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Estimate how much your merchant cash advance will cost in the UK in 2026. Adjust the advance amount, factor rate, daily card sales and repayment percentage to see the total repayable, an indicative effective APR, and how long the advance will take to clear at your current turnover. Updated June 2026.
Get a real quote →*Effective APR is an indicative annualised cost based on the calculated repayment period. Actual MCA agreements use a fixed factor rate — the APR is provided here only for comparison with traditional loans.
Unlike a traditional UK business loan, a merchant cash advance is priced using a one-off factor rate, not a compounding APR. The factor rate is fixed at the start of the agreement and applied to the advance amount in full, so the total amount repayable does not change if you settle faster.
Multiply your advance by the factor rate. £20,000 × 1.20 = £24,000. That £24,000 is the total amount the lender expects to collect from your future card sales, no matter how many months it takes.
Because the cost is fixed, the effective APR depends on how long the advance takes to repay. A higher percentage of card sales pays the advance back faster, which actually increases the effective APR even though the total cost is unchanged. UK MCA effective APRs typically range from 25% to 90% — reflecting that they are short-term, sales-linked, unsecured products.
Estimated by dividing the total repayable by your monthly repayment amount. The monthly repayment is your average monthly card turnover multiplied by the agreed repayment percentage. Slower trading months naturally extend the term; busier months shorten it.
A merchant cash advance factor rate is a single multiplier (e.g. 1.20) that determines the total amount you'll repay. It's not an interest rate — it doesn't compound, doesn't accrue daily, and doesn't reduce if you settle the advance early.
A £25,000 advance at a factor rate of 1.20 = £30,000 total repayable (£5,000 cost of finance). That £5,000 is fixed at outset — it's the same whether the advance clears in 6 months or 12.
Four real-world UK scenarios across hospitality, retail, salon and ecommerce — with the full factor-rate maths shown end-to-end. Drop these numbers into the calculator above to recreate each.
Typical first-advance pricing for a 2-year-old café with consistent Stripe/Square takings and no adverse credit.
Smaller-ticket, slightly sub-prime credit profile — pricing reflects shorter trading history rather than card-sales weakness.
Larger-ticket pricing for an established restaurant group with 3+ years trading and strong Worldpay/Tyl card-takings history.
Mid-ticket DTC brand using YouLend / Liberis funded directly against Shopify Payments + Stripe settlements for Q4 inventory and paid-media.
For a true like-for-like compare, here's how typical UK merchant cash advance APRs stack up against an unsecured business loan over a like-for-like 12-month period — for a £25,000 raise.
In absolute cash terms, an unsecured business loan is materially cheaper than an MCA over a like-for-like 12-month period. The MCA exists to buy speed, flexibility on quiet weeks and access to funding for businesses that wouldn't qualify for unsecured bank lending. See the full MCA vs business loan comparison or look at alternatives to a merchant cash advance if a pure MCA isn't the right fit.
It's an indicative model only. Real MCA quotes depend on your specific card-sales history, sector, trading time and lender criteria. For a real-world quote, complete our short enquiry form.
Because UK MCAs are not regulated consumer credit, lenders are not required to quote APR. We've added an indicative APR figure for comparison only — it should not be treated as an official rate.
Yes, but most agreements don't reduce the total repayable for early settlement — the factor rate is fixed at outset. Some lenders offer discounted early settlement on request; we can ask on your behalf.
Repayments fall in line with turnover. The total repayable doesn't change, the term simply lengthens. This sales-linked design is the main reason hospitality and seasonal businesses choose an MCA over a traditional loan.
A one-off multiplier (typically 1.10–1.50) applied to the advance to set the total repayable. Unlike an APR, a factor rate doesn't compound, doesn't accrue daily and doesn't reduce if you settle early. Multiply your advance by the factor rate to see the total cost.
Use the formula: ((Factor rate − 1) × (365 ÷ Term in days)) × 100. A £25k advance at factor 1.20 expected to clear in 270 days = (0.20 × 1.35) × 100 = ~27% effective APR. Repaying faster pushes the APR up; repaying slower pulls it down. The total cash cost is unchanged either way.
An MCA at factor 1.20 over 12 months = roughly 20% effective APR. An unsecured business loan at 12% APR over the same period costs ~£1,653 in interest vs £5,000 cost of an MCA on a £25k raise. MCAs are almost always more expensive in absolute terms, but unlock speed, flexibility and access that traditional loans can't match.
This calculator does — the “Indicative effective APR” figure annualises the cost based on your modelled repayment period. UK MCA agreements themselves are quoted on factor rates only, not APR; the APR figure here is for cross-product comparison purposes.
Marginally — the factor rate is set by the lender's underwriting model, but applying via a broker means multiple lenders price the same case in parallel, which surfaces the most competitive offer. The four levers that compress factor rate the most are: longer trading history, stable card-takings trend, lower advance-to-monthly-takings ratio, and a clean credit profile.
Every UK MCA city and sector page below uses the same panel of direct lenders — pick whichever is closest to your business and the same lender quotes will apply.
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