PayPal Cashback Mastercard vs Capital One Spark Cash Select
Side-by-side comparison
| PayPal Cashback Mastercard | Capital One Spark Cash Select | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | No annual fee | No annual fee |
| Welcome offer | No current offer | $750 cash back |
| Advertising | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Shipping | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Office supplies | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Phone & internet | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Travel | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Everything else | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| Est. yearly rewards* | $675 | $675 |
| Points type | Cash back only | Pools with Capital One → transferable |
| Network | Mastercard | Mastercard |
*Estimated yearly rewards on typical household spending, every point valued at a flat 1 cent. Verified June 2026. See your own numbers in the calculator.
The verdict
On a typical year of business spending, the PayPal Cashback Mastercard earns about $675 a year in rewards and the Capital One Spark Cash Select about $675, valuing every point at a flat 1 cent. The PayPal Cashback Mastercard has no annual fee, so its rewards are all profit. The Capital One Spark Cash Select has no annual fee, so its rewards are all profit. These two are about as close as cards get: both pay a flat 1.5x on everything, neither charges an annual fee, and on that spending they finish within a few dollars of each other. The choice is not really about the rewards rate. The bigger difference is the ceiling: the Capital One Spark Cash Select earns points you can move to travel partners for outsized value, while the PayPal Cashback Mastercard pays plain cash back. Favor the Capital One Spark Cash Select if you will use travel transfers, the PayPal Cashback Mastercard if you want simplicity. One tiebreaker: the Capital One Spark Cash Select adds no foreign transaction fees, which the other does not. On the sign-up bonus, the Capital One Spark Cash Select currently has the larger welcome offer. A welcome bonus is a one-time event, so weigh it apart from the ongoing rewards.