SME? Capital on Tap cuts its Avios earn rate but remains a good deal

If you have a Limited Company or LLP, you have access to a great financial product – the Capital on Tap Visa credit card.

This card is FREE for life and is the only credit card indirectly earning Avios which has NO FX FEES.

Unfortunately, Capital on Tap is reducing the Avios rate on its free card from today. You will now receive points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 spent rather than 1 Avios per £1.

Whilst this is disappointing, Capital on Tap remains a good option if you have a Limited Company. It is also worth remembering that, until January 2025, the card had a £99 annual fee which has now gone.

For most people, earning points which convert to 0.8 Avios per £1 on a free card is better than earning 1 Avios per £1 on a £99 card, although of course you don’t have a choice!

Even if you have an American Express Business card, you will still need a Visa or Mastercard back-up given the level of Amex acceptance in the B2B sector.

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. As of last night it had not been adjusted to reflect the new lower Avios rate.

The £299 Capital on Tap Pro card retains 1 Avios per £1

The Capita on Tap Pro Visa card has kept an earn rate of 1 Avios per £1, if you choose to transfer your Capital on Tap points to Avios. You can increase this even further, to 1.25 Avios per £1, if you pre-load your card before you spend.

It’s arguable whether the Pro card justifies the £299 fee unless your card spend is substantial, although there is a bonus worth 10,500 Avios for signing up. Radisson Rewards VIP status is the only extra benefit of note.

10,500 points is an exclusive Pro sign-up bonus for HfP readers.

What is the Capital on Tap Visa card?

We haven’t looked at Capital on Tap since the £99 fee on the basic card was scrapped in January so it is worth running over it again.

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.

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 0.8 Avios or 1p of cashback) per £1 you spend.

There is no sign-up bonus, but of course there is no annual fee either.

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.

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 0.8 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. You still earn points when you spend pre-loaded funds.

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 accepted, unfortunately.

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.

Whilst the Avios earn rate has been cut, it remains a strong package and, frankly, the alternatives for an SME Visa or Mastercard are not very impressive.

What do you have to lose? After all:

• the card is free for life

• you get points worth 0.8 Avios (or 1p of cashback) 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 0.8 Avios.

If you don’t value Avios at more than 1.25p 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.  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.

The application page shows two cards – the free card and the £299 Pro card – so make sure you select the free one. If you do decide to go with the Pro card, there is an exclusive higher bonus for HfP readers of 10,500 points, worth 10,500 Avios.