Sole trader business credit cards: honest options when Capital on Tap says no

Most of this site is written from the point of view of a limited company that uses the Capital on Tap card. This page is not. If you are a sole trader, that card is closed to you, and so are several others that get recommended without the small print. What follows is the honest list.

Why Capital on Tap says no

Capital on Tap is not available to sole traders. Its own card page puts it in one sentence: “Capital on Tap is not available to sole traders, but some other providers do accept them.” The eligibility rules require the business to be registered as Ltd, LLP or PLC and the applicant to be an active UK director or a shareholder with 25% or more. A sole trader has no Companies House registration and no shareholding, so there is nothing to apply with.

There is no workaround short of incorporating, which is a bigger decision than a card and is covered below. Tide’s business credit card is the same product, brokered, and carries the same restriction: Ltd or LLP only; around £2,000 a month turnover. The full criteria, including the personal guarantee that applies to company applicants, are on the eligibility page.

Amex Business Gold and Platinum: Ltd and LLP only

Until recently a sole trader with decent personal income could get an American Express Business Gold or Platinum card. Since January 2026 both are limited to Ltd and LLP businesses. Gold’s page now reads: Ltd or LLP only; director or member; £20,000+ personal income. Sole traders are not eligible. Platinum’s: Ltd or LLP only; £35,000+ personal income. Sole traders are not eligible.

Amex’s own suggested alternative for sole traders is the British Airways Amex Accelerating Business card, which is a credit card rather than a charge card and is sole traders and small businesses with a uk business bank account; £20,000+ personal income. It costs £250 a year and its representative APR, which includes the fee, is 104.9% APR representative (variable), including the fee. That figure looks alarming because the annual fee is folded in; if you pay in full each month you pay the fee and no interest. The earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1 until 6 October 2026, then 1.25 Avios per £1; 10,000 bonus Avios per £20,000 spent (up to three times a year), and the welcome bonus is 40,000 Avios after £5,000 in 3 months (offer ends 6 October 2026; normally 30,000). Whether Avios at that rate justify £250 a year is worked through in the Avios guide and the Amex comparison.

Cards that do accept sole traders

These are the UK business credit cards whose own pages list sole traders as eligible on the date at the foot of this page. Each has a catch worth knowing before you apply.

Barclaycard Select Cashback. £0 annual fee, 25.5% APR representative (variable), open to a business owner or director, uk-based, turnover £10,000 to £6.5 million; sole traders accepted. The catch is the cashback rule: 1% cashback, uncapped, but only in months when you spend more than £2,000. A sole trader spending £1,500 a month on the card earns nothing. The FX fee is 2.99%. Barclaycard’s page does not state whether a personal guarantee is needed. See the Barclaycard comparison for the full picture.

Barclaycard Premium Plus. £150 per account, 54.3% APR representative (variable), including the fee, 0.5% cashback, capped at £400 a year; travel insurance when the trip is paid on the card. Its FX fee is 0.99%, the lowest of the bank-issued credit cards here, which is the reason to consider it if you buy abroad.

British Airways Amex Accelerating Business. Covered above: £250 fee, Avios rather than cash, 2.99% FX fee, and Amex acceptance, which is narrower than Visa or Mastercard.

Zempler Bank Business Credit Card. £0 fee, 1% cashback on the first £100,000 of eligible spend a month, and the page says sole traders are accepted. Two problems. The APR is unclear: 21.9% APR representative (variable) on the web page; the linked summary box says 29.9% representative and a maximum limit of £5,000. And applications were reported closed when we checked, so treat it as a card to watch rather than apply for.

The high-street banks: NatWest, Lloyds, HSBC, Santander, Metro. All accept sole traders and all require you to hold their business current account first. Lloyds’s wording is typical: Existing Lloyds business current account holder; sole trader, partner or director. Limits up to £25,000. Santander’s cashback card is the most interesting for a sole trader who already banks there: 1% cashback, uncapped, paid monthly, 0% on purchases in the local currency, for a £30 fee, though eligibility is limited to businesses with no more than two partners or directors, and Santander quotes limits of £500 to £25,000. NatWest’s standard card gives 1% cashback on fuel and ev charging only; its Plus card (£70 per card) has 0% on purchases and tiered cashback. HSBC’s card earns none. Metro charges £0 and 0% in SEPA Europe; 2.99% elsewhere. The high-street comparison has the fee tables.

Sole-trader-friendly cards compared

All figures from the issuer’s own page; “rep APR” is the issuer’s representative rate and includes any annual fee where the issuer says so.

Debit-card alternatives

If none of the credit cards fits, or you would rather not take on credit as a sole trader (where every debt is personally yours anyway), the app-based business accounts give you most of what a business card is for: a separate card, a clean feed into your accounts, and receipt capture.

Starling and Monzo charge 0% FX on card spend, which is better than every bank credit card above and matches Capital on Tap. Revolut’s FX is interbank within a monthly allowance and then a small percentage, and it says plainly that it does not provide credit. None of them pays cashback on ordinary spend. What you give up is the interest-free gap between buying and paying, which for a sole trader with lumpy income can matter more than the rewards. The Revolut comparison and Tide comparison go into what each account is really for.

Separating business spend as a sole trader

Legally, a sole trader and their business are one person, so there is no rule that says you must have a separate card. Practically, mixing business and personal spend on one statement is the single biggest source of wasted hours at Self Assessment time, and your 2025/26 return and payment are due by 31 January 2027.

The habit that fixes it is simple: one card, credit or debit, that is used for business and nothing else, connected to whatever you use for your books. Every line on that statement is then a business line by definition, receipts can be matched as you go, and the return becomes a check rather than an excavation. If you do use a personal credit card for business purchases, check the card’s terms first (many personal cards prohibit business use) and keep a running list of which lines are business, because the issuer’s feed will not do it for you. The business vs personal card guide is written for company directors, but the separation argument applies equally here.

Whichever card you use, pay it in full. A rewards card only makes sense with a zero interest line, and the avoid interest guide covers the repayment settings that make that automatic.

Should you incorporate to get a better card?

This is not advice, and the honest answer is that a card is a poor reason on its own. But sole traders do ask the question, so here are the trade-offs as they relate to cards.

What incorporating opens up. Capital on Tap (£0 annual fee, 0% non-sterling transaction fee, 1% cashback uncapped, free employee and virtual cards), Amex Business Gold and Platinum, and Funding Circle’s cashback card. Our limited companies guide covers eligibility patterns in detail.

What it does not change. Personal liability for the card. Capital on Tap states that a personal guarantee required from a director or major shareholder, and most issuers take one. So the limited liability that a company gives you elsewhere does not extend to the card debt. Starting limits for a new company with no filing history are also typically low; ours was lower than expected even with an established company, and raising it has been slow (see the credit limit page).

What it costs. Companies House filings, annual accounts, a Corporation Tax return, payroll if you pay yourself a salary, and the director’s loan rules if you take money out informally. For some businesses the tax position improves; for others it does not. That is the conversation to have with an accountant, and the card should be a footnote in it.

Check before you apply

Every application leaves some trace, so it is worth ruling cards out before you fill in forms. Our eligibility checker asks five questions, stores nothing, and if you answer “sole trader” it skips Capital on Tap entirely and points you at the options on this page instead. For the wider market, the best business credit cards roundup compares everything above alongside the company-only cards, so you can see what you would be gaining if your circumstances change.