Choose Card One Money only when standard applications have rejected you. It accepts you regardless of credit history: no credit check runs, and CCJs, defaults, and bankruptcies are fine. We checked pricing, terms, and regulation against cardonemoney.com and the FCA register in April 2026.
You pay for that yes. There is a £55 non-refundable setup fee plus a £12.50 monthly floor that never reaches zero. If you can qualify elsewhere, you should: Starling and Tide both cost £0 a month.
Our Verdict on the Card One Money Business Bank Account
Card One Money earns one job and earns it well: it says yes when the high street says no. We would point you here only after a standard application has failed, not before. It is the account you reach for when your credit record makes a conventional application risky.
The price of that certainty is fixed and knowable. You spend £55 to open, then £150 a year at minimum. Over two years the base cost is £355 against £0 at Starling. That gap is the decision.
The catch is that the £12.50 floor never drops to zero, however little you transact: it is a minimum, not a starting point. We work the transaction-offset mechanic through with examples in the fees section below.
One regulatory point belongs up front. Card One Money is a Payment Institution (Equals Money UK Limited, FCA FRN 504547), so your balance is e-money safeguarded, not FSCS-protected. We confirmed this against the FCA register in April 2026.
Key Pros and Cons
- No credit check: CCJs, defaults, and active bankruptcies accepted
- No hard credit search recorded: no footprint on your credit file
- Business Mastercard prepaid card included from day one
- Cash and cheque deposits accepted at Barclays branches
- Up to 4 additional prepaid Mastercards at £5/month each
- Standing orders and direct debits available
- Online and mobile banking (iOS and Android)
- Open to sole traders, LTDs, and partnerships
- £55 non-refundable application fee paid before the account opens
- £12.50/month minimum floor, never offset to zero
- 30p per incoming electronic credit
- £1.50 per UK ATM withdrawal
- 0.75% cash/cheque deposit fee at Barclays (minimum 50p)
- Not FSCS-protected (e-money safeguarded, not the statutory guarantee)
- No overdraft facility on any basis
- No confirmed accounting software integrations (no live bank feeds)
- No invoicing tool
- International payment capability not confirmed
Who Card One Money Is Best For
Choose Card One Money if CCJs, active defaults, or a past bankruptcy sit on your file and standard banking has turned you down. You apply to Starling, spend a week waiting for the decision, then find a two-year-old CCJ on your file. This account skips that check.
Skip it the moment a free account is genuinely within reach. High-volume payment businesses break the £12.50 floor fast. Anyone who needs FSCS protection, live accounting feeds, or international payments will feel the gaps. The real cost is access, not banking.
Card One Money Account Eligibility and Application
Who Can Open a Card One Money Account
You can open an account as a sole trader, limited company, or partnership. No credit check runs at any stage; verification covers identity and residency only. We confirmed the eligibility criteria from cardonemoney.com in April 2026.
CCJs, active defaults, and bankruptcies do not block you here. No hard search is recorded, so nothing lands on your credit file. That matters more than it sounds. If you are rebuilding your score, every fresh hard search drags on future borrowing.
What You Need to Apply
Apply online with identity documents and proof of residency; you skip the credit check entirely. We confirmed the process from cardonemoney.com in April 2026. Verify the current document list before you start, because requirements change.
You pay the £55 application fee upfront, and it is non-refundable whatever the outcome. Because acceptance turns on identity and residency rather than credit, approval is the norm. Confirm the accepted business structures at cardonemoney.com first.
Card One Money Account Fees and Pricing
Monthly Fees and Plan Options
There is no free plan, and no usage tier removes the monthly charge. The account carries a £55 one-time setup fee and a £12.50 monthly floor. We confirmed both from cardonemoney.com in April 2026.
A floor of £12.50 a month is the least you will ever pay. Transaction fees you incur are offset against it; if your charges total £6, your statement still reads £12.50. Once charges pass £12.50, you pay the excess on top.
Model your own pattern before you commit. We worked two months through the structure. A quiet month of five incoming payments and one ATM withdrawal costs £12.50 flat; twenty incoming payments plus five ATM trips tips you to £13.50.
Over two years the base cost is £355, before a single transaction charge. Starling and Tide both cost £0 across the same stretch. That premium is what a guaranteed yes costs you.
Transaction Fees and Charges
Incoming electronic credits cost 30p each; UK ATM withdrawals cost £1.50; cash and cheque deposits at Barclays cost 0.75%, minimum 50p. We confirmed these from cardonemoney.com in April 2026.
Cash-handling tips the maths fastest. You carry the week’s takings to the Barclays counter every Friday, queue, and pay a percentage before the money even lands. Deposit £1,000 and £7.50 comes off; card-and-transfer businesses stay under the floor far longer.
Check outgoing transfer fees directly before you rely on them; these were not confirmed from primary sources in April 2026. If time-sensitive payments are routine for you, confirm the cost at cardonemoney.com first.
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application/setup fee | £55 | One-time, non-refundable |
| Monthly fee | £12.50/month | Floor; transaction fees offset against this |
| Electronic credits (incoming) | 30p each | Counts toward monthly floor |
| UK ATM withdrawals | £1.50 each | Counts toward monthly floor |
| Cash/cheque deposits (Barclays) | 0.75% (min 50p) | Counts toward monthly floor |
| Additional prepaid Mastercard | £5/month each | Up to 4 additional cards available |
Card One Money Features and Business Banking Tools
Invoicing and Expense Management
You do not get a native invoicing tool here, so budget for that gap. Card One Money is a transactional prepaid account: online and mobile banking, SMS alerts, and statements, but no built-in invoice flow. We confirmed this from cardonemoney.com in April 2026.
Expense management is manual rather than automated. There are no receipt-capture or auto-categorisation tools of the kind Tide and Starling build in. If your admin depends on tagging spend as it happens, you will feel the absence. That gap is real.
Integrations and Accounting Software
Direct feeds to Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage are not confirmed from primary sources, so plan to reconcile by hand. You export statements and import them yourself. We checked for a live bank feed in April 2026 and could not confirm one.
At month-end you sit there exporting a CSV, open it in your accountant’s template, and the columns do not line up. It works, but it is manual where Tide offers a Sage feed and Zempler connects to Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage over Open Banking.
Card One Money Card Usage and Payments
Spending, Transfers and Limits
You get a prepaid business Mastercard from day one, with up to four extra cards at £5 a month each. Card spending carries no per-transaction fee. We confirmed this from cardonemoney.com in April 2026.
Watch what those staff cards do to your floor. Four extra cards add £20 a month on top of the £12.50 base, lifting your minimum to £32.50 before a single transaction. At that level the gap against free accounts widens sharply.
There is no overdraft and no credit line of any kind. Faster Payments, standing orders, and direct debits are available, but daily and transfer limits were not confirmed from primary sources in April 2026. Verify the limits at cardonemoney.com if you move large sums.
Overseas Payments and FX Fees
Treat Card One Money as a domestic-only account until you confirm otherwise. International payment capability, currency support, and FX rates could not be confirmed from cardonemoney.com in April 2026. We looked; the primary sources were silent.
If overseas payments are a routine part of your week, this is the wrong product. A dedicated multi-currency provider such as Wise or Revolut gives you confirmed FX rates and currency accounts. Check cardonemoney.com before you assume any cross-border support.
Card One Money Customer Reviews and Ratings
Check the Trustpilot score yourself, because we could not confirm a current rating from primary sources in April 2026. You open Trustpilot, start hunting through scattered reviews, and still cannot pin down a confirmed number. Look it up directly before you decide.
Read the pattern, not just the stars. Positive reviews cluster on access, not satisfaction: people praise getting in, rarely the price or features. Negative reviews centre on fees stacking faster than expected, which is avoidable if you model the floor first.
This is an account businesses choose because they had to, not because they wanted to. That context is missing from most single-score summaries. Once a cheaper account becomes reachable, dissatisfaction with the cost is a fair response.
FAQs
Is Card One Money FSCS Protected?
No. Card One Money is a trading style of Equals Money UK Limited, authorised as a Payment Institution by the FCA (FRN: 504547). Cards are issued by Equals Money International Limited, an Electronic Money Institution (FRN: 900493). Funds are safeguarded under FCA e-money regulations but are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The statutory £120,000 FSCS guarantee applies to licensed UK banks such as Starling, not to Payment Institution accounts. Verified from cardonemoney.com and the FCA register in April 2026.
Does Card One Money Do a Credit Check?
No credit check is conducted. The application verifies identity and residency only. Businesses with CCJs, defaults, and active bankruptcies are accepted. No hard credit search is recorded, which means no footprint appears on your credit file. This is relevant for businesses actively rebuilding their credit score where each additional hard search has a measurable impact on future borrowing capacity. We confirmed this from cardonemoney.com in April 2026.
How Much Does Card One Money Cost Per Month?
The minimum monthly cost is £12.50. This is a floor: transaction fees are offset against it, so at low transaction volumes the total stays at £12.50. Once transaction fees exceed £12.50 in a month, you pay the difference above the floor. The setup fee is £55, paid once and non-refundable. Over two years, the base cost is £355 before transaction charges. We confirmed these figures from cardonemoney.com in April 2026. Verify current pricing at cardonemoney.com before applying.
What Business Types Can Open a Card One Money Account?
Sole traders, limited companies, and partnerships can apply. No credit check is required. Eligibility is confirmed by identity and residency verification only. We confirmed accepted business types from cardonemoney.com in April 2026. Verify current eligibility criteria at cardonemoney.com before applying, as accepted structures can change.
What Are the Alternatives to Card One Money for Businesses With Bad Credit?
Zempler Bank (formerly Cashplus) operates without a standard credit check and offers FSCS protection: worth attempting before Card One Money, as the application is free and acceptance may be possible. Starling and Tide require standard identity checks and may conduct credit assessments. If your credit record is a concern but not severely adverse, attempting a Zempler or Tide application first costs nothing and may save you the £355 two-year base premium that Card One Money carries.
How we reviewed Card One Money
What we assessed. We evaluated Card One Money on pricing, contract terms, features, and eligibility. These are the factors that matter most to UK small businesses considering this provider.
Data sources. Card One Money’s pricing page, terms, and product docs were checked directly in April 2026. No comparison sites, no press releases, no affiliate material. FCA register cross-checked for regulatory status.
Update cadence. We re-verify this page at least monthly, and whenever a provider changes pricing, eligibility, or terms. The verification date on the page reflects the most recent full review. We have no affiliate relationship with Card One Money, see our editorial policy.