Why do businesses look for 365 Business Finance alternatives?

Almost always because of the card sales requirement or the £400,000 ceiling. 365 Business Finance requires at least £5,000 per month in card sales and 6 months of trading, and its advance is sized against card turnover, so a business that invoices its customers or is paid by bank transfer cannot qualify at all no matter how healthy its accounts look. The other common trigger is cost visibility. A factor rate of 1.1 to 1.4 is not an APR and cannot be compared with one, so businesses that want a known annual rate and a fixed end date move to a term lender instead.

Which alternative works if my business does not take card payments?

iwoca, Bizcap, Nucleus Commercial Finance and Funding Circle all lend against general business performance rather than card turnover. iwoca asks for 3 months of trading and around £25,000 of annual turnover and charges 2% to 6% per month on the outstanding balance. Bizcap asks for 4 months of trading and £120,000 of annual turnover at 1.5% to 5% per month. Nucleus asks for 6 months and £50,000 of turnover. None of these require a card terminal, which makes them the obvious route for B2B businesses, professional services firms and wholesalers that 365 Business Finance cannot serve.

Which 365 Business Finance alternative can advance the most?

Nucleus Commercial Finance lends up to £2,000,000, the largest facility of any alternative in this guide, though it is a monthly-rate loan rather than a merchant cash advance. Among genuine card-based advance providers, YouLend goes to £1,000,000 against £400,000 at 365 Business Finance, on the same 6 months of trading and £5,000 per month of card sales. Liberis and iwoca both cap at £500,000, as does Bizcap and Funding Circle. If your card volumes support an advance above £400,000, YouLend is the direct like-for-like replacement.

What is the cheapest alternative to a merchant cash advance?

Funding Circle, on the numbers each lender publishes. Its loans run from 6.9% to 36% per annum as a fixed rate for the loan term, and its own representative example is a £50,000 loan over 36 months repaying £58,750. Compare that with the representative example 365 Business Finance publishes, a £30,000 advance repaying £39,000 over an estimated 9 to 12 months. The catch is eligibility. Funding Circle asks for a year of trading, £50,000 of annual turnover and no unsatisfied CCJs, and takes up to 3 business days to fund rather than 24 hours.

Are merchant cash advances FCA regulated?

Generally not, and this is the single most important thing to check before signing. Merchant cash advances are not regulated credit agreements under the Consumer Credit Act, so the protections that attach to a regulated business loan do not apply. 365 Business Finance Ltd is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority for anti-money laundering purposes. Liberis states that it is not authorised or regulated by the FCA and that the Financial Ombudsman Service cannot consider a complaint about it. YouLend Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA as a payment institution, firm reference number 947287. Check every provider on the FCA Register at register.fca.org.uk before you commit.

Can I move from a merchant cash advance to a term loan later?

Yes, and the arithmetic usually favours it once you have the trading history. A merchant cash advance is priced as a multiple of the advance, so the cost is fixed the moment you sign regardless of how long repayment takes. A term loan is priced as an annual rate on a reducing balance. Once you have 12 months of clean trading and can meet Funding Circle's £50,000 turnover threshold, or iwoca's £25,000, ask both to quote against your next renewal. Compare total repayable against total repayable, not factor rate against APR, because the two are not the same measure.

365 Business Finance Alternatives: 7 Options When Card Sales Are the Problem: Lendus

Why consider alternatives to 365 Business Finance?

365 Business Finance is a Manchester-based specialist that does one thing, merchant cash advances, and has done it since 2012. It advances from £5,000 to £400,000, repaid automatically as a percentage of your daily card takings, at factor rates of 1.1 to 1.4. It asks for 6 months of trading and £5,000 per month in card sales, decides within 24 hours, and accepts poor credit because the advance is underwritten against card revenue rather than a credit score. For a busy restaurant or salon, that is a genuinely good product.

The reasons people look elsewhere are specific, and they are almost never about service quality.

The first is the card sales test. 365 Business Finance is explicitly not for businesses with low card volumes, B2B companies that invoice their clients, or anyone paid predominantly by bank transfer. If your customers pay on 30 day terms, no amount of turnover will make this product work.

The second is the ceiling. £400,000 is a real limit, and card-based advances are typically sized at a fraction of monthly card turnover, so most businesses are offered considerably less.

The third is cost visibility. A factor rate of 1.3 means you repay 1.3 times what you took. It is not an annual rate, it does not reduce if you repay quickly, and it cannot be compared like for like with an APR. The company’s own representative example is a £30,000 advance repaying £39,000 over an estimated 9 to 12 months.

The fourth is regulation. Merchant cash advances are not regulated credit agreements under the Consumer Credit Act, so the consumer credit protections you might expect do not apply.

Here are seven alternatives that each fix one of those four problems.

Top 365 Business Finance alternatives

1. YouLend, best if you have outgrown the £400,000 ceiling

YouLend runs the same model on the same eligibility bar but with two and a half times the headroom. It advances from £5,000 to £1,000,000 at factor rates of 1.1 to 1.5, on 6 months of trading and £5,000 per month in card sales, exactly the thresholds 365 Business Finance uses. Decisions come within 24 hours and funds often within 1 to 3 business days. It is embedded into platforms including eBay, Shopify and Just Eat, so many businesses receive a pre-qualified offer without applying cold.

Rates and amounts: factor rate 1.1 to 1.5, not an APR; £5,000 to £1,000,000.

Eligibility: 6 months trading; £5,000 per month in card sales.

Regulatory status: YouLend Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a payment institution under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, firm reference number 947287.

The trade-off: the top of YouLend’s factor range is 1.5 against 1.4 at 365 Business Finance, so the extra capacity is not free.

2. Liberis, best for small advances and the lowest published factor floor

Liberis advances from £1,000, a fifth of the £5,000 minimum at 365 Business Finance, and its published factor range starts at 1.08 rather than 1.1. It has been running revenue-based finance since 2007 and is embedded in Barclaycard, Worldpay and Lloyds Cardnet, so businesses on those platforms often receive a pre-qualified offer. Its own representative example is a £20,000 advance repaying £23,600 over an estimated 6 to 10 months.

Rates and amounts: factor rate 1.08 to 1.5, not an APR; £1,000 to £500,000.

Eligibility: 6 months of card payment history; £5,000 per month in card sales.

Regulatory status: Liberis states that it is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and that the Financial Ombudsman Service cannot consider a complaint about Liberis. It is registered as an EMD agent (FRN 902157) of Modulr FS Limited, which is the FCA-authorised e-money institution (FRN 900573). Business cash advances are unregulated products.

The trade-off: each advance is a separate agreement rather than a facility you can redraw, so you reapply every time.

3. Capify, best if you have been trading less than 6 months

Capify accepts 4 months of trading for a merchant cash advance against the 6 months 365 Business Finance requires, and its minimum advance is £3,500. It has been in the UK market since 2008 and runs a relationship manager model rather than a purely digital process, which suits businesses whose figures need explaining. It also offers a straightforward business loan alongside the advance, so a business without card takings still has a route in at 6 months of trading and £10,000 per month of turnover.

Rates and amounts: factor rate 1.1 to 1.5 for the merchant cash advance; business loan APR varies, typically 20% to 80% APR depending on risk profile; £3,500 to £500,000.

Eligibility: 4 months trading for the advance, 6 months for the loan; £5,000 per month in card sales for the advance, £10,000 per month turnover for the loan.

Regulatory status: Lendus has not independently verified Capify’s regulatory position from a primary source, so no FCA claim is made here. Check Capify on the FCA Register at register.fca.org.uk before committing.

The trade-off: Capify’s own material notes that its process typically takes 24 hours or more because a human relationship manager is involved.

4. iwoca, best for businesses without a card terminal

iwoca is the most accessible non-card option in this guide. It asks for 3 months of trading and around £25,000 of annual turnover, both lower than the 365 Business Finance bar, and none of it needs to arrive by card. Its Flexi-Loan is a facility you draw from repeatedly rather than a single advance, interest is charged only on what is drawn and for the period it is outstanding, and there is no early repayment charge. Decisions are often made within hours using Open Banking data.

Rates and amounts: 2% to 6% per month on the outstanding balance; £1,000 to £500,000. Its representative example is £50,000 over 12 months repaying £56,500.

Eligibility: 3 months trading; approximately £25,000 annual turnover.

Regulatory status: authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 723636.

The trade-off: repayments are fixed monthly obligations rather than a share of takings, so a quiet month still costs the same.

5. Bizcap, best for adverse credit without a card requirement

Bizcap lends unsecured from £10,000 to £500,000 at 1.5% to 5% per month, decides within 24 hours, and states plainly that adverse credit is accepted and decisions are driven by cash flow and bank statement analysis. It needs 4 months of trading and £120,000 of annual turnover, which is a higher revenue bar than 365 Business Finance but measured on total turnover rather than card takings, so a wholesaler or contractor qualifies where a card-based advance simply cannot be sized.

Rates and amounts: 1.5% to 5% per month; £10,000 to £500,000. Its representative example is £50,000 over 12 months repaying £60,000.

Eligibility: 4 months trading; £120,000 annual turnover.

Regulatory status: Bizcap Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 994366.

The trade-off: a directors’ personal guarantee is always required, which is not the case on a merchant cash advance.

6. Nucleus Commercial Finance, best for facilities well above the advance ceiling

Nucleus lends from £3,000 to £2,000,000, five times the 365 Business Finance maximum, at 1.5% to 5% per month with decisions within 24 hours. It asks for 6 months of trading, the same as 365 Business Finance, and £50,000 of annual turnover. It also offers asset finance alongside unsecured lending, so a hospitality business funding a kitchen refit can put the equipment on an asset facility and keep working capital separate rather than pushing everything through one expensive advance.

Rates and amounts: 1.5% to 5% per month; £3,000 to £2,000,000. Its representative example is £50,000 over 12 months repaying £59,000.

Eligibility: 6 months trading; £50,000 annual turnover.

Regulatory status: authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 718310.

The trade-off: Nucleus is primarily broker-facing, so the direct applicant experience is less polished than a consumer-style fintech.

7. Funding Circle, best for a rate you can actually compare

This is the option to price against every renewal. Funding Circle charges a fixed annual rate of 6.9% to 36% for the term of the loan, over 6 months to 6 years, on amounts from £10,000 to £500,000. Because it is an annual rate on a reducing balance rather than a multiple of the advance, you can compare it directly against any other APR, and repaying early genuinely reduces what you pay. Its own representative example is £50,000 over 36 months repaying £58,750.

Rates and amounts: 6.9% to 36% per annum, fixed for the loan term; £10,000 to £500,000; 6 months to 6 years.

Eligibility: 1 year of trading; £50,000 annual turnover; no unsatisfied CCJs.

Regulatory status: Funding Circle Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 722513.

The trade-off: a completion fee of 0.5% to 5% is deducted upfront, funding takes up to 3 business days rather than 24 hours, and businesses with recent CCJs are unlikely to be accepted.

Comparison table

Lender	Product	Amount	Price	Min trading	Card sales needed	Speed
365 Business Finance	Merchant cash advance	£5,000 to £400,000	Factor 1.1 to 1.4	6 months	Yes, £5,000/month	Within 24 hours
YouLend	Merchant cash advance	£5,000 to £1,000,000	Factor 1.1 to 1.5	6 months	Yes, £5,000/month	Within 24 hours
Liberis	Merchant cash advance	£1,000 to £500,000	Factor 1.08 to 1.5	6 months	Yes, £5,000/month	Within 24 hours
Capify	Advance or loan	£3,500 to £500,000	Factor 1.1 to 1.5	4 months	Advance only	Decision within 24 hours
iwoca	Revolving loan	£1,000 to £500,000	2% to 6% per month	3 months	No	Often within hours
Bizcap	Unsecured loan	£10,000 to £500,000	1.5% to 5% per month	4 months	No	Within 24 hours
Nucleus	Loan and asset finance	£3,000 to £2,000,000	1.5% to 5% per month	6 months	No	Within 24 hours
Funding Circle	Term loan	£10,000 to £500,000	6.9% to 36% per annum	1 year	No	Funds within 3 days

Factor rates and monthly rates are not APRs and cannot be compared with one another directly. Always ask for the total repayable figure.

How to choose

Choose YouLend if the model suits you and the only problem is that £400,000 is not enough.

Choose Liberis if you need less than £5,000 or want the lowest published factor floor on the panel.

Choose Capify if you have been trading 4 or 5 months and cannot yet meet the 6 month bar.

Choose iwoca if your customers pay by invoice or bank transfer and you want the lowest entry requirements of any lender here.

Choose Bizcap if you have adverse credit, no card terminal, and turnover above £120,000.

Choose Nucleus Commercial Finance if you need more than £500,000 or want asset finance and working capital from the same lender.

Choose Funding Circle if you have a year of clean trading and want to find out what the advance is really costing you.

The single most useful thing you can do before any renewal is ask each lender for the total repayable figure in pounds. Factor rates, monthly rates and annual rates are three different units of measurement, and the only number that compares cleanly across all three is the amount that leaves your bank account.

What are the best alternatives to 365 Business Finance?

In short