In the way that having a separate company bank account and a separate personal account makes it much easier to keep accurate financial records, the same is true of a business credit card. With a business credit card, any purchases made on it are recorded in the name of the business rather than in your name as an individual.
In addition, more companies than ever before are choosing to settle invoices by business credit card. Because of the way a business credit card account works, you can pay your suppliers on card by the due date and enjoy up to 56 days’ free credit. This means that settling your suppliers’ invoice by credit card could cost you no more than paying by debit card or by bank transfer.
But which business credit card company and package should you choose? In this article, we share with you:
- A comparison of the top 28 UK business credit card deals currently on offer,
- The differences between a business credit card and a business charge card,
- The advantages and disadvantages of business credit cards and business charge cards,
- What to consider when pricing up a potential business credit card,
- The non-standard types of business card you might want to consider,
- Synopses of the top 28 UK business credit card deals, and
- The most frequently asked questions about business credit cards.
Want help to find the best business credit card company and package for your firm?
You can leave your details in the form at the top of this page and let us do it for you. Simply share as much information about yourself and your company as possible and then we’ll then present you with 3 to 4 of the best offers (subject to status) that we find. Our service is free and there’s no obligation on you to accept any of the offers we find you.
Compare business credit cards – 28 top UK new business credit cards
Business credit card comparison table – key
- Company – name of the financial institution offering a credit or charge card
- Product – the name of a particular credit or charge card account offered by a financial institution
- Rep APR – the representative APR is the interest rate currently being paid by 51% or more of a product’s customers
- First year fee – the fixed fee for account maintenance over the first year
- Interest free days – the interest free period (more on what that means later in this article)
Business credit card versus business charge cards
On our list, you’ll see two types of card for your company – a business credit card and a business charge card. Although business charge cards are cheaper to run that business credit cards, you will benefit more from choosing a credit card if you want to have the option of not clearing the entire balance at the end of each monthly billing cycle.
What is a business credit card?
A business credit card operates in much the same way as a personal credit card.
You can use it online, in retail stores, and over the phone to make payments for the goods and services your business needs. Any payments you do make on a business credit card show on your business credit card account and not on your personal credit card account – this makes budgeting much easier for business owners and it reduces the time your accountant needs to spend separating your commercial and personal expenditure for tax purposes.
A credit card is a revolving credit facility. You pay (in most cases) an annual fee to your credit card company which gives your business the ability to borrow up to a certain sum of money and you are allowed to use these funds as and when you need them.
The amount of money you’re allowed to borrow is called your “company limit” – this is the maximum amount of debt you’re allowed to accrue on your card account. Depending on how your account is managed, your provider may raise or lower your limit – you are free at any point to contact your lender and ask them to adjust your company limit however they are under no obligation to agree to what you ask.
Your “balance” is the total amount of the money you’ve spent on your credit card and the interest accrued minus the total amount of repayments you have made.
Your “available funds” is your company limit minus your actual balance – this is the amount you have available to spend at any given time.
Any time you make a purchase or draw down cash from your credit card, your balance will increase meaning that your available funds will fall. Conversely, every time you pay money into your credit card account, your balance will decrease and the funds available to you will increase.
Every day, interest is applied to your balance. A higher interest rate means that you’ll pay more to borrow money on your credit card.
Every month, your credit card provider will collect a repayment from your business current account by direct debit. Each provider has its own minimum monthly repayment rules. For example, if your balance is £5,000 and the minimum monthly repayment is 5% of the balance or £10 (whichever is the greater), your provider will debit £250 from your business current account.
You may occasionally be allowed to spend past the limit but:
- this is at the discretion of your credit card provider and
- you are almost certain to pay a fee to do so as well as a higher interest rate on the spending above your limit.
Company credit card advantages
Easier to secure than business loans
The process of applying for a business loan is much more complicated than applying for a company credit card because the sums of money asked for generally tend to be much greater. You are almost certainly not going to be asked to offer your home or other assets as security when applying for a credit card.
Use the credit as you see fit for your business
Business credit card providers do not generally stipulate the type of expenditure you can use your card to pay for. You can use your card to pay for temporary staff, insurance, tax payments to HMRC, stationery, petrol, entertainment, and travel.
Many companies, particularly very early on in their development, use business and personal credit cards to “bootstrap” – in other words, find the money they need to help them pay for the cost of opening. Typical expenditure items for start-ups and very young businesses include rent, staff training, recruitment fees, equipment, computers, tools, office furniture, and so on.
A chance to build your company credit profile
Your limited company is a separate legal entity with its own credit score entirely independent of its owners, directors, and shareholders. The situation is different for sole traders because no legal distinction is made between personal indebtedness and business indebtedness.
By managing your business credit card account well, your company’s credit rating will improve. This will increase the number of lenders and financial products you may successfully apply for in the future and it will likely guarantee that you’re charged lower interest rates on those facilities.
Likewise, poor management of the account is likely to lead to a reduction in the number of lenders and financial products you have access to in the future. As a result, any products you are approved for will likely be more expensive.
Can be shared with colleagues – expenses management system
If you currently ask colleagues and other directors to make purchases for your company on their own credit or debit cards which they later reclaim from you, you are putting pressure on the personal finances of your colleagues.
At certain more expensive times of the year, your colleagues’ ability to spend their own money may be affected because they might be holding back on expenditure they want to make just in case they have to leave financial headroom to buy goods or services for your business.
It’s a better idea to request your credit card company to provide you with a number of additional company cards which you can then give out to your colleagues.
You can control the type of expenditure made on individual cards by using your provider’s app or online control panel – some providers allow you to stipulate individual limits for each colleague.
Depending on your provider, you may also bar:
- certain cards from making ATM withdrawals,
- paying for transactions online,
- making purchases when abroad, and even
- purchases made at certain types of businesses (for example, restaurants).
In addition, recordkeeping on colleagues’ expenditure becomes much easier meaning that your accountant spends less time (and charges you less) getting your books ready for year-ends, P11s, and other tax submissions.
You don’t have to pay it all off at once
All businesses, no matter how well run, experience peaks and troughs in cash flow. When a company has gone through a prolonged run of months with lower-than-expected sales and they have not adjusted their fixed costs accordingly to match their new level of turnover, paying some suppliers on credit card may reduce the pressure on the actual cash you have in your bank.
When turnover returns to more standard levels, lump sum repayments can then be made to your credit card provider to reduce the balance and the amount of interest you’re paying each month.
Company credit card disadvantages
Interest rates are chargeable
You will pay interest on the size of your balance – this interest is calculated daily.
The interest rates charged on credit cards are often much higher than on business loans and slightly higher than on authorised business overdrafts.
Personal liability for debt accrued
You are very likely to be asked for a personal guarantee which will be used if your account falls into default or your company experiences an insolvency event.
If a guarantee is called in, this may have a profound impact on your personal finances depending on the remaining balance left on your company credit card account. We cover the subject of personal guarantees in the frequently asked questions section of this article.
Lack of legally-enforceable Section 75 protection
Unlike with personal credit cards, Section 75 protection does not apply to company credit cards. Section 75 provides consumers with protection on purchases made on credit cards for values between £100 to £30,000.
Consumers can apply to get their money back in full from their credit card provider if:
- the company a consumer has purchased from goes bust,
- they do not deliver what they promise, or
- the service or product they have provided is faulty.
In some circumstances, you can even claim back the full cost of goods and services you’ve bought even if you have only paid part of the price on your card.
Refund claims cannot be brought when a product or service has been bought through a third party, on a hire purchase agreement, on land purchases, or on services or goods purchased by a secondary cardholder.
Under Section 75, you must apply for a refund within six years of purchase or if you have not received the goods and services after you were due to take receipt of them.
If this is important to you when selecting a business credit card provider, you should ask about:
- any insurance product they offer to cover misuse or fraud,
- any insurance product which will refund employee card misuse, and
- guarantees to cover against online card use which is fraudulent.
Many credit card providers offer a range of insurance products in conjunction with industry partners including insurance covering lost luggage, accidents, medical expenses, travel insurance, and more.
Very expensive if only the minimum repayment is made
If you only make the minimum repayment each month to your business credit card provider, it is likely to take you years to pay back the balance in full and cost a significant amount of money in interest.
For example, if you have a credit card balance of £20,000 on an APR of 19.9% where the minimum repayment is either 3% of the balance or £10 (whichever is greater), it would take you 26 years and 2 months to reduce the balance to zero at a cost of £19,829 in interest.
While making the minimum payment on a business credit card can be very helpful for cash flow in leaner times as mentioned earlier, please do make sure that, when the cash is available, you clear all or as much of the outstanding balance as possible.
What is a business charge card?
As with a business credit card, you can use a business charge card to make purchases in retail stores, online, and over the phone. Most charge cards available in the UK are operated by Visa, Mastercard, and American Express – just as with business credit cards.
Unlike a business credit card where you can choose to leave a balance at the end of the month, business charge cards require you to clear the entire balance on the card on a given point in every month.
Business charge card advantages
Business charge cards share many of the same advantages listed for business credit cards except that you have to pay off any balance accrued every month in full.
Higher spending limits and no interest charges
Many business charge cards have much higher limits on them than business credit cards. Some have no limit on them at all. And, unlike with credit cards, you don’t pay any interest on charge card bills settled on time.
Wider range of perks
Some of the business charge cards available offer a very wide range of perks for customers – especially those with higher annual fees. A few charge cards exist with no annual fee or a very low annual fee with no perks for companies wanting just a basic payment service.
Business charge card disadvantages
You have to pay the balance all back in one go – every month
Your business can’t borrow money for more than one month – whatever you spend in the billing cycle must be repaid in full on the agreed repayment date. Charge cards do not allow you to leave a balance on your account unlike credit cards.
Warning bells go off a lot quicker
If you fail to make a repayment on a business credit card, you are likely to receive a call from their account management team asking why.
However, if you miss a repayment (or miss multiple repayments) on a charge card, they are likely to chase you a lot harder for the money and, if a personal guarantee is attached to your account, they may invoke that a lot faster than a business credit card provider.
Not accepted as widely as credit cards
Merchants (the companies which take card payments) are often charged much more to process charge card payments than credit card payments.
As a result, they have traditionally been accepted by far fewer companies. This is, however, beginning to change with the new wave of payment processors on the market like Stripe, SumUp, PayPal, and so on.
Costing up a business credit card deal
There are four main factors to take into consideration when pricing up a business credit card deal to determine whether it offers you value for money – three of them are costs and one of them is a benefit.
The costs are the annual rate, the interest rate, and the fees & penalties. The benefits are any perks you receive as an account holder.
Annual rate
Like a business overdraft facility, most business credit card accounts require you to pay an annual fee for access to the service. You may also have to pay a fee for every additional card holder each year.
Interest rate
The interest rate is the price at which the credit extended to you is charged. Interest rates are expressed in percentages and quoted annually. So, if your balance was £1,000 and you paid an interest rate of 20%, you would pay £200 interest per year.
Each credit card provider displays its representative annual percentage rate (APR) on their website. The representative APR is the amount paid by 51% or more of a provider’s customers. Depending on your business’s credit history, you pay more or less than the representative APR advertised by a provider.
Perks
Many business credit cards offer spending-related perks like cashback, rewards, Airmiles, and more. We cover them in more detail for you in the next section.
Other charges and penalties
You may be charged extra for missing repayment dates, spending in excess of your limit, withdrawing money from an ATM, drawing money down into your business current account, and more.
Before committing to a deal with a business credit card provider, you should satisfy yourself about the types of charges you are likely to pay and whether you are happy with those charges.
Non-standard types of business credit card accounts
Interest free period
Business credit cards offering a 0% interest free period are cheaper in the short run than other types of cards however, once the free period is over, the interest rates you pay are likely to be higher than average.
These higher charges may be offset to some degree with customer incentives and perks – however, it’s up to you whether having access to those perks is worth paying more interest.
You may choose to use a business credit card with an interest free period to purchase equipment for your businesses rather than taking out a loan or asset finance to do so. As long as you fully repay the balance created by that purchase within the interest free period, doing it this way will be cheaper than a loan or asset finance facility.
Occasionally, interest free business balance transfer cards do appear however the interest free period is not likely to exceed six months.
Cashback business credit card
With this type of account, your company receives cash payments from your provider based on the size and level of transactions you make on your card.
Generally, all purchases made attract cashback and there are no restrictions on what you spend the cashback you’ve earned on placed by the credit card company.
Interest rates are usually quite high on cashback cards as are the annual fees. The types of company they are most suitable for are the ones which pay their balance back in full every month (if you don’t, the interest you’re charged will likely be more than the cashback you’ve earned) and which expect to spend a significant amount on their cards every year.
How much cashback do you actually earn? On most deals, it’s 1% (although there are often promotional periods offering double cashback) so it’s £10 for every £1,000 worth of expenditure. Remember too that if you choose to spend some of the cashback on yourself or your employees, there may be tax implications to consider (Google P11d).
Reward schemes
Reward-based business credit cards are essentially identical to cashback except that, instead of getting cash, you accrue points which you can use to spend on experiences and benefits for you and your team. Again, expect higher-than-average interest rates and higher-than-average annual fees on this type of account.
Low rate or basic business cards
If you intend to use a credit card and not clear the balance in full every month, then a card with a lower annual fee and interest rate is likely to be a more suitable option for your business.
There is a lot of competition in the sector to provide these types of card and they suit business owners more concerned with ongoing costs than the standard types of rewards offered by providers. Please bear in mind that companies with higher credit scores are more likely to be approved for this type of account.
Business credit cards for travellers
For companies which require their management and staff to travel abroad extensively, there are business travel credit cards. The charges on these cards for services like foreign exchange transactions and overseas cash withdrawals are either eliminated or greatly reduced however annual fees and interest rates on these accounts are often very high.
American Express are best known for offering business travel cards however please be aware that they aren’t accepted in as many locations as Visa or MasterCard.
Many of the business credit card accounts targeting travellers offer perks including airport lounge access and complimentary travel insurance.
You should always check that the benefits advertised on a particular business credit card account apply in the countries you intend to visit before applying.
Frequent flyer business credit cards
Another type of card of interest to travellers may be frequent flyer business credit cards. Companies earn air miles every time the card is used (regardless of whether the expenditure is travel-related) and certain schemes allow air miles to be exchanged for hotel upgrades, flight upgrades, hotel stays, and free flights.
Frequent flyer business credit cards cost much more than average business credit cards in both their annual fees and interest rates offered.
Bad credit business cards
When assessing your application for an account, business credit card providers are likely to perform credit searches both on your company and on you personally.
If there is adverse credit information against either, you are going to find it more difficult to find a provider to approve your application.
However, it is definitely not impossible. Indeed, many of the providers listed on this page have a more nuanced view about how they consider a person’s or a company’s credit history when making a decision on whether or not to open an account. This is especially so if the bad credit information against you or your company is not recent.
If you do have bad credit, make sure that you thoroughly check a provider’s eligibility criteria before applying – if they have an online eligibility checker, make sure that you use that first.
You should only apply to those providers with which you have a realistic chance of success. If you make too many applications for business credit cards (or any other type of finance within a short space of time), you are likely to harm your chances of being approved.
That’s because each hard credit search is recorded on your company’s credit file and your credit score will actually deteriorate if there are too many hard credit searches close in time to each other.
If you are approved, you should expect to be offered a high interest rate, a high annual fee (which you may be asked to pay for in full in advance), and a lower limit. You are also more likely to be asked to provide a personal guarantee (this is important – there’s more on this later in the article).
Business credit card comparison – what we mean
In addition to the key underneath the main table at the start of the article, the following information is included on the tables below:
- Maximum limit – the highest limit available on a credit card
- Rates from – the lowest advertised rate promoted by a financial institution on that product
- Annual fee after the first year – the amount charged per cardholder per annum following the first year your account is open
- Transfer cash to bank account? – this describes the ability to transfer part of your available balance into your business current account as cash
- ATM withdrawal fee – what you’re charged for withdrawing part of your available balance from a cash machine
- Foreign exchange fees – what you’re charged for purchasing goods or services in a currency other than pound sterling
Capital On Tap business credit cards
Capital On Tap Standard Business Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Capital On Tap | Standard Business Card | 39.90% | £0.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £50,000 | 9.90% | £0.00 | Yes | 0.00% | 0.00% | ||||
- up to 10 supplementary cards are available on the Standard Business Card.
- no fee after initial period
- rates start from 9.9% APR
Capital On Tap Self Employed Business Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Capital On Tap | Self Employed Card | 39.90% | £0.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £5,000 | 39.90% | £0.00 | Yes | 0.00% | 0.00% | ||||
- guaranteed APR of 39,9%
- credit limit of between £1,000 and £5,000
- self-employed business card account holders can opt into the Avios scheme if approved
- cardholders must be a limited company director, a freelancer, or self-employed who intend to use the card for business purposes.
Capital On Tap Rewards Business Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Capital On Tap | Rewards Business Card | 39.90% | £99.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £50,000 | 9.90% | £99.00 | Yes | 0.00% | 0.00% | ||||
- up to 20 supplementary cards are available on the Rewards Business Card
- 1 point is earned for every pound earned where 1 point equals one Avios (previously Air Miles) and 1p in money
- £100 cashback or 10,000 Avios available to new cardholders who spend £5,000 on the card within the first three months.
More on Capital on Tap business credit cards.
Clydesdale Bank business credit cards
Clydesdale Bank Business Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Clydesdale Bank | Business Card | 22.40% | £0.00 | 59 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 16.90% | £28.00 | No | 3.00% | 0.00% | ||||
- no annual fee for the first year, £28 per annum per cardholder thereafter
- discounts available from retailers on the Mastercard Business Savings scheme
More on Clydesdale Bank business credit cards.
HSBC Bank business credit cards
HSBC Commercial Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| HSBC | Commercial Card | 22.00% | £0.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 15.90% | £32.00 | 2.99% | 2.99% | 2.99% | ||||
- additional cards available for employees at £32
- £15 cashback if 10 eligible transactions are made by 30 April 2020
More on HSBC Bank business credit cards.
Lloyds Bank business credit cards
Lloyds Bank Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Lloyds Bank | Credit Card | 22.40% | £32.00 | 45 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £10,000 | 16.30% | £32.00 | Yes | 2.50% | 2.95% | ||||
Lloyds Bank Business Charge Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Lloyds Bank | Charge Card | 2.18% | £32.00 | 45 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | Not known | £32.00 | No | 2.50% | 2.95% | ||||
With both the credit and charge card accounts, the following features apply:
- you must be a business current account holder with Lloyds
- maximum credit/card limit is £10,000
- up to 20 cards can be issued per account – you can set individual spending limits per card
More on Lloyds Bank business credit cards.
Metro Bank business credit cards
Metro Bank Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Metro Bank | Business Credit Card | 14.90% | £0.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 14.90% | £0.00 | Yes | 0.00% | 0.00% | ||||
- up to 25 cardholders per account
- card purchases and cash withdrawals free within Europe
- card purchases 2.99% outside Europe
- cash withdrawals 2.99% + £1.50 outside Europe
More on Metro Bank business credit cards.
NatWest Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland business credit cards
NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland are part of the same banking group and offer the same credit card deals under separate branding.
NatWest Business Credit Card/RBS Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| NatWest/RBS | Business credit card | 24.30% | £0.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 16.90% | £30.00 | No | 1.41% | 2.95% | ||||
NatWest Business Plus Credit Card/RBS Business Plus Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| NatWest/RBS | Business Plus credit card | 29.00% | £70.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 13.90% | £70.00 | No | 1.58% | 0.00% | ||||
For the Business Credit Card and Business Plus Card services, the following features apply:
- no annual fee if more than £6,000 spend on a card other £30/£70 from year 2
- only available for customers with less than £2m turnover
- option to include additional cardholders on your account
On the Business Plus card, you’re awarded 0.5% cashback on purchases, 2% on purchases made to registered business and trade suppliers, and 1% on qualifying accommodation and fuel. Cashback is limited to £400 a year.
NatWest onecard Business Credit Card/RBS onecard Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| NatWest/RBS | onecard | 19.22% | £45.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 19.22% | £45.00 | No | 2.95% | 2.95% | ||||
- NatWest or RBS current account needed
- access to the ClearSpend App
- £45 per year per cardholder
- designed for use on entertainment, travel, and general procurement spending
More on NatWest Bank business credit cards and on Royal Bank of Scotland business credit cards.
TSB Bank business credit cards
TSB Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| TSB | Business Credit Card | 17.60% | £32.00 | 45 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £25,000 | Not known | £32.00 | Yes | 2.50% | 2.95% | ||||
- up to 20 cardholders per account permitted
More on TSB Bank business credit cards.
Yorkshire Bank business credit cards
Yorkshire Bank Business Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Yorkshire Bank | Business card | 22.40% | £0.00 | 59 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 16.90% | £28.00 | No | 3.00% | 0.00% | ||||
- annual fee waived for the first year but £28 per cardholder per year thereafter
- discounts available from retailers on the Mastercard Business Savings scheme
More on Yorkshire Bank business credit cards.
American Express business credit cards
British Airways American Express® Accelerating Business Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| American Express | British Airways American Express® Accelerating Business Card | 81.60% | £210.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 22.90% | £210.00 | Yes | 3.00% | 2.99% | ||||
- up to 25 cardholders per account
- 1.5 business points earned per £1 spent on eligible BA flights
- 1.5 Avios (formerly Air Miles) on every eligible £1 spent
- 3,000 extra business points earned when £20,000 or more spent per annum
American Express Business Platinum Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| American Express | Business Platinum Card | Not known | £595.00 | 54 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | Not known | £595.00 | Yes | 3.00% | 2.99% | ||||
- one extra Platinum card allowed per company account plus up to 98 Gold cards
- 40,000 Membership Rewards® points awarded upon successful application and a spend of £6,000 in the first three months.
- access 1,200 airport lounges and membership of PriorityPass
American Express Business Gold Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| American Express | Business Gold Card | Not known | £0.00 | 54 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | Not known | £125.00 | Yes | 3.00% | 2.99% | ||||
- up to 99 additional Gold Cards per account
- 20,000 Membership Rewards® points awarded upon successful application and a spend of £3,000 in the first three months.
- 1 Membership Rewards® point for every full £1 spent on main and supplementary cards
More on American Express business credit cards.
Bank of Scotland business credit cards
Bank of Scotland Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Bank of Scotland | Credit Card | 22.40% | £32.00 | 45 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £10,000 | 17.57% | £32.00 | Yes | 2.50% | 2.95% | ||||
- up to 20 cardholders per account permitted
Bank of Scotland Charge Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Bank of Scotland | Charge Card | 0.00% | £32.00 | 45 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 0.00% | £32.00 | No | 2.50% | 2.95% | ||||
- apply for multiple cards per account
More on Bank of Scotland business credit cards.
Santander business credit cards
Santander Business Chargeback Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Santander | Business Cashback Credit Card | 23.70% | £30.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 18.90% | £30.00 | No | 3.00% | 0.00% | ||||
- up to 20 cardholders per account permitted
- 1% cashback
More on Santander business credit cards.
Barclaycard business credit cards
Barclaycard Flex Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Barclaycard | Flex | 24.90% | £0.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £25,000 | 24.90% | £0.00 | Yes | 3.00% | 2.99% | ||||
Barclaycard Select Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Barclaycard | Select | 26.40% | £0.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £25,000 | 19.90% | £32.00 | Yes | 3.00% | 2.99% | ||||
For both the Flex and Select business cards, the following features apply:
- request additional cards for your account
- benefit from Barclays Business Reward
- minimum turnover of £10,000 preferred
Barclaycard Premium Plus Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Barclaycard | Premium Plus | 36.20% | £100.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £25,000 | 14.90% | £100.00 | Yes | 3.00% | 3.99% | ||||
- £75 per annum for additional cardholders
- 0.5% cashback to a maximum of £400 every year
- 2 free lounge access visits per annum
Barclaycard Select Business Charge Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Barclaycard | Select Charge Card | 2.70% | £0.00 | 38 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 2.70% | £32.00 | No | 3.00% | 3.99% | ||||
- £32 per cardholder per annum – option to add extra cards to your account
Barclaycard Premium Plus Charge Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Barclaycard | Premium Plus Charge Card | 9.10% | £100.00 | 38 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| Subject to status | 9.10% | £100.00 | No | 3.00% | 3.99% | ||||
- £75 per cardholder per annum – option to add extra cards to your account
More on Barclaycard business credit cards.
Cashplus business credit cards
Cashplus Business Credit Card
| Company | Product | Rep APR | First year fee | Interest free days | |||||
| Cashplus | Business Credit Card | 29.90% | £0.00 | 56 | |||||
| Maximum limit | Rates from | Annual fee after first year | Transfer cash to bank account? | ATM withdrawal fee | Foreign exchange fee | ||||
| £3,000 | 19.90% | £0.00 | No | 3.00% | 2.99% | ||||
- no annual fee for additional cardholders
More on Cashplus business credit cards.
Business credit card FAQ
Where can I use a business credit card?
You can use a business credit card to settle bills and make purchases with tens of millions of other companies in the UK and around the world.
Business credit cards can be used in person in retail outlets, for mail order transactions, over-the-phone orders, online procurement, and for withdrawing cash from ATMs.
Many of the business credit cards now issued by providers also feature contactless payment offering you the ability to buy goods and services in person for £30 or less without having to enter a personal identification number.
Are there other fees I’ll have to pay?
In addition to annual fees and interest charges, there may be other fees that your company will have to pay the card account provider.
Late payment or returned payment fees
On your application form, there will be space for you to provide your bank current account details – if you do not complete this section, your request for a card will probably not be considered.
Part of your agreement with your provider will be that you make a repayment once a month (on the same date each month) of up to 10% of the remaining balance on your credit card account.
If your repayment can not be collected in full and on the date agreed, you may be charged a late payment fee – the fee itself is generally around £12. Some providers may apply a higher or lower fee and a handful do not charge a fee for a late or missed payment.
Going over your credit limit
If you attempt to make a purchase where the value of that purchase will push your balance past its limit, it is up to your business credit card provider whether they’ll approve the transaction or not.
If a purchase will push your balance just slightly above your limit, it will more likely be approved than a purchase that pushes much further past your balance.
If your provider does allow the purchase to proceed, you should expect a charge of around £12 for allowing the payment to go though. You may also be charged a higher interest rate on that part of your balance which is higher than your limit.
Not using your card
Some business credit card providers will charge you if you don’t use your facility over an extended period of time. This fee, sometimes called a “dormancy fee”, was a common feature of many business credit cards tariff until fairly recently.
If you are charged a dormancy fee, it is likely that you are not using the card enough to justify either the dormancy fee or the annual card fee that you pay to your provider. It may be better to close the account in this case.
Withdrawing cash from a hole-in-the-wall
Nearly all business credit card providers allow you to withdraw money from a cash machine although it can be quite expensive to do so (particularly if you are using an overseas cash machine).
When you withdraw money from a cash machine using a credit card, the money you are taking out is from the remaining balance you have on your card and not from your business bank account. Please bear in mind that some providers will not allow you to withdraw cash using your business credit card if your balance is at 90% of the level or higher than your limit.
You will likely have to pay a cash advance fee for this service – standard tariffs are either 3% of the amount you’re taking out or £10, whichever is greater. If you wanted to withdraw £100 from your credit card balance at an ATM under these terms, it would cost you £10.
You may also have to pay a higher rate of interest on cash withdrawals and, with some providers, there is no interest-free period available on cash withdrawals.
Foreign transactions
As with withdrawing cash from an ATM, foreign transaction fees can also be quite higher – up to 3% of the value of the purchase itself. Foreign transaction fees may also apply if you purchase something which is not priced in pound sterling.
There are a handful of business credit card details which don’t penalise users for making foreign transactions or transactions not priced in sterling. If you plan to buy from overseas or you intend to travel a lot for business purposes, there may be real savings to be made by finding a card which does not charge for these services.
Paper statement fee
Nearly all business credit card providers give you the option of being able to manage your account in real time using an app or a browser-based platform. When you’re managing your account online, you may be able to send PDF statements to an email address to print off for your accounts.
If you’d prefer to receive a paper statement once a month by post, you will likely be charged up to £3 per statement sent.
Additional user fees
Most providers will issue extra cards for other directors and colleagues to use – any payments made on these cards will increase your company’s overall balance. Many charge for this service – you should expect to pay from £10 per additional user.
Who can apply for a business credit card?
Every business owner – from one-man-band sole traders to managing directors of much larger companies – can apply for a company credit card as long as they are 18 years of age or older and they are resident in the UK.
Business credit card offers are tailored generally towards:
- start-up businesses
- companies with a turnover of up to £3m
- companies turning over £3m or more
- companies which are particularly reliant on travelling
Some banks may only offer you a company credit card if you have a business current account with them.
What are interest free credit cards?
Interest free credit cards are credit card accounts offered by banks and other financial institutions which charge clients no interest for a fixed period of time.
Some providers offer one month free of interest while others offer two-and-a-half years’ free of interest.
What does interest free actually mean though? Sometimes it means that you can transfer an existing balance on another credit card and pay no interest on that balance for an agreed length of time. Please be aware however that there is normally a transfer fee of up to 3% meaning that, if you transferred a £10,000 balance from one card to an interest free card, there would be a charge of £300 to do so.
For other types of card, interest free might mean that you are not charged any interest on your balance for a given period of time. This means that you could use your card for an agreed period (18 months, for example) and, in month 19, interest would begin to be applied to your balance.
With some types of card, users benefit from a mixture of both an interest free balance transfer and no interest charged on an accruing balance for specific period of time.
Interest free offers made on business cards are much less common and generous than the interest free offers made on consumer credit cards. Interest free periods on business cards rarely extend past six months.
If you and your colleagues intend to use the cards regularly and not always settle the balance in full, the chances are that you will pay less in the long run by using a low interest rate card rather than a card with an interest free period.
How long before I am charged interest on purchases?
There is a common misunderstanding about grace periods from interest rates on purchases you make on credit cards.
When you’re searching for a new business credit card, you may see many companies advertising up to a 56-day interest free period on your credit card.
What this actually means is that the balance on a credit card should be paid off in full before the final day of the interest free period offered by a credit card.
To explain this, let’s look at the example of Charlie. Let’s imagine that Charlie receives her credit card bill on the 26th of May covering the period of 1st April to 30th April. The 56 days’ interest free period refers to the 30 days of April (1st April to 30th April) and the 26 days of May (1st May to the 26th May, the date on which Charlie gets her bill).
If Charlie repays everything on her card purchased in April before the 26th May, she won’t have to pay any interest on purchases attached to the account during the period the statement covers (1st April to 30th April).
Because the definition of an interest free period on a credit card is quite technical, many people mistakenly but understandably believe that, on each purchase they make, they will not be charged interest for the first 56 days.
This isn’t right. Using the above example, let’s say that Charlie bought something on the 10th April. She would have a 46-day interest free period and, if she bought something on the 29th April, she would have a 27-day interest free period.
Not all cards offer a 56-day interest free period – with some you’ll be offered 30 and others 14. Please make sure that you’re happy with any interest free period offered prior to signing up to any agreement you’re approved for.
Can I use a business credit card outside the UK?
Most business credit cards issued in the UK are Visa cards, Mastercard cards, or American Express cards. Each of these major credit card brands have large and well-established international networks meaning that you can use them at many cash machines, shops, retail outlets, and restaurants around the world.
As mentioned earlier in this article, using your business credit card abroad will attract fees – in other words, you’ll be charged for doing overseas what you get for free when you use your card in the UK.
If you receive paper statements from your credit card provider, they will normally show on the opposing side of your statements a list of charges and fees for all types of usage including usage of your card overseas. If you manage your account completely online, the same information will often be shown on your provider’s FAQ section – failing that, you can call customer services, let them know how you intend to use the card, and they can advise you on the fees and charges you’ll be likely to incur.
Important information you’ll need to know about how much your business credit card costs your company when you use it abroad includes:
- the date on which interest becomes chargeable – you will be charged interest on some or all of your overseas transaction types from the date of each transaction (in other words, they will not attract an interest free period as we discussed above).
- their overseas travel money products – in addition to your business credit cards, your provider may offer other types of foreign exchange transaction services which may cost you less. Make sure you take the time to calculate the cost of each option open to you so that your company does not pay any more than it needs to.
- fees for specific transactions and whether they can be grouped – for example, if you withdraw money from an overseas cash machine, will you be charged a withdrawal fee, a non-sterling transaction fee, or both?
- exchange rate information – are the exchange rates offered on overseas transactions or transactions not carried out in sterling generally competitive? If not, can you find a more cost-effective method of performing the same transactions?
What is dynamic current conversion (DCC)?
When you’re at an overseas cash machine, restaurant, or shop, you may be offered a service called dynamic currency conversion. What this means is that you get to choose the currency in which a transaction takes place – you could choose the local currency, pounds sterling, or any other currency offered by the merchant.
If you pay in your home currency, you will know exactly how much will be taken for that particular transaction and what will be shown on your statement for that transaction. However, it’s important to remember that, in addition to this, a separate currency conversion transaction will appear.
The rate at which the transaction is converted may or may not be as competitive as the conversion terms offered by your business credit card provider.
Can I give business credit cards to my members of staff?
Many of the accounts on this page allow you to have your own business card and to offer business cards to other directors, senior managers, and members of staff.
Your company will be given a limit for its total credit card spending. Every time you and your colleagues use your company’s cards, each transaction will be shown on your bill. Rather than having multiple bills to pay off, your company will receive just one bill from your provider covering all colleagues’ card use.
Is it worth going for a business credit card with rewards?
You may think about choosing a business credit card with a reward program – those rewards may be shopping vouchers, air miles, cashback, and more.
Credit cards with cashback, reward programs, and so on often have higher fees and interest rates than standard cards. Whether you should apply for one or not depends on how important the rewards are to you and your company and whether they are worth paying more for through higher card bills.
Will a business credit card provider perform a credit check on me?
If you apply for a business credit card on behalf of your limited company, a provider will certainly carry out a credit check on the company and others may carry out credit checks on both you and your company.
If you are a sole trader, they will almost certainly run a personal credit check on you.
Will how I use my business credit card be reflected on my personal credit score?
Generally, how you use your business credit card will not be reflected on your personal credit score unless you sign a personal guarantee which is then later triggered by the lender.
If you run a limited company, it is a separate legal entity to you whose debts don’t belong to you and for which you are not responsible for repaying from your personal account. If you miss payments on your business credit card account, this will be reflected on your business’s credit scores and not your personal score.
If you manage your business credit card account well, it will mean that, if you’re seeking much larger business loans or commercial finance to help grow your company in the future, your application will be much more favourably received and considered by lenders.
Do I have to provide a personal guarantee?
With many types of business finance – from loans to invoice factoring – a lender will ask you to sign a personal guarantee (sometimes called a director’s guarantee) as a precondition of approving your facility.
What is a personal guarantee? A personal guarantee is used by lenders in the event that a finance facility falls into default and they believe that they will not be able to recover the outstanding balance on a loan, credit card, factoring facility, and so on from a limited company.
They then use the personal guarantee to pursue individual directors and shareholders for the balance. Generally, all directors and shareholders must sign a personal guarantee making them all joint and severally liable for payment.
Not all business credit card providers insist on a personal guarantee. It may be the case that the level of interest (and other fees) on a business credit card account which does not require a personal guarantee may be higher to reflect the increased risk that the credit card provider won’t be able to recover any outstanding balance.
In nearly all cases, we would recommend that business owners seeking finance to consolidate or grow their business do everything they can to avoid signing a personal guarantee. Personal guarantees tend to be vigorously enforced by lenders and, depending on the level of any outstanding balance, your home may be at risk and an attempt to force you into bankruptcy may be made.
What about sole traders? Since any business finance you take out is considered personal debt, there is no need to sign a personal guarantee. If you default on your credit card account, the provider is entitled to chase you personally for payment because the credit account was opened up in your personal name (even though you intended to use it for business purchases).
Business credit cards for start-ups
There are a number of different credit card account options for new starts many of which are listed on this page.
In the early days of a business, there is often an increased need to spend company money on assets, subscriptions, stock, and other services so that you’re able to offer your full range of products and services to customers.
In addition, start-ups are less likely to benefit from recurring sales made from the same set of returning customers meaning that their turnover is more lumpy than smooth and less predictable. In instances like these, a business credit card will allow you to pay suppliers without affecting the cash available in your business current account.
Please note that for business credit cards for start-up companies, you are more likely to be asked to sign a personal guarantee (more on that later in this article).
What can business credit cards be used for?
In addition to paying invoices, business credit cards and charge cards can be used when entertaining clients, on office furniture, to pay for everyday office expenses, for your and your employees’ travel expenses, and for general business equipment.
What information will I have to provide to a credit card company?
When you apply for a business credit card, you’ll normally have to provide the following information upon application:
- the name of your company
- the structure of your business (limited company, sole trader, partnership, etc.)
- your line of business
- how many staff work for you
- when you commenced trading
- the likely main usages of the card (for example, for cash flow management or for procurement)
- what you want your company credit limit to be
- which overseas countries you regularly trade with
You and any other people with ownership of the business (for example, partners or other shareholding directors) will also have to provide certain personal and financial details including:
- your full name
- your mother’s maiden name
- your date of birth
- your contact details
- your address history (for up to the last five years)
You can apply for a business credit card online, at your local bank branch, over the phone, or by post.
Can I get a guaranteed business credit card?
There is no such thing as a guaranteed business credit card. When you make an application for a business credit card, the company you apply to will make their decision based upon:
- your company’s credit score
- the assets which belong to your company
- their assessment on the affordability of repayments based upon the size of balance you’re requesting.
Each company you apply to will have their own eligibility criteria on the types of business they prefer to work with. It’s therefore important to remember that rejection from one company does not mean that you will be rejected by every company you apply to.
Is credit card usage allowable for corporation tax purposes?
You should always check with your accountant but, in general, annual fees are fully tax deductible as is the interest you pay on outstanding balances.
There are rare and complex exceptions where this might not be the case hence our advice to seek the opinion of a professional in this matter.
Business loan versus business credit card
Although many business credit card providers now offer interest rates that are historically low, you should consider carefully whether you’d want to use this form of funding instead of a standard business loan.
Potential advantages to using a business credit card over a business loan are that:
- business credit card companies do not require you to offer security to have an account (many business loans may require you to offer your home or other property as a precondition of acceptance) and
- most business credit card companies do not require you to sign a personal guarantee (more on why that is very important is included earlier on this page).
However, business loans generally do offer much lower interest rates than business credit cards and, because there is a structured repayment schedule, a loan can not be called in or withdrawn for any other reason except repeated late payment.
With business credit cards, limits can be changed by your provider with just 30 days’ notice – your credit card provider is also within their rights (in many cases) to demand settlement of your entire balance with 30 days’ notice. There is much less certainty over repayment with a credit card than there is with a loan.
If you experience a temporary cash flow problem with a business loan, many providers will allow you extra grace and a slight restructuring of repayments AS LONG AS you tell them in advance. Borrowers should never bury their head in the sand and ignore calls from a business loan provider if they miss a repayment – a lack of communication means that the quality of your relationship with the lender deteriorates fast and their appetite for negotiating with you diminishes quickly.
If you are undecided on the advantages and disadvantages of whether a business credit card or a business loan is better for you, you should consult with an accountant who will be able to help you compare the costs of either option.
What happens if there is unauthorised spending on a company credit card?
You are able to control both the amount of spending and what a colleague can spend money on with a business credit card account. If a colleague uses the card in a way you do not like but you have not prevented them from doing so via your online expense management system, this is an internal disciplinary matter within your company.
If there is unauthorised spending on a company card as a result of external fraud, loss, or theft, you should contact your business credit card provider without delay.
Why is there an interest rate shown on some of the charge cards?
As mentioned earlier, there is no interest charged on the balance on a charge card because it is paid back in full every month. However, some charge card provider reserves the right to charge interest on overdue balances – that is if you’re not able to settle your balance on time and in full.