Expense cards are usually the better fit when employees spend company money; credit and charge cards suit businesses that need borrowing or rewards. That is the dividing line we found when we compared the main UK options.
You’re not picking the best card here. You’re picking between two tools. An expense card hands your team controlled access to your own cash. A credit card hands you borrowed money to pay back later.
The wrong card becomes obvious at month-end. When staff pay for software and travel, you spend it chasing receipts, and the VAT return will not reconcile.
You either hand staff a borrowing line that belongs with a director, or you starve the business of a cash-flow buffer when customer payments arrive late.
“Company credit card” and “business credit card” describe the same product. Every figure in our comparison was checked against the provider’s own pages in October 2026.
The Core Difference Between Expense Cards and Business Credit Cards
| Feature | Expense card | Business credit card |
|---|---|---|
| Where the money comes from | Your own balance (prepaid float or bank debit) | Borrowed, up to a credit limit |
| Hard credit check to open | No (identity checks only) | Yes |
| Personal guarantee | No | Usually, for limited companies |
| Who is liable | The company, up to loaded funds | The company, with the director on the hook via the guarantee |
| Spend controls | Per-card limits, merchant locks, virtual cards | Basic app monitoring, shared limit |
| Accounting software | Built in (receipt capture, Xero/QuickBooks/Sage sync) | CSV export or basic feed |
| Rewards | Rare | Cashback, points, Avios |
| Foreign-exchange cost | Low (0–2% on the platforms we checked) | Often near 2.99% |
| Verified 05 October 2026. | ||
Prepaid Float vs Borrowed Credit: Where the Money Comes From
An expense card can only spend money your business already holds. You load a wallet or link a business account, then each purchase reduces that available balance.
Because no credit is extended, providers skip the hard credit check and don’t ask a director to sign a personal guarantee. Your downside is capped at the funds you’ve loaded.
When you reach for a business credit card, you’re spending the lender’s money. You apply, the issuer runs a hard search on your business and usually your own credit file, and for a limited company you usually sign a personal guarantee.
If the business cannot clear the balance, a personal guarantee allows the lender to pursue your assets. That is the price of the buffer.
When an Expense Card Makes More Sense
An expense card wins the moment other people spend on your behalf. If staff buy software, travel or stock, you want to cap each card, lock it to certain merchants, and see the receipt before month-end.
You hand a new starter a virtual card on Monday, cap it at £500 for one subscription, and the receipt is photographed at the till before you’ve finished your coffee. The VAT lands in Xero on its own.
Once several people are spending, we rate individual limits and immediate receipt capture above a rewards rate. Points have little value if month-end still begins with somebody chasing the team for paperwork.
If you buy from overseas suppliers, foreign exchange is the second reason an expense card wins: Equals Money charges no FX fee in 21 major currencies, Soldo adds 1.5% to the Mastercard rate, and Pleo charges 1.49% to 2.00% depending on the plan.
Many business credit cards add a non-sterling fee on the same spend. If you pay overseas suppliers regularly, the difference appears on every monthly statement rather than as a one-off saving.
What you give up is borrowing. An expense card can’t float you through a bad month, because it only spends what you’ve loaded. When cash is tight, that limit bites exactly when you least want it to.
When a Business Credit Card Makes More Sense
A business credit card is the right call when you need a cash-flow buffer or want rewards on spend you’re making anyway. Carrying a balance is a timing tool, even if you rarely use it.
If your income is lumpy, picture an agency that bills clients on 30-day terms but pays freelancers weekly. In a good month the money lands before the statement is due.
In a bad month a client pays late and you carry £6,000 for a fortnight. A credit card lets you do that. An expense card, funded from your own balance, simply declines the spend you can’t yet cover.
If you spend heavily anyway, rewards are the other pull. Capital on Tap pays 1% uncapped cashback on a card with no annual fee, with rates from 13.86% APR (variable). The rate you get is set by your personal and business credit history.
American Express Business cards earn Membership Rewards points that can be moved to Avios, an earn route prepaid expense cards do not offer. Borrowing is the one thing prepaid cannot fake.
The cost is real: a credit check, usually a personal guarantee, and interest if you revolve. Treat the card as a buffer rather than a borrowing habit and it earns its place.
Why Many Businesses Run Both
If you both have a team and want a buffer, it isn’t either-or. You run a credit card for the float and the rewards, and expense cards for everyone else’s day-to-day spend.
When an invoice slips on a Friday, the credit card carries the shortfall while your team’s expense cards keep running on the cash you loaded that morning. The buffer sits with you; the control sits with them.
That split also keeps your borrowing on one accountable line and off your credit file in a dozen places. You see the whole exposure in one statement.
If a prepaid platform offers you credit, watch the overlap. Pleo now offers an optional overdraft for eligible customers, and Payhawk issues a Visa Credit card alongside its debit product.
Borrowing and expense control remain separate jobs even when one provider offers both. Once the platform lends money, the credit check and repayment liability return alongside the extra flexibility.
UK Expense Card Providers and Business Credit Card Options
Expense Card Platforms
Expense-card platforms combine prepaid or debit cards with individual limits, approvals and receipt capture for your team. Pricing is per month; we checked it against each provider in October 2026:
- Pleo: Mastercard expense cards priced per user a month: £8 on Start, £14 on Build and £18 on Optimise. Build and Optimise need three users and are billed yearly. FX 1.49–2.00% by plan. Optional overdraft for eligible customers (pleo.io, 5 October 2026).
- Soldo: prepaid Mastercard, Standard £27/month and Plus £39/month (plus VAT), three users included. Overseas card spend is converted at the Mastercard rate plus 1.5% (Soldo UK fee summary).
- Equals Money: prepaid Mastercard from an FCA-authorised e-money firm. £300/month, or £250/month billed yearly (up to 20 cards), or £420/month, or £350/month billed yearly (up to 50). Free to use in 21 major currencies; Equals does not publish a fee for spend outside them.
- Spendesk: prepaid cards plus approval workflows; pricing is quote-based. The wallet is pre-funded, with no credit line, and Spendesk quotes rather than publishes a price.
- Payhawk: issues both Visa Debit and Visa Credit, so you can switch as you grow. Pricing is mostly quote-based; the one published plan, Growth, is £149/month for UK and EEA firms with fewer than 20 employees.
Company Credit and Charge Cards
Credit and charge cards add borrowing and rewards, but they also bring credit checks and repayment liability. Figures checked against each provider in October 2026:
- Capital on Tap: revolving Visa credit card, rates from 13.86% APR (variable), limits up to £250,000, 1% uncapped cashback, no annual fee on the free tier (£299/year on Pro), and no FX fees.
- American Express Business Gold and Platinum: charge cards by default, with an optional Flexible Payment Option that lets you carry a balance at 29.1% p.a. (variable). Membership Rewards are the main attraction. Gold has no annual fee in the first year and £195 after that; Platinum is £650 with no introductory year, and both are limited to LTDs and LLPs (americanexpress.com, 5 October 2026).
- Barclaycard Select Cashback: 25.5% representative APR (variable), no annual fee, 1% cashback once your monthly spend tops £2,000, and up to 56 days’ interest-free credit when you clear in full.
How to Choose Between an Expense Card and a Business Credit Card
Team spending points towards an expense card because each employee can have a separate limit and receipt trail. That control matters more than the card held by the director.
Second, whether you need to borrow. If your cash flow is lumpy and you want a buffer, you need a credit card’s revolving line, which no prepaid card gives you.
A business with team spending and uneven cash flow may need both products. The credit card provides the borrowing, while expense cards keep employee purchases within separate limits.
Protection also changes with the product. Prepaid balances and credit-card purchases rely on different safeguards, which matters if the provider fails or a purchase goes wrong.
Protection: safeguarding vs Section 75
Prepaid expense cards from e-money firms (Soldo, Equals Money, Pleo) aren’t covered by the FSCS. Instead your funds are “safeguarded” under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, meaning kept separate from the firm’s own money so they’re returned to you first if it fails. Business credit cards work differently. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the provider jointly liable for faulty purchases between £100 and £30,000, but it’s a consumer protection, and most business cards aren’t regulated consumer-credit agreements. For business card disputes you usually rely on Mastercard or Visa chargeback instead.
Final Verdict
If you have employees or contractors spending on behalf of the business, start with an expense card. Soldo is the strongest choice for incorporated businesses: per-card limits, merchant category controls, and native Xero sync from £27/month.
If your team is three or fewer, start with Pleo instead: the Start plan is £8 per user a month, with AI receipt capture built in, so you are not paying £27 a month for controls three people do not need yet.
If you need a cash-flow buffer or want rewards on spend you are making anyway, a business credit card earns its place. Capital on Tap is the clearest pick: 1% uncapped cashback, no FX fees, and no annual fee on the free tier.
If points beat cashback for you, take American Express Business Gold instead, for Membership Rewards and the Avios transfer.
A company credit card normally means a credit check and, for a young limited company, usually a personal guarantee that puts your assets behind the balance. We would weigh that personal exposure against the value of the borrowing and rewards; an expense card asks for neither.
Running both makes sense when the director needs borrowing or rewards and employees need controlled spending. That split is not over-engineering; it is the correct tool for each job.
If you are still unsure, the deciding question is simple: does anyone other than you spend on behalf of the business? If yes, you need an expense card. Everything else is secondary.
Expense Cards vs Business Credit Cards FAQs
Is an expense card a credit card?
No. An expense card is a prepaid or debit card funded from your own business balance, so you’re spending money you already hold. A company credit card lends you money up to a limit, which you repay later. That’s why expense cards skip the hard credit check and the personal guarantee.
Do expense cards run a credit check?
Usually not. Because you fund the account yourself and no credit is extended, providers such as Soldo, Spendesk and Equals Money rely on standard identity and anti-money-laundering checks on the business rather than a hard credit search. A business credit card does run a hard check.
Which is better for paying overseas suppliers?
Usually an expense card. Equals Money charges no FX fee in 21 major currencies and Soldo adds 1.5% to the Mastercard rate, while a standard business credit card can charge close to 2.99% on foreign spend. On heavy overseas procurement that gap adds up quickly.
Can I get rewards or cashback on an expense card?
Rarely. Rewards live on the credit-card side. Capital on Tap pays 1% uncapped cashback and American Express Business cards earn Membership Rewards points. Expense cards compete on control and low FX, not rewards.
Do I need a personal guarantee for a company credit card?
For a limited company, usually yes. Most SME credit-card issuers ask a director to sign a personal guarantee, which lets them pursue your personal assets if the business defaults. Expense cards, funded from your own balance, don’t require one.
Should I get an expense card or a business credit card?
Choose an expense card if your team spends and you want control and low FX. Choose a business credit card if you need a cash-flow buffer or rewards. If both are true, run one of each: a credit card for the float and rewards, and expense cards for controlled team spend.
How we put this guide together
Sources: We verified pricing, FX and product terms against each provider’s own pages on 5 and 6 October 2026 (Capital on Tap, Soldo, Equals Money, Pleo, Spendesk, Payhawk, Barclaycard), and Equals Money’s e-money authorisation against the regulatory statement on its own site.
The American Express figures come from americanexpress.com, where we read the Business Gold and Business Platinum card pages on 5 October 2026: no annual fee in the first year and £195 after that on Gold, £650 on Platinum with no introductory year, and both limited to LTDs and LLPs. We re-check these figures quarterly.
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