You may come across Capital One Cafes every once in a while when walking through a city. They look like banks, they have ATMs, but you can also see customers lounging around with beverages. What are they exactly?
To put it simply, it’s both a bank and a coffee shop. You’ll find ATMs, Capital One ambassadors, and other banking necessities, in addition to your typical coffee shop offerings.
More importantly, you don’t have to be a Capital One cardholder to get in. Anybody can use the space, buy a beverage, use the bathroom, and lounge around. I also see this as a marketing thing for Capital One, as it’s a great way to reach their customer base since they’re mostly an online bank. The branding, advertisements throughout the store, and credit card conversations around you are all they need to advertise themselves to a nonmember who’s visiting.
That said, Capital One cardholders do get 50% off of handcrafted beverages here. A medium-sized drip coffee will go for just over $2 (at the cafes I go to in New York and Boston, at least), which is a great deal. Note that thanks to Capital One’s acquisition of Discover a couple of weeks ago, Discover cardmembers also get this discount.
Cafe Space
Here’s one that I go to often whenever I’m in Boston, as an example.
All Capital One Cafes I’ve been to have very nice properties. This concept has been around for only the past decade, so their buildings are mostly new.
The cafes feature Verve Coffee Roasters. They also have a fairly good selection of tea, iced beverages, and others. They do offer light meals too, such as avocado toast, breakfast club, yogurt bowl, and more.
I always like this selection of pastries. I sometimes get a chocolate chip cookie or a muffin.
There are plenty of other healthy snacks as well.
When paying, the staff asks me if I’m paying with my Capital One card to get 50% off. All I have to do is wave my Capital One card, and they give me the discount. Remember, this applies to handcrafted beverages only, not pastries or other snacks.
Every Cafe has at least a couple of ATMs inside. Capital One Ambassadors can also be found throughout the cafe.
Many of these locations have ample natural lighting. I took the above two photos about 10-20 minutes before they closed, but you’ll typically find several customers inside. Some locations, such as the one inside Bloomberg Tower on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, are often packed.
Capital One Cafes also offer nooks, which are bookable for free for cardholders 18 and older. Meeting rooms are also available for students, alumni, and nonprofit organizations.
Concluding Thoughts
I’ve been to many Capital One Cafes throughout the U.S., and I find them to be very consistent. A nice beverage and Wi-Fi are all I need to get a little work done here, and all of their locations have served me well. Finding a seat may be challenging in some of their busiest locations (especially on a weekend), but I personally haven’t had many issues aside from a couple of locations in New York City.
Whether you’re a Capital One cardholder or not, I think these places are great to stop by.
All photos taken by the author.
