Best Business Credit Cards for Startups in the UK

Startups can use credit to overcome scalability challenges. With a low monthly revenue requirement of just £2,000, the business credit card from Capital on Tap is perfect for this. It enables startups to secure funding at attractive rates, starting at a 15.5% APR.

You could be asked to sign a personal guarantee agreement if you don’t have any business credit history. But their flexible repayment options can somewhat reduce the financial burden of startups. A decent credit limit of up to £250,000 should help small- and medium-sized startups improve monthly cash flow or plan expansions.

For every pound you spend using this card, you earn 1 point back, which can be cashed in or used against office supplies, credit card bills, or dining out with colleagues. You may even distribute free business credit cards to your employees for expenses like business travel. This way, you could maximise the 1% cashback rewards on all cards flowing into the credit card account. You also control card spending limits and freeze options from the app.

Cash withdrawals are limited to £400 daily, but there are no ATM or annual fees. Even overseas transactions are free of foreign exchange fees. If your business is ready for more rewards, upgrading to the £99 business credit card could fetch 10,000 bonus points for spending £5,000 in the first 3 months. There’s a trove of other benefits, too. If you hit a roadblock, simply contact them over the phone.

Eligible startups with decent monthly spending can benefit from this Amex business credit card. For spending £6,000 in the first three months, you earn 40,000 reward points. These can be used against travel, advertising, office supplies, or payments via PayPal.

With no pre-set card spending limit and an interest-free period of up to 54 days on eligible purchases, you can meet unforeseen expenses and keep the cash in your account longer. But you must repay outstanding balances every month to avoid penalties.

You earn one point for each £1 spent using the card. Meanwhile, bookings made through Amex Travel also fetch one point for each pound spent. These points can be used to pay for future flights, hotels, or cab bookings. There’s no limit to the points you can earn.

You can get 20,000 extra points for using the card between 14-17 months of membership. An additional 10,000 points can also be yours every quarter if your business spending each quarter surpasses £20,000.

Offer your employees up to 20 cards for free, and reach cashback goals faster as they pay for business expenses. You have control over spending limits and oversight on transactions with an option to block accounts.

Startups with Moss Corporate Business credit cards can access monthly spending limits as high as £2.5 million. However, your startup must have over 10 workers or a gross annual revenue of over £2 million to be eligible.

Like business charge cards, you don’t pay interest fees if you clear all outstanding balances every month. Moss offers flexible repayment options of up to 60 days. You can issue your workers unlimited physical or virtual business credit cards and track their spending in real time. This way, you can prevent fraud and overspending with quick controls on the app.

Startups also look to reduce accounting costs and billing errors, which could translate to unnecessary overheads. A membership with Moss gives you access to a payments and invoicing ecosystem. You can use Moss’ integrations with billing software to automate accurate receipt capture to simplify your monthly accounting process.

What’s more, Moss enables cross-border business for a forex fee of 2% of the amount per transaction. Your access to features is based on the subscription plan. To learn more about registration, you have to schedule a one-to-one demo. Their top membership level offers access to a dedicated customer success manager and onboarding support.

If you are a fresh startup looking for ways to give employees access to company funds, the Soldo Company business prepaid card can help make company finances easier. You can preload company funds on up to 20 cards for your workers with custom limits using Soldo’s Standard plan, starting at £21 per month.

Each physical card costs £5 a piece but can be customised based on several expense categories, like travel or fuel. You control spending anytime. Soldo’s seamless integration with accounting software makes monthly expense management and reporting accurate and cost-effective. To facilitate business on the go, Soldo ensures you can use these Mastercards to make payments via Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Applying for the card doesn’t affect your credit score, so businesses other than startups, like those with poor credit histories, can also benefit from these company cards. Soldo’s secure business payment and tracking system is founded on a secure platform. It is FCA-regulated, part of the UK’s G-Cloud network, and ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 9001 certified.

Regarding fees, you are charged 1% of the transaction amount for cash withdrawals, while outbound transfers cost another £0.75. Overseas money transfers attract a 2% fee for the basic monthly plan. The fee goes down to 1% for higher plans. Beware of other charges for using services like balance inquiry.

Startups will want this business credit card for making fee-free transactions in Europe with no annual fees. However, you must have a business current account and a decent business credit score to take advantage of the Metro Bank Business credit card.

With no upper credit limit, all customers pay an APR of 18.9%. You should make monthly minimum payments of £20 or the balance, whichever is greater, to stay in good standing with the bank.

You may also avoid accruing interest rates by making repayments in full every month. Metro Bank allows up to 56 days of interest-free period on eligible purchases to improve your cash flow. Be aware that you can only issue up to nine cards for your employees using one business account.

All startups seeking assurance for the money they put into business accounts could find peace of mind with the Santander Business Cashback Credit Card. This card requires you to hold a Santander business current account. All funds in this account are insured up to £85,000 under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

Regulated by the FCA, Santander’s card earns you 1% cashback on most purchases, directly deposited into your business account every month. In addition to benefiting from flexible credit limits, you can also avoid interest rate charges on balances by clearing monthly dues on time in full.

The bank offers an interest-free period of up to 56 days on various purchases. But you must make a monthly minimum repayment of 1% of the outstanding balance or £5, whichever is greater.

The high security and FSCS guarantee comes with an annual fee of £30 and a 3% fee on cash and balance transfer transactions. Late payment fees, returned payment charges, and trace fees also apply. The bank suggests that staying within the credit limit and making timely repayments can help avoid most charges.

This Amex business credit card has no annual fees and can suit entrepreneurs who want to improve their monthly cashflow. This business charge card offers up to 42 days of interest-free payment period. You avoid fees by clearing outstanding balances on time.

Early-stage startups can also benefit from zero annual fees and a variable credit limit. As your business grows, you can issue up to 20 cards to your workers for free and maintain oversight of company spending. Managing supplementary cards and tracking company cashflow becomes easy with the Amex app.

You can request benefits such as rewards and points separately, but this would cost you extra money. There are also several fees that you must be aware of. You pay a £12 fine for late payments or returned payments. For non-sterling purchases, you lose 2.99% of the converted amount towards fees per transaction.

Startups can earn 1% cashback on all eligible purchases. The cashback is directly deposited into your account every month.

While there are no annual fees, your business credit card APR starts at 27.5%, depending on your business credit history. This isn’t the lowest rate available out there. You might be eligible for this card if your startup has an annual turnover of over £10,000. Once approved, you can manage cashflow better with 56 days of interest-free payment period.

Issuing additional cards to your business partners is also easy. The cashback rewards they earn using their cards are also sent monthly to the linked business account.

Barclays offers free access to the billing and invoicing platform Freshbooks, which costs £260 annually. You also benefit from a range of offers like 66% off on AA plans for drivers’ breakdown coverage or 10% off on AXA Health's business healthcare plan.

The cashback deposited doesn’t count towards the monthly minimum payment amount of £5 or 1% of the outstanding balance, whichever is higher. Missing the deadline attracts a late payment fee of £12. A 3% fee is also applicable on the amount for cash transactions and a 2.99% fee for non-sterling transfers.