The cashflow gap is real
If you run a UK small business, you know the drill. Suppliers want paying in 14-30 days. Your customers take 30-60 days to pay you. That gap can make or break your business.
According to recent research, late payments cost UK SMEs an average of £22,000 per year. And 50,000 businesses close every year directly because of cashflow problems — not because they're unprofitable, but because the timing of money in vs money out just doesn't work.
The credit card float trick
Here's what smart business owners are doing: they're routing their supplier payments through a business credit card, even when those suppliers only accept bank transfers.
Using a bill payment service, you can put virtually any invoice on your credit card. Rent, contractors, stock, even HMRC. The supplier gets a bank transfer (so they don't need to accept cards), and you get 30-45 extra days before the money actually leaves your account.
That's 30-45 days of free float. No loan application. No overdraft fees. No equity dilution.
The maths
Say you're a small e-commerce business paying £10,000/month in supplier invoices. Currently, that money leaves your account on day 1.
With credit card bill payments:
- Day 1: Invoice uploaded, paid via credit card
- Day 30-45: Credit card bill due
- Net effect: £10,000 stays in your account for an extra 30-45 days every single month
That's effectively a £10,000-£15,000 interest-free working capital facility. Every month. Automatically.
Yes, there's a 1.5-2.5% fee per transaction. But compare that to an overdraft (15-20% APR), invoice finance (5-15%), or a business loan (8-15% APR). Credit card float is dramatically cheaper.
Stacking rewards on top
The beautiful part? You're also earning credit card rewards on this spend. With the right card:
- Amex Gold Business: 1 MR point per £1 = transferable to Avios, hotels
- Capital on Tap: Effectively 1% cashback, no annual fee
- Amex Platinum Business: 1-3 MR points per £1, plus premium travel perks
On £10,000/month in bill payments, that's 10,000+ rewards points per month — just for paying bills you were going to pay anyway.
Getting started
The setup takes about 10 minutes:
- Get a business credit card (Capital on Tap if you want fast and free, Amex Gold if you want rewards)
- Sign up with a bill payment service (we like Incredible for simplicity, but there are others)
- Upload your first invoice
- Choose your credit card as the payment method
- Done. Supplier gets paid, you get cashflow.
It's one of those rare business strategies that actually works, costs very little, and scales with your business.