Best Credit Cards for Business Expenses in the UK

Separating your personal expenses from business expenses is important.

There are two main reasons for this. Keeping business expenses apart from personal costs makes them clearer and easier to manage. Plus, you know exactly what is coming in and out of your business.

Using a credit card for business expenses is one way of making sure you deal with business expenses separately. In this article you’ll see the best credit cards for business expenses and what alternatives there are.

📝 Table of contents:
Using personal credit card for business expenses How do business expenses cards work? Alternative to business credit cards: Wise Employee Expense Cards Best credit cards for business expenses in the UK Manage expenses with Wise Business

Using personal credit card for business expenses

You may find it easy to get a personal credit card. There are also some great deals available including interest free periods. However, using personal credit card for business expenses UK isn’t a good idea.

There are three main reasons why this is the case:

• If you’re running a limited company, you could be held responsible if you don’t keep up with payments on purchases you made for your business.
• Although initial interest rates may be good, they don’t stay that way.
• Using a personal credit card to buy items for your business makes it harder to separate business expenses from personal expenses.

How do business expenses cards work?

Expense cards are a type of business credit or debit card. These cards give you and your employees greater flexibility when making business purchases. Using business expense cards gives you access to tools such as:

• Setting spending limits.
• Monitoring spending for each card.
• Linking cards with your business accounting tools.

Business expenses cards: types and differences

There are three types of card you can use for business expenses. These three types are prepaid cards that you can top up with a set amount, credit cards with an approved credit limit, and debit cards with funds coming from your business bank account.

The table below shows the comparison between these cards.

Prepaid expense cards	Expenses credit cards	Expenses debit cards
Spending comes from a prepaid balance on the card that you can top up	Spending comes from an agreed credit limit	Spending comes from your business bank account balance or your agreed overdraft
Some fees may apply	Fees are likely to apply	No fees apply unless you exceed the amount in your business bank account or your agreed overdraft limit
Simple application process with no credit checks	Business credit cards can be hard to get. The application process includes a credit check	Comes with your business bank account
Does not build your business credit rating	Builds your credit rating but can be damaging if you don’t make payments on time	Does not build your business credit rating
Expenses can be controlled	There’s a spending limit but there’s a danger of creating debt if you don’t make payments on time	There’s a spending limit but charges can be expensive if overspends happen

Using credit cards for business expenses: pros and cons

Using a credit card for business expenses may be a good move for your business if you manage its use in the right way. However, credit cards aren’t alway a good fit so taking time to make the right choice is important. You’ll find some pros and cons below to get your started with your decision making process.

✅ Pros:

If your business doesn’t have much of a credit history, using a credit card responsibly helps you build one. Encouraging employees to use a credit card for expenses means all expenses are in one place instead of on separate expense claims. Having a rolling line of credit, with several weeks before you’re charged interest, makes budgeting easier. Using a business credit card for business purchases, rather than a personal credit card, allows you to separate personal from business finances.

⛔️ Cons:
There’s a risk of debts building up if payments aren’t made on time. < li>You can damage your credit score if payments are late making it more difficult to get funding for your business in the future. If a card has an annual fee attached, your usage may not justify paying the fee.

Alternative to business credit cards: Wise Employee Expense Cards

If you’re looking for an expense card for employees, Wise Employee Expense Cards are simple to use and help you control the expenses for your business. The features of these cards include:

• Transparent fee of £3 per expense card for employees.
• The facility to pre-set spending limits and control access to cards.
• Reduced costs for international transactions as you get the mid-market exchange rate when you pay bills or expenses in foreign currencies.
• The ability to pay in-store or online in more than 200 countries using more than 55 currencies.
• 0,5% cashback on purchases.

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Best credit cards for business expenses in the UK

In the list of best credit card for business expenses below, you’ll find cards to consider based on points such as annual percentage rate (APR), interest rates, withdrawal fees, foreign transaction fees, and cashback or rewards.

Cashplus credit card

You can use the Cashplus credit card at around 26 million locations globally. You can apply if you’re the director of a limited company registered with Companies House, reside in the UK and are 18 or over, and haven’t had a CCJ or IVA against you recently.

Cashplus has 7,971 reviews on Trustpilot with 54% of reviews at the highest level of 5 stars and 30% of reviews at the lowest level of 1 star.

Features	Fees
Services¹	Cashplus is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Services that come with this card include: 24-hour fraud monitoring Easy expense monitoring UK-based customer service team
Annual percentage rate (APR)¹	Representative APR 29.9% (variable) dependent on circumstances
Interest rates¹	Interest rates as low as 19.9% dependent on circumstances
Withdrawals fees²	£3.00
Currency exchange rates²	2.99%
Cashback or rewards¹	1% cashback

Capital on Tap

To apply for this credit card you must have a business registered with Companies House as a private limited company (Ltd) or limited liability partnership (LLP). You must also have no unsatisfied CCJs against you. Your business turnover must be at least £2,000 per month.

The basic account has no annual fee and gives you control of your business expenses in real time. The Business Rewards account costs £99 per year and includes bonus points and additional redemption options.

Capital on Tap has 10,407 reviews on Trustpilot with 89% of reviews at the highest level of 5 stars and 4% of reviews at the lowest level of 1 star.

Features	Fees
Services³	Once you have this account you can: track card spending in real-time get unlimited free company cards set spending limits for employee cards Sync cards with accounting software
Annual percentage rate (APR)³	Rates as low as 13.6% APR (variable) dependent on circumstances
Interest rates³	Rates as low as 13.6% (variable) dependent on circumstances
Withdrawals fees	FREE
Currency exchange rates	FREE
Cashback or rewards⁴	1% cashback Exclusive offers including savings at Dell, Hertz, and Hotels.com

Barclays

Barclays is a well-known and trusted name in UK banking. Choose Barclays, and The Select Cashback credit card is one of three credit cards you can apply for. It gives you a fast and convenient way to manage purchases in your business. It’s also a good choice if you trade overseas as benefits include FX savings and cashback on travel and trade.

Other credit cards you can choose from at Barclays are the Premium Plus credit card and the Select charge card.

Barclays has 7,866 reviews on Trustpilot with 8% of reviews at the highest level of 5 stars and 86% of reviews at the lowest level of 1 star.

Features	Fees
Services⁵	Features of the Select Cashback credit card include: Easy account management online No annual cards fees or fees for additional cardholders Exclusive rewards and benefits
Annual percentage rate (APR)⁵	Representative APR 21.9% (variable)
Interest rates⁵	Representative 21.9% variable
Withdrawals fees⁶	2.99%
Currency exchange rates⁷	2.99%
Cashback or rewards⁵	3% cashback uncapped for 3 months then 1% cashback. Exclusive business rewards discounts

American Express

American Express is a well-known global brand. To apply for the American Express Business Gold Card you must be at least 18 years old, have a permanent address in the UK, have a business bank or building society account, and be prepared to pay fees after the first twelve months.

Other American Express cards you can consider are the American Express® Business Platinum Card, British Airways American Express® Accelerating Business Card, Amazon Business Prime American Express® Card, Amazon Business, and American Express® Card.

American Express has 2,896 reviews on Trustpilot with 16% of reviews at the highest level of 5 stars and 75% of reviews at the lowest level of 1 star.

Features	Fees
Services⁸	When you get this account you pay no fees for the first twelve months. After that, the annual fees are £175. For this fee you get: Easy expense management Rewards points including additional points for spending through American Express Travel 10,000 extra rewards points when you spend more than £20,000 per quarter
Annual percentage rate (APR)⁹	APR of 18.49% - 26.49%, representative based on circumstances
Interest rates⁹	18.49% - 26.49%, representative based on circumstances
Withdrawals fees¹⁰	3% of the amount withdrawn with a minimum charge of £3
Currency exchange rates¹¹	2.99%
Cashback or rewards⁹	Reward points and access to exclusive business rewards

Natwest

The business credit card from Natwest is for holders of a NatWest Business Banking account whose business has a turnover of up to £2m. There’s no annual card fee for the first twelve months and no fee after that if you spend £6,000 or more annually. You get a minimum credit limit of £500 and a maximum limit that’s subject to status.

Natwest has 4,545 reviews on Trustpilot with 8% of reviews at the highest level of 5 stars and 86% of reviews at the lowest level of 1 star.

Features	Fees
Services¹²	The services you get with this card include: Interest-free credit period of 56 days Flexible monthly payments A minimum credit limit of £500
Annual percentage rate (APR)¹³	Representative APR of 24.3%
Interest rates¹³	Representative purchase rate of 16.9%
Withdrawals fees¹⁴	3% of the transaction amount with a minimum charge of £3
Currency exchange rates¹⁴	2.95%
Cashback or rewards¹⁵	Access to Business Savings from Mastercard for eligible cardholders. This program gives rebates on items and services that can help your business

Manage expenses with Wise Business

You can efficiently manage your business spending with an easy to use Wise account. The functionality of the account helps you keep track of your business spending.

You get access to expense cards for your employees, so you know exactly what is being spent. Plus, you get 0,5% cashback on Wise business cards. Overall, using a Wise Business simplifies your business expense management, so you can spend more time on other areas of the business that need your attention.

Get started with Wise Business

Efficient management of your business expenses is essential. To make sure this happens, you should keep your personal and business expenses separate. Using a business credit card is one way to do this. You can also use prepaid expense cards or a business debit card. If you decide to apply for a business credit card, choose one that best suits your needs. Pay attention to the features of the card that are most important to you, such as APR, foreign exchange rates, and rewards, and use this information when making your choice.

Sources:

1. Cashplus Business credit card
2. Cashplus credit card summary box
3. Capitalontap business credit cards
4. Capitalontop business credit card benefits
5. Barclays credit cards
6. Barclaycard cash withdrawal fee
7. Barclays credit cards select cashback
8. American express business cards
9. American express business gold card
10. American express express cash
11. American express business gold card terms and conditions
12. Natwest business card
13. Natwest business card representative example
14. Natwest business card charges and fees
15. Mastercard business savings

Sources last checked January 27, 2023