Capital on Tap vs iwoca Credit Card: two free 1% cards, compared line by line

At a glance

The iwoca Credit Card launched in 2026. It has a £0 annual fee, pays 1% cashback on all spending, credited to the balance, charges 0% (Visa exchange rate) on non-sterling spend, offers a credit limit up to £250,000 and up to 42 days interest-free. iwoca states 35.40% APR representative (variable); rates from 14.99%. It is for a UK limited company (the FAQ also says partnership), registered at Companies House. Cash withdrawals: cash withdrawals not available.

Capital on Tap’s free card has a £0 annual fee, earns 1 point per £1 with no threshold, charges 0% non-sterling transaction fee, and gives you unlimited free employee cards with per-card limits. It accepts a Ltd, LLP or PLC with no minimum trading history. It advertises rates as low as 13.86% APR (variable) and does not publish a representative APR. I have used it for a few years in my small agency on the free tier. We took out the iwoca card after this site launched. What we say first-hand about it is limited: iwoca gave us a credit limit four times our Capital on Tap limit, and we use it for larger purchases; it has no Apple Pay; and its transactions do not come into Xero automatically. Otherwise nothing about it has stood out either way. The rest of the iwoca side is from iwoca’s own product page, FAQ and card terms, checked on 28 October 2026.

• You want a representative APR and a stated interest-free period before you apply: iwoca.
• You are a partnership rather than a company: iwoca’s FAQ includes partnerships; Capital on Tap does not.
• You are an LLP or PLC, or the company is brand new: Capital on Tap states it takes you; iwoca does not say.
• Several people spend, or you want Apple Pay, cash access, an automatic Xero or QuickBooks feed, or Avios: Capital on Tap.

Side by side

iwoca figures are from its card page, FAQ and the Enfuce card terms it links to. Capital on Tap figures are from its card page, FAQ, rewards terms and credit agreement. “Not stated on iwoca’s card pages” means we could not find it on iwoca’s pages, not that the feature is definitely missing.

Cashback: same rate, different uses

Both cards pay 1% on everyday spend with no cap and no monthly threshold. On a company spending £4,000 a month, that is £48,000 a year and about £480 back on either card. Neither has an intro rate, which is where the Funding Circle Cashback card differs.

The difference is what the 1% becomes. iwoca says its cashback is applied automatically to your account, reducing the outstanding balance. It is a discount on the bill, applied for you. Capital on Tap pays points worth 1 point = 1p (1,000 points = £10), which you can take as balance credit, cash, gift cards, Avios, Virgin Points or Radisson Rewards. Cash to a bank account has a £10 minimum for cash to a bank account. On the free card, points convert at 10 points = 8 Avios on the free card, so the same £48,000 would become about 38,400 Avios if you chose that route; the Avios guide explains whether that beats the cash.

If all you want is money off the card bill, the two are equal. If you want the option of cash in the bank, airline points or a statement credit when cash flow is tight, Capital on Tap is more flexible. There is also Capital on Tap’s referral bonus, 7,500 points (£75), for a new customer who applies through a referral link and makes a first transaction; iwoca’s page states no welcome offer. The Capital on Tap rewards page covers the rounding, expiry and exclusions.

Interest, APR and the 42 days

This is iwoca’s clearest advantage. It publishes its rate in the standard format: 35.40% APR representative (variable); rates from 14.99%. It also states the interest-free window precisely: a 30-day billing cycle plus a 12-day grace period; pay the statement balance in full by the due date to pay no interest. A purchase on day one of the cycle gets the full window; one on the last day gets the 12-day grace period.

Capital on Tap advertises rates as low as 13.86% APR (variable). Capital on Tap does not publish a representative APR on its website. Your rate depends on your personal and business credit history and the Bank of England base rate, and you see it after the soft search. Its credit agreement says there is no interest on purchases if you pay the statement balance in full by the due date, but it does not put a number of days on that. We do not repeat third-party representative APR figures for Capital on Tap, because the ones in circulation contradict each other.

Two cautions. A representative APR is what most accepted customers are offered, so it is a guide, not your rate; iwoca’s starting rate and its representative figure are a long way apart. And if you clear the card in full each month, neither rate applies. For a company that might borrow on the card, iwoca gives you a number to compare against other lenders before you apply, and that is a fair point in its favour. For everyone else, the guide to avoiding interest matters more than the rate.

Eligibility: LLPs, partnerships and new companies

Neither card takes sole traders. Beyond that, they draw the line in different places.

Capital on Tap asks for a Ltd, LLP or PLC, active on Companies House, with £24,000 minimum annual turnover, no unsatisfied CCJs in the last 12 months, applied for by an active UK director or a shareholder with 25% or more. There is no minimum trading history.

iwoca’s product page asks that you are based in the UK and are the director of a limited company. Its FAQ is broader: the business must be based in the UK and be a limited company or a partnership. iwoca does not state a minimum trading history or turnover on its card page.

So the practical split is this. A partnership should look at iwoca, because Capital on Tap will not take it. An LLP or PLC can apply to Capital on Tap with confidence; iwoca’s pages do not mention either. A company incorporated last month knows where it stands with Capital on Tap and would need to ask iwoca. Our startup cards page covers what a young company can realistically expect.

Abroad and cash withdrawals

On non-sterling spend they are level. Capital on Tap charges 0% non-sterling transaction fee; iwoca charges 0% (Visa exchange rate), and its card terms confirm no additional fee on foreign-currency transactions. Both earn 1% on foreign spend too. For US software, cloud hosting or overseas travel, both beat the close-to-3% fees most high-street cards charge; the no foreign transaction fee cards page lists the rest.

Cash is different. iwoca’s FAQ says you cannot withdraw cash yet, and the card terms list ATM withdrawals as not enabled. Capital on Tap allows them with a £0 ATM fee, limited to two withdrawals and £400 in any 24 hours. That is a convenience, not a cheap loan: there is interest on cash withdrawals from the day you take them, and no points on cash withdrawals or fees. But if you travel and occasionally need local cash, only one of these cards can provide it.

Repayments and fees

Here the two are strikingly similar. Capital on Tap’s minimum payment is the greater of 10% of the balance or £100; iwoca’s is at least 10% of the outstanding balance or £100, whichever is higher (the full balance if it is under £100). Capital on Tap charges a £0 charge for missing the minimum payment; iwoca advertises no FX, annual or late payment fees. A missed payment still costs you on either card, through interest, your credit record and, on Capital on Tap, forfeited points.

The mechanics differ. iwoca says: monthly statement, then 12 days to pay; a Direct Debit must be set up. Capital on Tap lets you choose minimum, fixed amount or full balance, and adds Smart Repay: automatic Direct Debit or Open Banking repayments, including daily. It also offers Preloading: preloading lets you spend beyond your limit with your own money. I have used Preloading, and split large bills into several payments, to pay for more than my limit allowed. iwoca’s pages do not mention an equivalent.

Staff cards, accounting, Apple Pay and the app

Capital on Tap gives you unlimited free employee cards with per-card limits, plus instant virtual cards for subscriptions and one-off online purchases. It syncs to Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and more, syncs every 12 hours. I use its extra cards for the agency’s spending, and the feed into Xero. The sync works well; transactions arrive with a slight delay, and it has never needed reconnecting.

iwoca’s card page and FAQ do not mention employee cards or accounting sync for the card. Its card terms cover physical and virtual card types and digital wallets if made available, and the product page says the card works with Google Pay and comes with an app with real-time spending information. iwoca does integrate with Xero, but its FAQ describes that for sharing data on loan applications and recording loan drawdowns, not for a card feed.

We have heard nothing from iwoca about adding Apple Pay or a Xero feed. If you have staff spending, pay by Apple Pay or reconcile in accounting software, ask iwoca whether that has changed before you apply. We will update this page if it does.

Credit limits

Both advertise the same ceiling: iwoca up to £250,000, Capital on Tap up to £250,000. A ceiling tells you little about what a small company will be offered on day one. My own Capital on Tap limit has been £12,000 since I opened the account. It was lower than I expected and it has not changed. I asked once by phone about an increase and was told there is a process for it to be considered. The credit limit page explains how Capital on Tap reviews limits. iwoca does not describe its card limit process on the pages we read, but it gave us a credit limit four times our Capital on Tap limit, so we use it for larger purchases and keep Capital on Tap for everyday spend. Two lenders looked at the same company and reached very different numbers. That is one data point, not a pattern, but if your Capital on Tap limit is holding you back, a second card from a lender with a different view of risk is worth an application; both use a soft search when you apply.

Who is behind each card

Neither is a bank, and neither asks you to move your business current account. On iwoca’s card, iwoca Ltd (company 07798925) provides the credit line; Enfuce UK Ltd, an e-money institution (FRN 993783), issues the Visa card. iwoca is best known for its Flexi-Loan, so a business that already borrows from it may like having card and loan with one lender. Capital on Tap is New Wave Capital Limited (trading as Capital on Tap), with FCA firm reference 625592 (consumer credit).

Neither card is covered by Section 75. Capital on Tap’s FAQ says Section 75 does not apply; iwoca’s says the same: Section 75 does not apply; disputes go through the merchant and, where possible, a Visa chargeback. Both cards are Visa, so chargeback through Visa’s process is the route for a dispute. For more on Capital on Tap’s background, see is Capital on Tap legit; our iwoca Credit Card review does the same for iwoca.

Who should choose which

These two cards are closer than any other pair we compare. On fee, rate and foreign spend there is nothing between them. iwoca wins on transparency about borrowing costs, and it is the one to pick if you are a partnership or expect to carry a balance and want the representative APR in hand first. Capital on Tap wins on everything around the card: staff and virtual cards, the accounting feed, Apple Pay, cash access, Preloading and the choice of how to take your 1%. For a limited company that clears its balance monthly and has more than one person spending, that is where Capital on Tap earns its place. And they are not either/or: we run both, with iwoca’s larger limit for larger purchases and Capital on Tap for everything else.