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Published 27 April 2023

Capify Business Loans Review: Pros, Cons & Features

Read our review of Capify business loans, including its pros, cons, and key features.

Many or all of the products and brands we review are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and the product we choose in our ‘promotion’. However it doesn’t influence our reviews. Our opinions are our own.

Capify business loans: at a glance

Capify allows eligible limited companies to borrow between £5,000 and £500,000, whether through a small business loan or a merchant cash advance.

Both types of borrowing have minimum turnover requirements and will be repaid in ways that differ from traditional business loans. The small business loan is repaid in daily instalments for a term of up to 12 months, while merchant cash advances are paid back as a percentage of your daily debit and credit card sales.

Promotion

Capify Small Business Loans

  • Representative APR
    Available on application
  • Representative Example
    Available on application
  • Available amounts
    £5,000 – £500,000
  • Available Terms
    3 – 12 months
Apply Now

This product may be one of a range offered by this provider. Always check terms & conditions for suitability before applying.

Learn more about how we bring you our review.

Capify business loans pros & cons

Pros

  • You can borrow up to £500,000 with a Capify small business loan or merchant cash advance.
  • Business loans offer short-term borrowing over three to 12 months, broken into small daily repayments.
  • Access to over the phone customer service

Cons

  • There is no app-based customer service. Web-based support also directs users to the phone.
  • Capify has no app or physical branches.

These pros and cons are based on an exclusive survey of UK business owners on what they found important when selecting a range of business products, conducted by NerdWallet in December 2022.

Capify business loans key features

Capify business loans full review

Founded in 2008, Capify specialises in providing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with business funding. 

It is not a bank but a direct online lender, providing business borrowing of up to £500,000. At present, it offers two products: a small business loan and a merchant cash advance.  

Depending on your business, you may be able to get same-day approval, and funding within 24 hours of your initial application.

We’ve put together everything you might need to know about Capify business loans at a glance in our table below. 

Amount borrowable£5,000 to £500,000
Term lengthThree to 12 months (small business loan)
Variable (merchant cash advance)
Web-based customer serviceOnline contact form
UK customer service number0800 151 0980
AppNo
Face-to-face customer serviceNo
Access to loans without pre-existing accountYes
Trustpilot rating4.5 out of 5 (as of 22 February 2023)

Capify business loan features

Below, you can find some of the key features when taking out a business loan with Capify.

Loan amounts and terms

When surveyed, business owners cared about both the flexibility of a loan’s term length and the maximum amount they could borrow. The former criteria ranked number first in NerdWallet’s survey, while the latter was number five.

Capify offers a level of flexibility by having two business borrowing options: a small business loan and a merchant cash advance.

Small business loans

With a Capify unsecured small business loan, you can borrow between £5,000 and £500,000. This loan is designed for short-term borrowing, with a term of three to 12 months. So it might not be suitable if you want longer than a year to pay off your loan – another loan provider may be more appropriate to your business. 

A Capify loan differs from many other business loans as, instead of making monthly repayments, your total payback figure is broken down into small daily repayments. Depending on the size of these repayments, this could be more manageable for your business than a monthly lump sum.

Capify uses a factor rate based on risk to determine the total amount you will need to repay. A factor rate is usually expressed as a decimal number, such as 1.2 or 1.5, rather than a percentage. This is then multiplied by the amount you are borrowing to calculate the total you need to repay. So if you borrow £10,000, at a factor rate of 1.2, you would need to repay £12,000. Your factor rate will in part be determined by your gross monthly sales, your credit score and other criteria.

When taking out a Capify small business loan, you will also pay a processing fee (tied to the amount you have borrowed), an origination fee and a fixed monthly service fee. 

Merchant cash advance

If your business regularly generates sales through credit or debit cards, then you could consider a Capify merchant cash advance.  

As with a small business loan, you can borrow between £5,000 and £500,000. Merchant cash advances also come with a factor rate to determine the overall amount you need to repay. 

You would pay the advance back as a percentage of your daily credit and debit card takings. This means that your repayments would rise and fall in line with your sales performance – the better your business is doing, the faster you will pay it off.

You will also be subject to a processing fee (tied to the amount you are borrowing), an origination fee, and, if applicable, a monthly Cashplus fee. 

Customer service

A lender’s customer support options are important. So important, in fact, that web-, phone- and app-based customer service took the second, third, and fourth slots respectively when NerdWallet asked business owners to rank what they look for in a business loans provider.

Here, Capify is arguably not as strong as other lenders. Its only web-based customer service option is an online form, and there is no app.

Meanwhile, if you want to talk over the phone, you can call 0800 151 0980 from 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Capify also has a presence on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Security

Most business lending is unregulated. However, if you are a sole trader, a partnership with fewer than four partners, or an unincorporated association, then business lending of up to £25,000 generally falls within Consumer Credit regulation. This means a lender must be authorised and meet the standards set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). 

Since Capify’s business loans are only for limited companies, they do not fall under these regulations.

Merchant cash advances, meanwhile, are currently not regulated in the UK, and do not fall under the purview of the FCA.

Customer reviews

Capify has an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot rating of 4.5 out of 5, based on over 430 reviews. Bear in mind that this rating is based on the brand as a whole, not any specific offering.

This information is correct as of 22 February 2023.

Capify business loans eligibility

Capify’s loans are only available to limited companies. The specific eligibility requirements for a Capify small business loan and a merchant cash advance, meanwhile, differ slightly. 

Small business loan

In order to qualify for a Capify small business loan, you need to:

You will also be subject to a credit check when you submit your loan application.

Merchant cash advance

To qualify for a Capify merchant cash advance, you need to:

You will also be subject to a credit check when you submit your merchant cash advance application.

How to choose a Capify business loan

Whether choosing between a small business loan and merchant cash advance, or comparing Capify to other lenders, you should consider:

How to apply for a Capify business loan

  1. First, apply online and get pre-approval.
  2. You will then be put in contact with a Capify agent, you will help find a tailored borrowing solution for your business.
  3. Next, you will need to submit the minimum level of documentation Capify requires, including your last 12 months’ worth of bank statements. 
  4. Capify will also carry out its standard credit assessment to help determine what rate you pay for your loan.
  5. Depending on your circumstances, you could have the funds in your account within 24 hours of your application.

Review methodology

At NerdWallet Ltd UK we base our reviews on the results of surveys we conduct to understand what key product features are important to those who use them, and align them to the product we review.

Product details reflect the information that was available at that time but may have changed since. We strive to give you a review on as many products as possible but it is likely there are others available that we have not reviewed. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability of your financial circumstances.

You can view our review methodology here.

About the Author

Connor Campbell

Connor is a writer and spokesperson for NerdWallet. Previously at Spreadex, his market commentary has been quoted in the likes of the BBC, The Guardian, Evening Standard, Reuters and The…

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