Costs & Pricing

Metric	Spark 1.5% Cash Select	Capital One Venture Business
Annual fee	$0	$95 (no first-year waiver on Venture Business). Legacy Spark Miles was $0 intro year 1, then $95 — do not use that waiver in a 2026 new-applicant calculator.
Employee card fee	$0	$0
Purchase APR	16.74%–26.74% variable after intro (based on creditworthiness)	24.49% variable (marketing page shows a single rate, not a range). Review-captured terms: Prime + 17.74%; updates quarterly. Confirm whether 24.49% is universal or representative.
Intro APR (purchases)	0% for 9 months, then 16.74%–26.74% variable	Not offered
Foreign transaction fee	$0	$0
Late payment fee	Not disclosed on public product page (aggregators: up to $39; cash-back hub footnote mentions 2.99% — unresolved)	Up to $39 (captured Capital One account-terms / review Schumer boxes)

Rewards & Value

Metric	Spark 1.5% Cash Select	Capital One Venture Business
Base earn rate	Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase (no category restrictions)	Unlimited 2 miles per $1 on every purchase. No category tracking, no published annual cap. Same earn structure on legacy Spark Miles and live Venture Business.
Welcome bonus	$750 cash after $6,000 purchases in first 3 months	Live Venture Business (Sept. 3, 2026): 100,000 miles after $10,000 in first 3 months. Product-page footnote: may not be available for existing or previous Capital One Business card holders. Offer expiration date not dated on the live product page.
Redemption value	Face-value cash (statement credit or check); any amount; does not expire while account is open	Issuer marketing treats miles as 1¢ each for Capital One Business Travel and cover-travel redemptions (request within 90 days). Cash/gift-card value is lower and varies / subject to change (business FAQ). Do not assume 1¢ for cash. Transfers not assumed unless the user picks a partner.
Transfer partners	Cash itself does not transfer. If you also hold a Capital One miles card, cash can convert at 1¢ = 1 mile (widely documented; not on the Select product page).	Official partner article (Jan. 29, 2026) — 1:1 airlines: Aeromexico Rewards, Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus, Flying Blue (Air France-KLM), Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Privilege Club, Singapore KrisFlyer, TAP Miles&Go, Turkish Miles&Smiles, Virgin Red. 2:1.5: Emirates Skywards, EVA Air, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank. 5:3: JetBlue. Hotels: Choice Privileges 1:1, Wyndham Rewards 1:1, I Prefer 1:2, Accor Live Limitless 2:1. Miles do not expire while the account is open; may be lost if closed. Minimum transfer not disclosed on that article (third parties often cite 1,000-mile increments).

Credit & Eligibility

Metric	Spark 1.5% Cash Select	Capital One Venture Business
Personal guarantee	Not quoted on product page; market practice = required for Capital One small-business revolving cards	Required in ordinary Capital One small-business underwriting. Card-specific agreement sentence not disclosed in a public PDF located this run. Application collects SSNs of all business owners.
Credit check	Hard pull on apply (commonly all three bureaus). Pre-approval advertised as no impact to personal score.	Hard pull on apply is the industry-standard Capital One path; pre-approval tool is marketed as no impact on personal score. Whose credit: owners whose SSNs are submitted.
Employee cards	Free; custom spend limits; card lock; account-manager role (primary remains liable)	Free; individual limits; receipts/notes in Expense Management; same 2X earn per marketing.
Product type	Revolving business credit card (fixed credit line)	Revolving business credit card with a fixed credit line (not NPSL; not a charge card). Capital One contrasts this with Venture X Business and Spark Cash Plus (pay-in-full / NPSL).

Pros & Cons

Spark 1.5% Cash Select

Pros

• $0 annual fee; unlimited 1.5% cash back with no category tracking
• Live $750 / $6,000 / 3-month welcome bonus
• 9-month 0% intro APR on purchases
• $0 foreign-transaction fee; free employee cards that earn the same rate
• Cash back never expires while the account is open; redeem any amount

Cons

• 1.5% trails 2% flats and category-heavy Ink/Amex products at scale
• 5% travel only inside Capital One Business Travel; no lounge/GE credits
• Balance transfers not available
• Revolving Spark cards commonly report to personal credit
• Excellent-credit bar; full Schumer (late fee, penalty APR) not on the public product page

Capital One Venture Business

Pros

• Unlimited 2X miles with no category caps, plus 5X on Capital One Business Travel hotels/cars and 15+ transfer partners
• $0 FTF and free employee cards
• $50 travel + $50 ads/software credits can offset the $95 fee if used
• Global Entry/TSA PreCheck up to $120 every 4 years
• Live 100,000 / $10,000 / 3-month bonus is richer than the last Spark Miles 50k / $4,500 offer

Cons

• $95 fee with no year-1 waiver on the live SKU
• No 0% intro APR; BTs not available; purchase APR 24.49% variable
• No lounge access; 5X travel is portal hotels/cars only — not flights, not direct bookings
• Ads/software credit is MCC-fragile
• Spark Miles closed; existing holders must re-apply (no product change) to get new credits and may lose the bonus

Verdict

Spark 1.5% Cash Select

Spark Cash Select is the clean no-fee 1.5% Capital One option — plus a $750 bonus and 9 months of 0% on purchases. It is not Spark Cash Plus (NPSL, $150) and not Classic (fair credit, 1%). Best as a simple daily driver or year-1 0% tool; once annual spend is high enough that a 2% flat or category card wins, move the volume.

Capital One Venture Business

New applicants see Venture Business, not Spark Miles. Existing Spark Miles accounts stay on the old product ($0 year-1 then $95; GE/PreCheck only among this pair’s credits; no $50 travel or ads/software unless they separately apply). Do not mix with VentureOne (1.5X, $0) or Venture X Business ($395, NPSL, lounges). Skip it for 0% float, no-PG underwriting, or anyone who will revolve at 24.49%.