an annual fee of $39. The APR is presently 17.99% to 22.99%.

No Hassle Rewards Peer Comparison

There are at present two types of cash back credit cards in the market today. The first type allows you to earn more than 1% cash rebates on certain expense categories for the whole year round. The second type of cash back card are what we call the rotating category cards whereby you can earn 5% cash back on categories that changes every three months.

This card belongs to the first group and hence the real comparison has to be made with cards like that.

No Hassle Rewards vs Blue Cash Everyday - The first comparison we can make is with the Blue Cash Everday from Amex, which pays 3% on supermarket expenses, 2% on department stores and gasoline. Hence, right off the bat, the Blue Cash beat No Hassle Rewards in terms of rewards. Furthermore, the Blue Cash has no annual fee.

No Hassle Cash vs Costco - Another one of their peers is the Costco credit card (also from Amex). Costco pays 3% rebates on gasoline and 2% on restaurant and travel expenses. Hence, it beats No Hassle Cash in gasoline but does not pay more than 1% on groceries. Instead, it has the travel and dining category which it pays 2%. There is also no annual fee for Costco though you have to be a Costco member. Once again, the fact that this Capital One card has an annual fee counts against it.

No Hassle Cash vs Bank Americard Cash Rewards - Bank of America also has a cash rebate card that is worth comparing. It pays 3% on gasoline and 2% on groceries. Furthermore, it has no annual fee. So off the bat, BOA has a better card than this one.

No Hassle Cash vs Other Rotating Category Cards - Though it is not a rotating category card, I think it is worth comparing No Hassle Cash to these type of cards because it actually has an annual fee. Most rotating category cards like the Discover More, Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend have no annual fee and offer 5% rebates on different types of expense every three months. The fact that these other cards have no annual fee means you should at least consider them before the No Hassle Cash.

Is The Capital One No Hassle Cash Good?

In terms of rewards, this card is pretty decent though not up to scratch with its peers (if only slightly). But the big issue I have is that they charge an annual fee of $39. But to be fair, Capital One is marketing this card to those with average credit and perhaps even those with very little credit history. Hence, the annual fee.

If you have average credit or no credit, I would consider other cards first. For example, if you are a student and have no credit history, then I would suggest getting a no annual fee cash back student credit card like the Discover Student Credit Card or the Citi Dividend Card for Students.

If you are not a student, the I would consider some of the other cards we have mentioned earlier in the peer comparisons. I would avoid the Blue Cash Every and Discover More because Amex and Discover tend to only approve folks with excellent credit. I would consider no annual fee cards like Chase Freedom or the Citi Dividend Card before you think about getting the No Hassle Cash Rewards (simply to avoid paying the annual fee).