Cashplus is a UK-based bank account for businesses and individuals. In 2005, it was the first service to launch a prepaid card in the UK, and it was the first non-bank to launch a current account. In February 2021, it became a full-fledged bank.
The business account is managed through the Cashplus mobile app or web dashboard on a computer.
A Cashplus account is particularly attractive to those with a poor credit history because there’s no credit check performed, and account features allow you to build a good credit history.
Unlike most other challenger banks, Cashplus offers a business overdraft and (currently unavailable) cash advance to eligible users. A business credit card is usually available, but currently not open to applications.
Getting started
Signing up is simple: fill in a short online application form which will be followed by an automatic business identification check.
After the verification, you immediately get a sort code and account number. However, you cannot use the account for payments before your prepaid Business Mastercard arrives by post (usually within 3-5 working days) and is activated.
Who can open a Cashplus Business Account?
The Cashplus Business Account is open for most businesses and self-employed individuals based in the UK. Companies should have at least one director resident in the UK.
To qualify, you have to be over 18 years old and registered as one of the following:
- Limited company
- Sole trader
- Partnership
- Limited Liability Partnership
- Charity
- Public sector organisation
It does not matter whether you have a poor, little or no credit history as there are no credit checks. This means you can have e.g. county court judgements, previous defaults and bad credit and still be accepted.
| Cashplus Business Account | Fees |
|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None |
| Annual fee | £69/year |
| Prepaid Mastercard | £5.95 per additional card |
| Card payments | In GBP: Free In other currency: 2.99% (no FX fee) |
| Electronic payments & transfers (incl. standing orders) | First 3/mo free, then 99p each |
| Direct Debits | Free |
| Incoming international payments | £15 each |
| Cash withdrawals | UK: £2 each Abroad: £3 each |
| Cash deposits at Post Office | 0.3% of deposit amount |
| Overdraft | Representative APR 69.9% (variable) |
| Cashplus Business Account |
Fees |
|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None |
| Annual fee | £69/year |
| Prepaid Mastercard | First one free, £5.95 per additional card |
| Card payments | In GBP: Free In other currency: 2.99% (no FX fee) |
| Electronic payments & transfers (incl. standing orders) | First 3/mo free, then 99p each |
| Direct Debits | Free |
| Incoming international payments | £15 each |
| Cash withdrawals | UK: £2 each Abroad: £3 each |
| Cash deposits at Post Office | 0.3% of deposit amount |
| Overdraft | Representative APR 69.9% (variable) |
The first three bank transfers, standing orders and electronic payments (e.g. Faster Payments) a month are free, and then it’s £0.99 for each one. Direct Debits are free and so are bank transfers to the Cashplus Business Account.
Card payments in GBP are free, but paying in any other currency has a 2.99% transaction fee (there is no FX/exchange fee added).
If you’re receiving a bank transfer from abroad, it costs a flat fee of £15 per transfer regardless of the currency being sent, i.e. there should be no currency conversion fee added on top.
The first Cashplus Business Prepaid Mastercard is free, and then it costs £5.95 for each one issued after that.
Cash withdrawals cost £2 from a British ATM and £3 from ATMs abroad. When you deposit cash into the Cashplus Business Account at a Post Office, 0.3% of the deposit amount is charged as a fee.
Using the overdraft facility incurs a variable interest rate (representative APR 69.9%).
These are the fees applicable to Cashplus users in general. We have come across additional fees such as £15 for a rejected Direct Debit payment, so it’s worth looking closely at your contract before signing anything.
Account, security and international payments
Cashplus is a bank (it was an e-money current account until early 2021). Cashplus Bank is actually the trading name of Advanced Payment Solutions Limited (APS) owned by APS Financial Limited.
Like other UK banks, up to £85,000 of your money deposited in a Cashplus business account is protected by Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), although your maximum balance limit is by default £50,000 (you can apply for higher limits). It is also regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
The account comes with a sort code and account number as standard – all incoming payments from the UK go directly into this account. In contrast with other banks, however, Cashplus receives international payments in a central bank account shared by all Cashplus users. It is not yet possible to send money abroad directly from the business bank account.
There’s one IBAN number and BIC/SWIFT code for the central account receiving euros, and another for receiving GBP and other currencies. Both have their own account number belonging to Natwest who provides Cashplus’ banking service for international payments. Once Natwest receives the incoming payment, Cashplus will initiate the transfer to your Cashplus bank account. A bit complicated, but that’s the current arrangement.
A flat fee of £15 applies to all incoming transfers from abroad.
Image: Cashplus
The Euro account is useful for borderless merchants.
The Business Account is in GBP currency, but you can add a Euro and USD account for free. This way, you can pay, send and receive money in those currencies without currency conversion fees. If you do transfer money from these accounts to your GBP Business Account, the 2.99% foreign transaction fee would apply, though.
A ‘Business Expense Card’ (Prepaid Mastercard) is included with the Cashplus Business Account. Because it is not a full-fledged Debit Mastercard, it cannot be used for all kinds of purchases. For example, customers have reported that it’s not accepted by Google Ads, but it should work for most in-store and online payments.
It is not possible to issue or pay in cheques with Cashplus, but you can deposit cash at any UK Post Office for a 0.3% fee of the deposit amount.
Business loan, overdraft and credit card
Unlike many online bank accounts in the UK, the Cashplus Business Account also comes with credit and borrowing options.
For one, Cashplus has partnered with Liberis Finance to provide cash advances to businesses. To qualify, your monthly customer card takings need to average at least £5,000, you should have taken card payments for at least four months and use a card terminal. New account holders can’t usually apply for it – instead, Cashplus will notify you of a maximum advance amount when you finally qualify.
The only fee for cash advances is a fixed amount determined upfront, and then the advance is automatically repaid through a small percentage of your card takings.
At the moment, Cashplus isn’t offering cash advances to anyone, though, but they should resume at a later time.
Eligible business accounts will also receive an email offer of an overdraft of up to £2,000. You pay an interest rate for using the overdraft. The representative APR that Cashplus quotes is 69.9% (variable), based on a £500 overdraft with an interest rate of 57.07% p.a.
Alternatively, the Cashplus Business Credit Card is available to limited companies registered at Companies House. This has a credit limit of up to £3,000, no annual fees and up to 56 days’ interest-free credit (then it’s a variable interest rate from 19.9% p.a.). That said, the credit card is currently not offered to new applicants while Cashplus is “making the Business Credit card even better”.
What about a Cashplus Bounce Back Loan for businesses struggling due to coronavirus? Unfortunately, Cashplus does not offer any government-backed loans related to the pandemic.
App features
The business account is managed entirely through a mobile app (‘Cashplus Bank’ app) or browser account (‘Cashplus Online Banking’). The main banking features are:
Payments: Pay bills, transfer money, manage Direct Debits or standing orders. If you have multiple Cashplus accounts (GBP, EUR, USD, Business, Personal), you can manage them all from the app and move money between them. Before a Direct Debit is taken, you can receive reminders to ensure you have enough money ready.
Card management: Restrict transactions, block cards, view PINs and order up to 20 additional debit cards for your employees.
Cashplus Mobile App has some useful features for managing expenses and cards.
Transactions: Categorise expenses according to type (e.g. Travel, Fees and Services) for an easy overview of outgoing costs. The Spending Insights feature lets you track and tag payments via Google Maps and record detailed information about in-person card payments.
Record keeping: Take pictures of expense receipts and attach them to transactions. Download statements that are up to 18 months old to PDF, CSV and OFX files. Integrate with external accounting software.
These are all fairly standard for online business accounts. When you look at customer reviews, there’s been quite a few complaints about login issues in the app, which can be quite stressful when your finances depend on easy account access.
Some features are also lacking, such as generating a statement for a specific period, adding the card to your mobile wallet, and changing personal details.
Customer service and Cashplus reviews
Cashplus customer support is contactable by phone phone on weekdays between 8am and 8pm and Saturdays between 8am and 4pm. There’s no general support on Sundays or outside these working hours, except for the 24/7 phone number for lost and stolen cards. You can find answers to common queries on Cashplus’ FAQ pages and use the app/account any time.
What are the customer reviews like? Not great, actually. Common complaints about Cashplus include:
There are also a decent amount of positive reviews, but compared to competing challenger banks, Cashplus seems to have more issues.
Our verdict
Cashplus stands out with its credit options (if you qualify for them), disregard of previous bad credit, and the fact the company was one of the first to offer prepaid online business accounts in the UK.
But for a company that’s taken pride in being the first of many things, it’s surprising they haven’t put more resources into customer service and advancing the app. Most of the account features, such as categorised expenses and card controls, are quite standard for business accounts today.
The fees could also be a hindrance if you lack the funds to pay £69 upfront for a year (works out as £5.75 per month).
However, it helps that the first year’s annual fee is now waived by Cashplus.
For a company that’s taken pride in being the first of many things, it’s surprising they haven’t put more resources into customer service and advancing the app.
Fees for bank transfers, cash withdrawals and international payments could also make a bad deal for some, but be less of a problem for those primarily using the account for card payments in the UK.
If you need a business bank account, and you’ve got a poor credit history to turn around, then Cashplus Bank could be perfect. You won’t get access to overdrafts, credit or cash advances straight away, but consistent sales volumes can grant you that access over time.
If you’re looking for the best features in an app-based business account, we recommend looking at newer banking platforms that have managed to get a better rep than Cashplus in just a few years.
