Capify is one of the UK’s longer-standing alternative business lenders, offering unsecured loans, secured loans, and merchant cash advances to SMEs that often struggle to get a yes from a high-street bank. The pitch is speed and accessibility: a 60-second online eligibility check, pre-approval within 24 hours, and funds typically in your account inside three working days. The trade-off is cost. Capify is materially more expensive than a bank term loan, and on some products the headline rate hides a total cost that can push the representative APR well above 60%.
In this review, we walk through what Capify actually offers in 2026, what it costs, who it suits, and where it falls short. If you’re comparing fast-funding lenders — Capify, iwoca, Fleximize, Funding Circle — the goal here’s to help you decide whether Capify earns its place on your shortlist or whether a cheaper option is realistic for your business.
Capify Business Loans at a Glance
Our Verdict
Capify is a fast, accessible lender for SMEs that have been trading for at least a year and need money in days rather than weeks. In our assessment, it works hardest for businesses with thin or imperfect credit files, irregular cashflow, or a turnover profile that high-street banks won’t entertain. The catch — and it’s one we think deserves a close read — is price. Factor-rate pricing on the merchant cash advance and the layered fee structure on unsecured loans push the total cost well above what a clean borrower would pay at a bank or even at a peer lender like Funding Circle. We’d suggest using Capify when speed and approval probability genuinely matter more than headline rate — not by default.
Best For
Capify suits established SMEs (12+ months trading, £10,000+ monthly turnover) that need quick working capital, retailers and hospitality businesses with strong card takings who want a merchant cash advance tied to revenue, and owners who’ve been declined by mainstream banks but have a healthy operating business behind them.
Not Ideal For
Capify isn’t the right call for businesses that can qualify for a bank or British Business Bank-backed loan, very early-stage businesses under 12 months old (6 months for the MCA), borrowers focused on the lowest possible APR, or anyone who wants the option to settle early and pay less interest — on Capify’s fixed-cost products, early repayment doesn’t reduce the total amount you pay back.
Key Facts
Loan amounts range from £5,000 to £3,000,000 across the product suite. Unsecured loans go up to £1,000,000, secured loans up to £3,000,000, and the merchant cash advance up to £750,000. Pre-approval is typically within 24 hours and funding within 24 hours to 3 days. Pricing uses factor rates on the MCA (1.1–1.5) and APRs from 10.99% p.a. on unsecured loans, with representative APRs in real-world examples landing between 47.9% and 67.89%. Capify charges a tiered processing fee of £249–£749, a 4% origination fee deducted on drawdown, and a £24.90 monthly service fee on some products.
What Are Capify Business Loans?
Capify is an alternative finance provider focused on SME lending. Unlike a bank, it doesn’t take deposits or offer current accounts — it exists purely to lend to small and medium businesses, and it makes its decisions on a different basis to mainstream lenders. Where a bank typically wants three years of clean accounts and strong personal credit, Capify weights recent trading performance, bank statements, and (for the MCA) card-payment volume more heavily.
How Capify Business Loans Work
You apply online, sharing basic business details and recent bank or card-processing data. Capify runs an eligibility check in around 60 seconds, comes back with a soft pre-approval inside 24 hours, then asks for supporting documents (bank statements, ID, sometimes management accounts). If you accept the offer, funds usually land within 24 hours, with a 3-day maximum on more complex deals. Repayments are normally taken by direct debit (for term loans) or as a fixed percentage of daily card takings (for the MCA), removing the need for you to manage manual payments.
Main Loan Options
Capify offers three core products. The unsecured business loan runs from £5,000 to £1,000,000 with no asset security required, although a personal guarantee is standard. The secured business loan covers £75,000 to £3,000,000 against property or other assets, suitable for larger or longer-term needs. The merchant cash advance runs from £5,000 to £750,000 and is repaid as a percentage of card takings — useful for retail, hospitality, and any business with strong daily card volume.
Capify Business Loan Rates and Fees
Interest Rates and Representative APR
This is where Capify needs to be read carefully. The merchant cash advance uses a factor rate of 1.1 to 1.5, meaning you repay 1.1× to 1.5× the advance — a £50,000 advance at 1.3 means you pay back £65,000 in total, regardless of how long it takes. There’s no APR in the conventional sense because the cost is fixed.
Unsecured term loans are advertised from 10.99% p.a., but the total-cost picture is materially higher once fees are factored in. Capify’s own representative examples show APRs between 47.9% and 67.89% — for instance, a £24,000 loan over 12 months works out at 67.89% APR once processing fee, origination fee, and monthly service fee are included. That’s several times what a bank loan would charge a creditworthy borrower, and it’s the single most important number to weigh when deciding whether Capify makes sense for your business.
Fees and Charges
Capify layers three main fees onto term loans. A processing fee of £249 to £749 (tiered by loan amount) is charged at the start. An origination fee of 4% is deducted from the loan when it’s drawn down — so a £50,000 loan lands as £48,000 in your account but you owe and repay on the full £50,000. A monthly service fee of £24.90 applies to some products and runs for the life of the loan. There’s no early repayment penalty as such, but on factor-rate products and some fixed-cost loans, settling early doesn’t reduce the total amount you’ve to pay back.
What Affects Your Rate
Your rate at Capify depends mainly on trading history, monthly turnover, the strength and consistency of your bank statements, the loan amount and term, the product type (secured generally cheapest, MCA generally priciest in real terms), and any security or personal guarantees you offer. Businesses with longer trading histories, steadier revenue, and clean recent banking tend to land towards the lower end of Capify’s pricing range. Newer businesses, or those with seasonal swings, will see higher factor rates and APRs.
Capify Business Loan Eligibility
Who Can Apply for Capify Business Loans
Capify lends to UK-based sole traders, limited companies, and partnerships. The business itself must be UK-registered and trading from a UK address. Directors and owners typically need to be UK residents and aged 18 or over. Capify is comfortable with sectors that some banks treat cautiously — hospitality, retail, taxis, construction — provided the trading numbers stack up.
Trading History, Turnover and Credit Checks
For unsecured and secured term loans, you need a minimum of 12 months trading and at least £10,000 in monthly turnover. For the merchant cash advance, the bar drops to 6 months trading but you need at least £20,000 in monthly card payments to qualify. Capify will run a credit check on the business and on directors or guarantors, but its decision weighting is closer to a cashflow lender than a credit-score lender — recent trading and bank statement strength carry more weight than a slightly bruised credit file.
Security and Personal Guarantees
The unsecured loan doesn’t require asset security but a personal guarantee from directors is standard. The secured loan is taken against property or other tangible assets — expect a charge to be registered and a valuation to be required. The merchant cash advance is technically a purchase of future receivables rather than a loan, but Capify will still typically take a personal guarantee from the principal director. In our view, if you’re uncomfortable putting your home or personal finances on the line, Capify isn’t the right fit.
Capify Business Loan Application Process
How to Apply for a Capify Business Loan
You start with a 60-second eligibility check on Capify’s website, entering basic information about your business, turnover, and the amount you want to borrow. If you pass that initial filter, you’re routed to a fuller application and assigned a relationship contact. Capify aims to provide soft pre-approval within 24 hours of a complete application, after which you’ll be asked to provide supporting documents before the offer is finalised.
Documents and Checks Needed
Expect to provide 3 to 6 months of business bank statements, ID and proof of address for directors, and — for larger or secured loans — recent management accounts or filed accounts. Merchant cash advance applicants will need to share card processing statements. Capify runs a hard credit search at the formal offer stage; the initial soft check at eligibility doesn’t affect your credit file.
Approval and Funding Times
Pre-approval is normally within 24 hours of a complete application. Once you accept the offer and documents are in, funds typically arrive within 24 hours, with a 3-day maximum cited by Capify on more complex or larger deals. That puts Capify firmly in the “fast money” category alongside iwoca and Fleximize — significantly quicker than a high-street bank, which can take 4 to 8 weeks for an equivalent decision.
Capify Business Loan Repayments, Flexibility and Risk
Repayment Terms and Flexibility
Term loans are repaid by fixed monthly direct debit over a set term. The merchant cash advance is repaid as a percentage of daily card takings, which means repayments rise and fall with your revenue — useful in seasonal businesses but it can also extend the time it takes to clear the advance. Capify doesn’t charge an early repayment penalty as a standalone fee, but on factor-rate and fixed-cost products, settling early doesn’t reduce the total amount payable. If early settlement at a discount matters to you, an interest-bearing loan from a different lender (such as Funding Circle or a bank) will usually be a better fit.
Missed Payments and Default Risk
Missed direct debits trigger fees and can escalate quickly given Capify’s short-dated, high-cost lending model. On secured loans, the lender can ultimately enforce against the asset. On unsecured loans backed by a personal guarantee, the director’s personal assets are exposed if the business can’t pay. On the merchant cash advance, persistent under-collection from card takings can lead Capify to demand a fixed top-up payment. As with any commercial finance, the realistic test is: can the business comfortably service this from current cashflow even in a soft month? If the answer isn’t a clear yes, the product is too expensive for the situation.
Capify Business Loan Customer Reviews
What Customers Like
Capify carries an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot with a TrustScore in the 4.4 to 4.7 range. Recurring positive themes are speed of decision, helpfulness of named account managers, and willingness to lend where banks have said no. Customers in retail and hospitality frequently flag the merchant cash advance as a useful structure when revenue is unpredictable, because repayments flex with takings.
Common Complaints
The most common negative themes — visible across Trustpilot and other review platforms — relate to total cost of borrowing, fees not being fully understood until the contract stage, and the fact that early settlement on factor-rate products doesn’t reduce the payback. Some reviewers report renewal pressure and frequent contact from sales staff once you’ve borrowed once. None of this is unusual for the alternative-finance segment, but it reinforces the importance of reading the offer document line-by-line and modelling the total cost rather than reacting to a headline rate.
How We Reviewed Capify
This review is based on Capify’s published product information, fee schedules and representative APR examples; sample offer documents and customer-facing materials; aggregated Trustpilot and third-party review data as of April 2026; and a like-for-like comparison against the main UK alternative business lenders (iwoca, Fleximize, Funding Circle, YouLend) and mainstream high-street bank loans. Pricing examples reflect Capify’s own representative figures. We don’t take payment for placement and we don’t soften scoring on lenders we’ve commercial relationships with elsewhere.
Capify Business Loan Support and Regulation
Customer Support
Capify operates a UK-based account management model. Borrowers are typically assigned a single point of contact through application and drawdown, with phone and email support available during business hours. Reviews suggest support quality is consistent during the application stage; experiences during collections or restructuring conversations are more mixed, which is again typical of the segment.
Regulatory Status and Complaints
This needs to be stated plainly: Capify’s commercial lending to limited companies is largely outside the FCA’s regulated consumer credit perimeter. Lending to incorporated businesses for business purposes is generally unregulated SME finance under UK law. We’ve not been able to verify a current FCA Firm Reference Number for Capify’s lending activities at the time of this review. That doesn’t mean Capify is unsafe — it’s the same regulatory position as most non-bank SME lenders — but it does mean the Financial Ombudsman Service isn’t automatically available for limited-company complaints. Sole traders and small partnerships may have access to the Ombudsman in some circumstances. If FCA-regulated status is important to you, confirm Capify’s current position directly with the firm before signing.
Capify Business Loans vs Alternatives
Capify vs Fleximize Business Loans
Fleximize is the closest direct comparison in product shape: UK alternative lender, fast decisions, willing to lend to slightly thinner credit profiles, term loans up to seven figures. Fleximize tends to price interest-bearing loans more transparently, allows top-ups, and offers genuine early-repayment savings on its standard products. Capify wins on merchant cash advance breadth and on speed at the very fast end. For straightforward term lending where you want to be able to settle early and pay less, Fleximize is usually the cheaper structure.
Capify vs iwoca Business Loans
iwoca’s Flexi-Loan is built around short-term working capital, with daily-interest pricing, no early repayment penalties, and a real reduction in cost if you settle early. iwoca is generally cheaper for short, flexible borrowing — particularly under £100,000 — and the application experience is well-regarded. Capify’s advantage is at the larger end (loans into seven figures, secured options up to £3m) and on the merchant cash advance. For sub-£100k working capital, iwoca is usually the better-value default; for larger or asset-backed needs, Capify earns its place on the shortlist.
Capify vs Alternative Business Loan Lenders
Across the broader alternative-lender field — Funding Circle, YouLend, 365 Business Finance, Liberis — Capify sits in the mid-to-upper price band with a strong product range and fast turnaround. Funding Circle is generally cheaper for prime borrowers and offers genuine APRs with early-settlement savings, but is stricter on eligibility. YouLend and Liberis compete directly with Capify on merchant cash advances, often with similar factor-rate economics. The honest summary: Capify is rarely the cheapest, but it’s often one of the few willing to fund quickly at scale when others have said no.
Final Verdict: Are Capify Business Loans Worth It?
Capify is worth it when speed, approval probability, and product range matter more to you than headline price. If you’ve been declined by your bank, if you’ve strong card takings and want a revenue-linked repayment structure, or if you need to move from application to drawdown in days rather than weeks, Capify can solve a real problem — and the customer reviews back that up. The same product, used by a business that could’ve qualified for a bank loan, is hard to defend on price.
Before you sign anything, do two things. First, model the total cost of borrowing in pounds and pence over the full term, not just the headline rate — on factor-rate products, that’s the only meaningful number. Second, get at least one comparison quote from iwoca, Fleximize or Funding Circle, even if you expect to come back to Capify. If Capify is still the right answer after that exercise, it’s a defensible choice. If a cheaper lender will fund you on a similar timetable, take the cheaper money.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the maximum loan from Capify?
The maximum is £3,000,000 on the secured business loan. The unsecured business loan goes up to £1,000,000, and the merchant cash advance up to £750,000. Actual offers depend on trading history, turnover, security, and overall affordability.
What APR does Capify charge?
Unsecured loan rates start from 10.99% p.a., but representative APRs in Capify’s own examples land between 47.9% and 67.89% once processing fees, the 4% origination fee, and the monthly service fee are included. The merchant cash advance uses a factor rate of 1.1 to 1.5 rather than an APR — you repay a fixed multiple of the advance regardless of how long it takes.
How quickly can Capify fund a loan?
Pre-approval is typically within 24 hours of a complete application. Funds usually land within 24 hours of acceptance, with a 3-day maximum cited on larger or more complex deals.
Does Capify charge early repayment fees?
Capify doesn’t charge a separate early repayment penalty, but on factor-rate and fixed-cost products, settling early doesn’t reduce the total amount you’ve to pay back. If genuine early-settlement savings are important to you, look at interest-bearing alternatives such as iwoca or Funding Circle.
Is Capify regulated by the FCA?
Capify’s commercial lending to limited companies is largely outside the FCA’s regulated consumer credit perimeter, which is the standard position for non-bank SME lenders in the UK. We’ve not been able to verify a current FCA Firm Reference Number for Capify’s lending activities at the time of writing — if regulated status matters to you, confirm Capify’s current position directly with the firm before signing any agreement.