Costs & Pricing

Metric	Spark Cash Plus	Brex Card
Annual fee	$150 ($150 statement credit if ≥ $150,000 net purchases by membership anniversary)	$0 published for the card. Software is separate: Essentials $0/user/mo; Premium $12/user/mo; Enterprise/Smart Card custom. Do not treat Premium as a card AF unless the company elects that plan.
Employee card fee	$0 (free employee and virtual cards)	$0; unlimited physical + virtual cards advertised
Purchase APR	Not printed as revolving purchase APR; Pay Over Time variable APR ~25.74% (review sites, mid-2026) if balance carried	N/A — charge card, pay in full. Marketing “0%” is charge-card float (daily ~1 business day after clear, or ~30-day monthly statement), not an intro APR.
Intro APR (purchases)	Not offered	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	$0	Marketing: no FTF. Official: FX rate markup of up to 3% on conversions (Mastercard wholesale, adjusted daily). Local-currency cards can avoid conversion on local spend.
Late payment fee	2.99% late fee if minimum payment not paid by due date	2.99% of delinquent balance or $38, whichever is higher, assessed once per statement that is 30 days past due (Card Program Terms, Apr 7, 2026)

Rewards & Value

Metric	Spark Cash Plus	Brex Card
Base earn rate	Unlimited 2% cash back on net purchases (no category caps)	1x on everything else under Exclusive (1 point per $1 USD spend with a U.S.-based merchant). All customers enrolled in Exclusive unless the contract says otherwise. No published category caps. Non-Exclusive / second-card path may be flat 1x — source conflict with 2026 reviews; confirm on the live contract.
Welcome bonus	$2,000 cash after $30,000 spend in first 3 months; +$2,000 for every $500,000 in year one (repeatable)	$1,000 USD statement credit after ≥$4,000 Qualifying Spend within 30 days of activation. Apply, be approved, and activate (first purchase) Sep 1–30, 2026 (legal offer revised Aug 10, 2026). Re-check Oct 1. Review sites still print 10,000 points after $3,000 in 3 months — not found as a current dated legal page.
Redemption value	1¢ per 1¢ cash back on statement credit/check	Brex Travel portal: 1 point = 1¢. Cash to Brex business account or statement credit: 1 point = 0.6¢ (admin must claim). Headline 7x rideshare is 4.2% cash only if Exclusive + cash path. Do not use 1¢ for cash.
Transfer partners	No native transfer partners; cash may convert to Capital One miles ($1 = 100 miles) if linked to miles-earning Cap One card	Emirates Skywards, Avianca LifeMiles, Singapore KrisFlyer, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Aeromexico Club Premier, Cathay Asia Miles, Qantas Frequent Flyer at ~1,500:1,000. Crypto (BTC/ETH) appeared in older guides at 0.6¢ — not on the current official redeem page.

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	Spark Cash Plus	Brex Card
Personal guarantee	Required in practice (issuer-typical for Cap One business cards; not quoted on product page)	Not required in Brex marketing. Card Program Terms assign liability to the Company. Confirm the live issuer agreement at approval (Emigrant vs Fifth Third vs other).
Credit check	Hard pull on submit; pre-approval advertised as no impact to personal credit	Brex states SSN is for identity verification and is not used to underwrite or pull personal credit. No advertised personal hard pull.
Employee cards	Free; spend limits, lock/unlock, account manager role; primary remains liable	One employee card (physical or virtual) per user plus unlimited purchasing/virtual cards. Spend limits, merchant locks, policies, Apple/Google/Samsung Pay. Company liable. Auto-reissue on expiry.
Product type	Hybrid charge card / NPSL business card (designed pay-in-full; Pay Over Time optional)	Corporate / commercial charge card plus spend-management platform (pay-in-full daily or monthly; not revolving; no published purchase APR)

Pros & Cons

Spark Cash Plus

Pros

• Uncapped 2% cash back on all net purchases
• NPSL capacity plus free employee and virtual cards
• $150 annual fee refunded at $150,000 net spend by anniversary
• Large year-1 bonuses — $2,000 at $30k/3 mo plus $2,000 per $500k spent
• $0 foreign transaction fee; 5% on Capital One Business Travel hotels/VR/cars

Cons

• $150 fee is real if spend stays below $150k/year
• Pay-in-full design — 2.99% late fee and Pay Over Time interest if you carry
• Bonus hurdles favor very high spenders ($30k/3 mo, $500k increments)
• No 0% intro APR and no balance transfers
• Bonus often blocked for existing/previous Capital One Business cardholders

Brex Card

Pros

• No personal guarantee and no advertised personal credit pull; company is the obligor
• $0 card annual fee and unlimited employee/virtual cards on Essentials
• Exclusive category points with no published earn cap; Brex Travel portal at 1¢/pt
• Native expense controls, virtual/vendor cards, and accounting integrations
• Local-currency cards in 50+ countries (plan-dependent); business-bureau reporting without personal-credit reporting (per Brex)

Cons

• Charge card: no revolving APR, no 0% working-capital window; late fee 2.99% or $38 after 30 days past due, plus possible 10% workout fee
• Sole props ineligible; funded startups commonly ~$50k cash; commercial revenue floors are messy
• “No FTF” marketing vs up to 3% FX markup
• Cash redemption 0.6¢/pt; airline transfers 1,500:1,000; Exclusive/contract multipliers are easy to misread
• Dynamic limits can fall with cash; Capital One ownership may change terms

Verdict

Spark Cash Plus

Capital One Spark Cash Plus is the go-to for businesses with serious spend who can pay in full. Uncapped 2%, NPSL flexibility, free employee/virtual cards, and a refundable $150 fee at $150k make it a premium flat-rate engine — especially with the live $2,000 welcome bonus and limited $500 travel credit (through Sep 7, 2026). Poor fit for 0% financing seekers, lounge hunters, or businesses under $150k annual card spend.

Brex Card

Brex is a charge-card ops platform owned by Capital One as of April 7, 2026 — not Spark, not Ramp’s Visa SKU, and not a revolving bank card. Pick it for no-PG underwriting and policy tooling. Do not assume 1¢ cash, a guaranteed 7x, or true $0 FX. Sole props, revolvers, and simple 1.5–2% cash shoppers should use a traditional PG card or Ramp if the cash bar fits. The Sep 2026 $1,000 / $4,000 / 30-day credit expires Sep 30 — re-check Oct 1.