Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus Review: Unlimited 2% Back and a Big Bonus

The Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus earns an unlimited 2% back on your spending. This makes it one of the best business credit cards out there. However, it also has an annual fee, so you need to be sure you'll earn enough cash back to make it worth the fee. Learn more about this credit card and if it's the right fit for you with our Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus review.

This credit card is a good fit for: Business owners with high annual spend who want to earn a top-tier cash back rate on their business purchases.

Top perks

This business credit card has a lot of pros in its favor.

Unlimited 2% cash back

You earn 2% cash back on your card purchases, without any spending caps or categories to track. The 2% cash back rate is unlimited, so it adds up quickly if you spend quite a bit for your business.

Your rewards won't expire so long as your account remains open and in good standing. Cash back can be redeemed as a statement credit to your card account. You can even set up automatic redemption based on a set date or a set rewards threshold so you never miss out on redeeming your rewards.

$1,200 sign-up bonus

New cardholders can earn $1,200 in sign-up bonus cash back by spending $30,000 on your card within the first 3 months.

Since this card is designed for businesses with a lot of expenses, the high spending requirement is likely attainable for many cardholders. If you manage to earn the full $1,200, you'll end up with one of the best sign-up bonuses we've found for a cash back card.

No foreign transaction fees

Cash back cards often have foreign transaction fees of up to 3% -- but not the Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus. It charges zero foreign transaction fees, which can be a big savings if you -- or your employees -- need to make purchases abroad. Foreign transaction fees can also be charged on any transaction that routes through a foreign bank, so this is a vital perk for businesses that make purchases from foreign suppliers.

Learn more: Best No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards

Free employee cards

Large businesses with a lot of revenue also tend to have a lot of employees. The Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus lets you add employee credit cards to your account with no extra card fees. You can set individual spending limits for each card based on the employee using it, and you can track purchases as they post. Employee cards can also earn the same unlimited 2% cash back, so you'll earn for every eligible purchase no matter who makes it.

Potential annual spending bonus

By the time you add up the sign-up bonus and unlimited 2% cash back, you already have a pretty rewarding business card. But the Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus takes it a step further. Every year you spend at least $150,000 on your card, you'll earn an extra $150 cash back bonus -- enough to cover the card's $150 annual fee. This makes the Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus's annual fee well worth paying for businesses with high annual spend.

What could be improved

The downsides aren't numerous, but they're still important to consider.

$150 annual fee

The Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus has a $150 annual fee. If your company spends enough every year to earn the annual $200 bonus, this annual fee is completely reasonable -- you'll earn it back, plus some. Even if you don't quite meet the $200,000 in annual spend for the bonus, the fee could still be worthwhile if you earn more in purchase rewards than you would with a no-fee alternative. However, there are a lot of no annual fee cards for businesses with fewer annual expenses that will still be quite rewarding if you don't think the fee is worth paying.

Pay-in-full card has to be paid off every month

Unlike some of the competition, the Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus doesn't have any kind of intro 0% APR deal. In fact, it doesn't allow revolving balances at all. In other words, you can't carry a balance from month to month on this card. Instead, you'll need to pay your balance in full every month before your due date. If you don't pay the full amount on your bill, you'll be charged a late fee equal to 2.99% of your outstanding balance. Your account will also be flagged as "past due."

Personal guarantee required

The Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus isn't a corporate credit card, it's a small business card -- albeit one for businesses with a lot of annual expenses. Since it's not a corporate card, the Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus will come with a personal guarantee requirement. This means you, as the business owner and card applicant, agree to be just as liable for the credit card balance as your business. If something goes wrong and your business can't pay its card debt, that responsibility legally falls upon you. If you fail to pay, your personal credit will be affected and Capital One can come after you, personally, for the debt.

Capital One advertises this card for business owners with excellent credit. In order to have a fair chance at qualifying for this card, you'll want to have a personal FICO® Score of at least 700, though a score over 780 would be better. Of course, approval will be about more than your credit score. Your entire credit history will be evaluated. Additionally, your business details will also influence the decision, including:

• How long you've been in business
• Your annual business revenue
• Your existing business tradelines

The Capital One Spark 2% Cash Plus is an ideal pick for businesses who put a lot of money on their card each year, offering truly unlimited 2% cash back with no cap on how much you can earn. Big spenders can also offset the high $150 annual fee with an equal annual bonus for spending $150,000 each year. If your business doesn't spend enough to make up for the annual fee, however, it's worth looking for an alternative option with a lower -- or $0 -- annual fee. Check out some of those options on our list of credit card reviews.

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.