SME? Great news – Capital on Tap’s Avios-earning Visa card is now FREE!

If you have a Limited Company or LLP, there is some good news today.

Capital on Tap’s Visa credit card is now FREE. The £99 annual fee has been removed, permanently, for new cardholders. See here and scroll halfway down.

You earn points worth 1 Avios for every £1 you spend.

It is also the only credit card indirectly earning Avios which has NO FX FEES.

It is a fantastic card to use for your business. Even if you have an American Express Business card, you will still need a back-up given the level of Amex acceptance in the B2B sector.

Sounds good?  Let me explain more.

You can apply here. This page shows two cards – the free card and the £299 Pro card – so make sure you select the free one.

What is the Capital on Tap Visa card?

Capital on Tap runs the only small business Visa credit card which can earn you Avios points.

Whilst the name may not be familiar to you, it has over 200,000 cardholders in the UK and is one of the few fintech ‘unicorns’ (start-up companies worth over £1 billion) in the country.

For six years, you have been able to earn Avios via a dedicated card called Business Rewards. This carried a £99 annual fee. Capital on Tap has now removed Business Rewards from the market and added Avios (for new customers only for now, for ‘contractual reasons’) to its ‘free for life’ card.

In this article I will explain all you need to know about the Capital on Tap Visa card and who can apply.

How does the Capital on Tap Visa card work?

The Capital on Tap Visa card is the only way to indirectly earn Avios via a small business Visa or Mastercard credit card. 

You earn 1 Capital on Tap point (worth 1p cashback or 1 Avios) per £1 you spend.

There is no longer a sign-up bonus, but of course there is no longer an annual fee either! Cardholders will be better off with this new structure.

As an added benefit, this is the ONLY Avios-earning credit card in the UK which does not charge foreign exchange fees when used abroad.

Avios transfers from Capital on Tap are INSTANTANEOUS.  Log in to Capital on Tap, request a transfer of some or all of your available Capital on Tap points to Avios, log in to your British Airways Club account and they will be there! American Express Membership Rewards does not offer instant transfers – you usually need to wait overnight.

You can find full details on their website here.

Are there any other benefits?

On top of your 1 Capital on Tap point per £1 spent (worth 1 Avios or 1p of cashback), there are some other good benefits too:

• unlimited free supplementary cards for your staff

• a credit limit of up to £250,000

• up to 42 days to pay before interest is incurred

• auto-syncs to Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and more

• no FX fees and no ATM fees 

Capital on Tap also allows you to preload your card if you want to make substantial purchases in excess of your credit limit. You can transfer money onto your card and then make your payment, earning points on the purchase.

Who can apply?

The Capital on Tap card is aimed at SMEs. You must have a Limited Company or LLP with a turnover of £24,000+ to apply.

Partnerships and sole traders are not currently being accepted, unfortunately.

What happens if you don’t have a limited company?

If you do NOT have a limited company, our recommended choice for a business Visa or Mastercard credit card is Barclaycard Select Cashback. It is free for life and you get 1% cashback on all of your spending.

Our review of the Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card is here and you can apply here.

Is it worth getting the Capital on Tap Visa card?

If you have any sort of small business which would allow you to qualify for the card, I think you need to have a serious look at Capital on Tap.

What do you have to lose? After all:

• the card is free for life

• you get points worth 1 Avios for every £1 spent

• the card has no FX fees

• you get far better acceptance than with an American Express card

Your interest rate is based on your business profile and can be as low as 14.95% APR variable.

But don’t forget ….

Capital on Tap points can be converted into cashback as well as Avios.  You can choose to take 1p of cash instead of 1 Avios.

If you don’t value Avios at more than 1p (and in most scenarios an Avios point is worth more than 1p as this article shows) then take your Capital on Tap points as cashback instead.

The cashback option also gives you a fallback in case Avios devalues or your travel plans change.  However, if you took cashback it would be taxable as business income.  You could pro-rata this to reflect any personal spending.

Points and miles have no cash or taxable value – this is a long-held HMRC rule.

How to apply

If the Capital on Tap Visa card sounds interesting for your business, you can find out more and apply on their website here. Remember that there is no longer an annual fee.

The application page shows two cards – the free card and the £299 Pro card – so make sure you select the free one.

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.