Picture it: Seattle, 2025. Rain is falling gently from gray skies. A warm glow and the scent of coffee beckons young professionals into a corner café. I walk in and am greeted, not by my friendly neighborhood barista, but by a Capital One bank employee. Why? Because I’m at the Capital One Café, of course.
“What madness is this?” you ask. Well, dear reader, Capital One actually has over 60 of these charming little cafés scattered across the U.S. — in 18 states plus Washington, D.C., to be exact. It’s like a cozy coffee shop and corporate America had a secret affair and birthed this contemporary café that caters to the digital nomad.
What Is a Capital One Café?
You don’t have to be a Capital One customer to enjoy a Capital One Café, but you do get a few perks if you are one. For example, Capital One cardholders get a 50% discount on all handcrafted beverages when they pay with their Capital One debit or credit card. This includes co-branded cards with the Visa or Mastercard logo.
What’s more, with the Capital One-Discover merger, Discover cardholders now also receive that 50% discount. Lucky for lil’ old me, I had my Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card on me. So I bought seasonal drinks for me and my friend — a pumpkin pie latte with almond milk and an autumn-spice milk tea called Bowl of Soul. It was every bit as delicious as it was fun to say.
Now, I consider myself a bit of a coffee snob. It’s one of the reasons Seattle — the coffee capital of America — appealed to me so much when I was deciding on my next city to live. I also have a coffee-of-the-month subscription, own an espresso machine and grind my own beans at home. (I have to list my credentials, after all.) So imagine my surprise when the coffee I bought was actually … good!
Let’s be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from a coffee shop that was created by a bank. But Capital One did its research. It serves Verve coffee, a craft roaster in California. And the menu offered all the usual staples with a few signature drinks. There’s also a surprisingly extensive food menu with favorites like avocado toast and a roasted turkey club sandwich.
Other than the meeting rooms and a few (rather large) Capital One logos, you’d think you were in a local Seattle haunt. I did a little digging and found out that was completely intentional.
The Seattle Capital One Café is housed in a historic two-story building. Wanting to be part of the community instead of just inserting itself into it, Capital One kept as much of the original architecture as possible.
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The building was once home to Pande Cameron & Company, importers and retailers of fine carpets for almost 100 years. And this Capital One Café paid homage to that by decorating the building with the company’s rugs. I also learned the glorious wooden staircase was the original from 1962.
But what makes this café perfect for digital nomads? For starters, I didn’t have to fistfight anyone for a working outlet. Everything after that was just icing on the cake.
[SEE: Best Capital One Credit Cards]
An Ideal Coworking Space
While working from a coffee shop as a cool breeze blows outside and leaves scatter across the sidewalk is an idyllic image, many places don’t accommodate those of us who work from home and need a scenery change. Which is totally fine; not every coffee shop needs to do that.
But sometimes it gets frustrating trying to enjoy a cup of coffee while waiting for the only working outlet in the place (that’s in the most inconvenient corner of the room) to open up while balancing a 15-inch laptop and notebooks on the tiniest table. The Capital One Café aims to solve that problem.
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The tables were large and there were outlets galore. There was also a long, high table that had outlets from one end to the other. Guess where I sat? It was Friday morning and the café was abuzz with other digital nomads clacking away on their laptops. A few groups were scattered about here and there.
There are nooks and meeting rooms available on a first come, first served basis. Larger meeting rooms are also available, but they require a reservation and are only open to nonprofit, student and alumni organizations. But if you need a quiet space for a Zoom meeting, chances are you’ll find one.
The Capital One Café offers another perk that’s available to anyone who visits: financial literacy services.
Coffee with a Side of Financial Advice
As soon as you walk into the Capital One Café — after walking through the vestibule that houses a Capital One ATM — you’re greeted by café ambassadors. Now, the cafés don’t have the same services that branches do, but that doesn’t mean they’re short on options.
A café ambassador can help you open a new Capital One account, manage a current account, discuss applying for auto loans, learn about the bank’s Money & Life Program and more.
According to Capital One, the Money & Life Program provides exercises, mentoring and workshops to promote financial well-being. It’s free for everyone — regardless of whether you bank with Capital One. You can meet with a mentor for a free 60-minute session up to three times. These sessions can help you gain clarity on your financial goals while laying out plans on where to go next.
Other perks offered by the cafés are workshops and free events, which vary by location. For a past event, Capital One partnered with #WeAllGrow to host the Amigas in Business Pitch Competition.
The competition took place at a Capital One Café in Glendale, California, and featured local Latina leaders “focused on inspiring and equipping entrepreneurs with the knowledge, networking and funding they need to reach their professional and personal goals,” according to Capital One Café. Three finalists had to pitch judges on their small businesses and the grand-prize winner walked away with a $15,000 grant courtesy of Capital One Business.
Final Thoughts
Capital One Cafés seem to be the perfect spot for a corporate baddie to get some work done while also enjoying the cozy coffee shop vibes. If there’s one near you, it’s definitely worth checking out.
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Capital One’s Hidden Perk originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 11/21/25: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
