Best business credit cards with rewards & cashback for UK SMEs

The Capital on Tap free card has no annual fee and earns uncapped 1% cashback on every transaction. Points can be redeemed against your balance, taken as cash, swapped for gift cards, or converted to Avios at 10 points to 8 Avios (via The British Airways Club or Qatar Airways Privilege Club) and Virgin Points at the same 10-to-8 rate. Radisson Rewards conversion is also available, though the rate is poor.

There are no FX or ATM fees, credit limits run up to £250,000, and the card auto-syncs with Sage, Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent. Unlimited free employee cards can be issued, each with its own spend limit and real-time tracking via the app or web portal. Preloading lets you top up your balance with your own funds to spend beyond your credit limit while still earning 1% cashback on the entire purchase. First-time Xero subscribers also get 6 months free, and an easy-access Instant Savings account is available (subject to eligibility).

If you fly regularly or stay at Radisson hotels, the £299 Pro card (covered below) is worth considering: it converts points to Avios and Virgin Points at 1:1 instead of 10:8, includes Priority Pass lounge access, gives you Radisson VIP status, and earns 1.25% cashback on preloaded spend.

Capital on Tap only accepts limited companies, LLPs and PLCs (sole traders are not eligible)

Our view: The strongest free business credit card for UK SMEs. Uncapped 1% cashback with no annual, FX or ATM fees is hard to beat for non-travellers and for any business that needs a Visa to use alongside an Amex.

Eligibility requirements:

• Minimum business turnover of £24,000 per year
• No unsatisfied CCJs against you or your business in the past year
• You are an active private limited company (Ltd) or limited liability partnership (LLP)

They will not approve:

• Sole traders
• Charities, trusts, or funds.
• Dormant, dissolved or inactive companies
• Public Limited Companies (PLC) or inactive companies

The Funding Circle Cashback card offers 2% cashback on all purchases for the first six months (capped at £2,000), which is the highest introductory rate among business rewards credit cards. After 6 months, 1% cashback will be generated on all spending. The card can be used for any type of business expense that accepts Visa.

Funding circles’ credit card software integrates with popular accounting platforms such as Sage, Xero and FreeAgent and their Apple and Android app makes it easy to track spending and any cashback accumulated. For businesses confident of clearing their balance monthly, the cashback effectively becomes a bonus return on capital already committed to operations. And because there’s no annual fee, the rewards are a net gain rather than being offset by costs.

In summary, if your business has consistent expenses that you’d incur anyway, the Funding Circle Cashback card turns your day-to-day spending into a small additional revenue source with minimal complexity.

Eligibility requirements:

• Must be a UK-based limited company
• Trading for at least one year
• Minimum annual turnover of £30,000
• Check eligibility here without affecting your credit score

Capital on Tap’s premium Pro card launched in autumn 2024 and replaced the previous £99 Business Rewards tier. For £299 a year it bundles three significant benefits on top of the free card: 1:1 Avios and Virgin Points conversion (vs 10:8 on the free card), unlimited Priority Pass airport lounge access for the main cardholder, and complimentary Radisson Rewards VIP status.

Radisson Rewards VIP status alone may justify the £299. Earning it independently requires 20 stays or 30 nights at Radisson properties in a calendar year. The benefit includes a free upgrade to the best available room at check-in, free breakfast for two (worth £40+ per day at most properties), VIP lounge access, early check-in and late check-out where available, 15% off food and drink, and access to ‘Discount Booster’, which lets you receive an additional cash discount of up to 20% in return for earning a lower rate of Radisson points.

Priority Pass gives the main cardholder access to 1,600+ airport lounges worldwide, with two free guest passes per year. Additional guests cost £30 each, charged to your card per visit. Unlike Amex-issued Priority Pass cards, the Capital on Tap version includes the £18 airport restaurant credit at participating venues.

Other Pro-only benefits include a complimentary one-year digital subscription to The Times and Sunday Times (with an estimated value of around £312), a premium metal card, and dedicated 24/7 support. Preloaded spend earns 1.25 points per £1 instead of 1. The 10,000-point welcome bonus converts to 10,000 Avios, 10,000 Virgin Points or £100 cashback, recouping a third of the annual fee in the first three months. Because the £299 is a tax-deductible business expense, the effective cost after corporation tax is closer to £224 for most SMEs.

Our view: Excellent value in the first year for any director who flies more than a couple of times or stays at Radisson hotels. The sign-up bonus, lounge access, Times subscription and Radisson VIP status will normally exceed £299 of value. After year one, you can reassess based on actual usage and downgrade to the free card if the benefits no longer pay for themselves.

Eligibility:

• • Active director or majority shareholder (25%+) resident in the UK
  • Business registered as Ltd, LLP or PLC
  • Minimum turnover of £24,000 per year
  • No unsatisfied CCJs in the past 12 months

The Moss Business Credit Card is a modern spend management platform rather than a classic rewards credit card. It pairs 0% interest credit (when repaid on time) with robust expense controls, making it a good fit for scaling SMEs and financing teams managing company-wide spend. Their business credit card offers up to 0.5% cashback on card spend (subject to eligibility check).

Their corporate Mastercard solution stands out by offering both credit and debit options, allowing businesses to either apply for a flexible credit line (subject to eligibility) or utilise a pre-funded debit model. SME finance teams can issue unlimited physical and virtual Mastercard cards instantly, with custom spend limits set by role, team, category, or time. Their spend management solutions integrate with over 50 finance tools, including Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage, featuring AI-powered pre-accounting that auto-categorises transactions.

They offer up to €2.5m spend capacity.  The credit limit offered is dependent on several factors, including your company’s financial performance, credit history, and overall risk profile. Their free plan offers up to 3 users with unlimited cards, and their paid plan (starting at €99 month) offers unlimited users, cards & invoices.

Eligibility requirements:

• Ltd, PLC and LLP companies can apply (Startups or established companies)

The Barclay’s Business Select Cashback offers 1% uncapped cashback, with the caveat that it only applies on the months when you spend £2,000 or more. This is a good offer as there are no fees and is open to start-ups and sole traders.

This Barclay’s card is fairly typical of its kind. Representative APR is on the higher end of average, while foreign transaction fees are 2.99%. However, there is access to a FreshBooks accounting plan that is worth £260/year. Other discounts are available with the AA, AXA Health, and Zipcar.

In summary, the main consideration for this card should be whether you will consistently spend over £2,000 per month and whether you need the FreshBooks Plus plan, which is ongoing and could be truly valuable for SMEs. 56 days of interest-free credit is also competitive, and start-ups are accepted (with a business plan).

Eligibility requirements:

• • Sole traders or registered UK businesses
  • Turnover or new business plan exceeds £10,000 per year (start-ups can apply)
  • Where there are existing financials available, they need to have been well managed over the previous 12 months.
  • No previous rejections for a Barclays commercial card in the past six months

The Santander Business Cashback card is a straightforward offering. For a £30 annual fee, 1% uncapped cashback is provided with no spending requirements.

There is no introductory offer or further reward for using this card, making it very limited. There are, however, no FX fees on purchases made using the local currency, as well as 4 cards for other directors, owners, or employees.

APR is relatively competitive, but there is a 3% transaction fee for cash transactions (£3 minimum). Purchases, however, have a relatively low annual interest of 18.9%.

Compared to the Barclays offer, the cashback offering of this card makes more sense when you’re less confident about spending the £2,000 monthly minimum asked of Barclays. Therefore, it may be suited to businesses with very low overheads, but enough to warrant the £30 annual fee.

However, its affordable interest rates and 56-day interest-free window are overshadowed by its lack of third-party integration and rewards.

You need an existing 1|2|3 Business Current Account or Business Current Account to be eligible for this card, which will likely put off most businesses.

Eligibility requirements:

• Sole traders or registered UK companies (partnerships, limited liability partnerships or private limited companies) with no more than 2 partners, members or directors.

• Must have a Santander 123 Business Current Account or Business Current Account.

The RBS Business Plus Credit Card is a more complicated product, with varying cashback rates, strict purchasing criteria, capped limits, and a significant £70 annual fee per cardholder. It’s far more appealing than it sounds, though.

Fuel and EV charging purchases have the best cashback at 3%. This is fairly non-significant for commuters, as a 20-mile commute in a typical diesel car will accumulate to £50 per month (50p cashback).  For example, a courier driving 300 miles/day in a Ford Transit van costs around £1300/month in diesel, which would generate £39 in cashback. Retail businesses can make good use of the 2% cashback for supplies.

The purchase rate of 13.9% is competitive as well as having a useful Clearspend integration.

The main caveats are that card is also only available to RBS customers and there is a £600 annual cashback limit, (which is £530 after the annual fee).

The viability of the RBS Business Plus Card depends greatly on the business spending: if its low it’s not worth the £70 fee, and if you spend over £60K per year you reach the cashback limit.

Eligibility requirements:

• Existing RBS bank account holder
• Registered UK business
• Annual turnover of under £6.5 million
• No Count Court Judgements or declared bankruptcies