365 Business Finance review: revenue based funding from a direct UK provider

365 Finance is the trading name of 365 Business Finance Limited, and its own website states plainly that it is a direct financial provider. That single line matters, because a large share of the traffic in this market goes to brokers and comparison sites presenting themselves as lenders. Dealing with the funder itself means the decision, the pricing and the aftercare all sit in one place.

The product is described as revenue based finance, which is the same instrument the rest of the market calls a merchant cash advance. It is not a loan. The provider buys a share of your future card takings at a discount, advances a lump sum, and recovers an agreed total by taking a fixed percentage of each day's card sales, typically somewhere between 5 and 20 per cent. The cost is quoted as a factor rate rather than an interest rate, commonly around 1.1 to 1.5 across the UK market, and advances written to limited companies for business purposes generally fall outside the Financial Conduct Authority's consumer credit rules.

The site refers to funding of up to £500,000 and to money arriving in as little as 24 hours, and it advertises a 90 per cent approval rate. Treat that last figure as marketing rather than as a measure of how likely you are to be approved: a high approval rate usually reflects how applicants are filtered before a formal decision, not a relaxed attitude to risk.

The natural fit is an established UK business taking a substantial share of its income by card: cafes, restaurants, pubs, salons, garages and independent retailers. The repayment mechanism only makes sense where there is steady card flow to draw from, and the size of any advance is generally sized against monthly card takings rather than against turnover as a whole.

Because repayment moves with sales, the product suits businesses with genuine seasonality better than a term loan does. A quiet January costs you less than it would under a fixed direct debit. It suits you badly if you invoice clients and take payment by bank transfer, since there is little card flow to repay from, and it is the wrong tool for anything with a payback measured in years rather than months.

The provider does not publish minimum trading history or minimum monthly card takings requirements on its homepage, so ask directly. Most funders in this market want to see several months of consistent card processing before making an offer, and knowing the threshold before you apply saves a pointless credit search.

365 Finance describes its pricing as one all inclusive cost that never changes, with no admin fees, no APRs and no hidden extras. That is a fair description of how factor rate funding works, and the absence of layered fees is a real advantage over facilities that add arrangement and default charges on top of a headline number.

It does not publish a rate card. Pricing is quoted per business, typically on a factor rate basis, and the figure depends on your card takings, trading history and the expected repayment period. The consequence of a fixed total is worth stating clearly: if the factor rate is 1.2 you repay 1.2 times the advance, whether that takes five months or ten. Repaying quickly does not reduce the fee unless the agreement specifically allows a rebate, so a strong trading run makes the effective annual cost higher rather than lower. Ask whether early settlement produces any discount, and get the answer in writing.

Our explainer on what a factor rate means sets out why this cannot be compared with a bank loan's APR without doing the arithmetic, and the merchant cash advance calculator converts a quote into a total repayable and a likely duration.

The closest equivalent is Capify, another direct UK funder you deal with yourself. The difference is breadth: Capify offers secured and unsecured term loans alongside its cash advance, so the conversation can move to a different product if the advance is not the right shape. 365 Finance concentrates on revenue based funding, which means a narrower range but a specialist one.

The contrast with Liberis and YouLend is structural. Both distribute funding through payment platforms and marketplaces, so their offers appear inside a dashboard you already use, pre sized from data the platform holds. That is quicker and involves less paperwork, but leaves little room to negotiate or to question whether the product suits you. Dealing directly cuts the other way.

Neither route is dependably cheaper. Compare offers on total repayable and holdback percentage. Our roundup of the best merchant cash advance providers in the UK lines up the main names.

Ask for the amount advanced, the total repayable, the holdback percentage, any minimum monthly payment and any fee deducted before the funds arrive. Model the holdback against your weakest recent month rather than your best, and check whether a personal guarantee is required, since an unsecured facility to the company can still create personal exposure for a director.

The company's own description of its funding is on its website, and the filed accounts and registered officers of 365 Business Finance Limited are available free of charge from Companies House if you want to check who you are dealing with. Terms, criteria and pricing in this market change frequently, so confirm the current detail with the provider before you commit.