PayPal Working Capital, Square, SumUp and other payment provider advances

Square is the only payment provider that publishes a real price: a £10,000 loan for a £1,325 fee, repaid at 17.25% of daily sales. PayPal, SumUp and Dojo's funder YouLend all charge one fixed fee but keep its level private until they make you an offer, and every one of these advances ties repayment to the takings that provider settles.

Terms from each provider's own UK pages, checked 1 November 2026.

Product	Who can get it	Amount	Published fee	Holdback	Minimum	Who funds it
Square Loans	Invite only; companies and corporations only	£100 to £200,000	£1,325 on £10,000	Typically 17.25% of daily Square sales	1/18th of the initial balance every 60 days	Squareup Europe Ltd (company 08957689)
Square Cash Advance	Sole traders and partnerships	Not published	£1,000 on £10,000 (illustrative)	Not published	No minimum payments or fixed term	Squareup Europe Ltd (company 08957689)
PayPal Working Capital	PayPal Business account for 90+ days and at least £9,000 a year in PayPal sales	£1,000 to £200,000 (up to £300,000 for repeat funding)	Not published	You choose the percentage of PayPal sales that repays it	5% or 10% of the advance plus fee every 90 days (10% if estimated to repay within 12 months)	Not published
SumUp Cash Advance	Invite only	Up to £20,000 (undated press page)	Not published	A set percentage of card sales; level not published	Repaid within 364 days; monthly minimum of 1/12th of the total	SumUp Payments Limited (company 07836562); no separate funder named in UK terms
Stripe Capital	Selected UK businesses only	Not published	£1,500 on £15,000 (example)	9% in that example	Not published	Funded by YouLend
Dojo (via YouLend)	Dojo merchants	Up to £1 million	Not published	A fixed percentage of sales; level not published	Not published	YouLend; also Liberis (Dojo Flex Funds)

PayPal Working Capital

PayPal Working Capital is a cash advance against your PayPal sales: £1,000 to £200,000 (up to £300,000 for repeat funding), one fixed fee, no interest and no early repayment fee. You pick the share of each sale that repays it. The safety net is the minimum: 5% or 10% of the advance plus fee every 90 days (10% if estimated to repay within 12 months). Eligibility: PayPal Business account for 90+ days and at least £9,000 a year in PayPal sales. For Zettle users: PayPal POS (Zettle) sales count toward Working Capital eligibility where applicable. PayPal does not publish the fee level or name the lending entity on the pages we read.

PayPal also sells a separate Business Loan: £5,000 to £200,000 (up to £250,000 repeat), over 12, 18, 24 or 36 months, fixed monthly repayments, from 4.99% nominal; representative APR 24.35%. It is unregulated credit, and fixed monthly repayments do not fall in a slow month.

Square cash advance and Square business loans

Square splits its UK funding by business type. Square Loans go to limited companies by invitation: £100 to £200,000, repaid from daily Square sales (typically 17.25%), with a minimum of 1/18th of the initial balance every 60 days and repaid within 18 months. The fee is fixed however fast you repay. Square's page quotes 18.90% APR on the example, 18.45% in the same page’s FAQ, so check the APR on your own offer. Square Cash Advance covers sole traders and partnerships: one-time funding cost, no interest, no minimum payments or fixed term; typically repaid within a year, and you can cancel within two working days of funding. Neither is FCA regulated.

SumUp cash advance

SumUp's advance is invite only and legally a purchase of receivables, not a loan. You pay a fixed fee based on the size of the offer and repay through a set percentage of card sales; level not published. It must be repaid within 364 days; monthly minimum of 1/12th of the total. Maximum: up to £20,000 (undated press page). Provider: SumUp Payments Limited (company 07836562); no separate funder named in UK terms; we found nothing on SumUp's UK pages saying YouLend funds it.

Dojo, Stripe and the funders behind them

Several provider advances are funded by someone else. Dojo funding is provided through YouLend, which says the partnership passed £2 billion of funding (September 2026); YouLend describes the terms as up to £1 million, one fixed fee and no interest. Liberis separately runs Dojo Flex Funds, launched with Dojo on 26 February 2026, for UK merchants with £60k+ annual revenue and 12+ months trading. Stripe Capital: selected UK businesses only, funded by YouLend. YouLend names Dojo, Lopay, Electronic Payments and PayPoint among UK payment partners; Liberis names Clover, Deliveroo, Dojo, eBay, Elavon, Nexi, Teya, Vagaro and Worldpay. Reviews of the two funders: YouLend and Liberis.

Worked example: the £5,000 a month shop

Square Loans, Square's published example

Total repayable: £10,000 + £1,325 fee = £11,325, a cost of 13.25% of the loan
Repaid a month: £5,000 × 17.25% = £862.50
Time to repay: £11,325 ÷ £862.50 = 13.1 months, inside the 18 month limit
Minimum (1/18th of the initial balance every 60 days): £555.56 to £629.17 depending on whether it includes the fee; the shop repays about £1,725.00 every two months

Square Cash Advance and Stripe Capital, their published illustrations

Square: £10,000 for £1,000 (10%), at 10% of £5,000 = £500 a month, so 22.0 months
Stripe: £15,000 for £1,500 (10%), at 9% of £5,000 = £450 a month, so 36.7 months

What the sums say: the £5,000 a month shop clears Square's loan example in just over a year, but the cash advance and Stripe illustrations are sized for bigger sellers. Square says its cash advance balances are typically met within a year, so at this turnover expect a smaller offer than £10,000. Providers size offers from your own sales history; you cannot ask for more.

Our verdict

A provider advance is often the simplest money a small card-taking business can get: the offer is sized from sales the provider already sees, and repayments shrink in a slow week. Take it when the fee in pounds is lower than the alternatives and you are happy with your card provider for the next year. Do not take it if it would keep you on processing rates you would otherwise leave: a year of excess card fees can outweigh the convenience. Check your rates first with a free statement review, then compare offers with the MCA cost calculator and the wider MCA providers comparison.

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Payment provider funding questions

How does PayPal Working Capital work in the UK?

PayPal advances £1,000 to £200,000 (up to £300,000 for repeat funding) based on your PayPal sales history, for one fixed fee. You choose the share of each PayPal sale that goes to repayment, and you must repay at least 5% or 10% of the advance plus fee every 90 days. To qualify: PayPal Business account for 90+ days and at least £9,000 a year in PayPal sales. PayPal does not publish the fee level.

Does Square offer business loans in the UK?

Yes, by invitation. Square Loans (£100 to £200,000) are for limited companies and are repaid from daily Square sales, typically 17.25%. Sole traders and partnerships get Square Cash Advance instead. Square's published example is a £10,000 loan with a £1,325 fee.

What is a Square cash advance?

Square Cash Advance is Square's product for sole traders and partnerships: a lump sum for a one-time cost, repaid from a percentage of card sales with no minimum payment or fixed term. Square's illustration is £10,000 for £1,000. Square says eligibility is typically £10,000+ of card payments in 12 months on 20+ separate days.

Is the SumUp cash advance powered by YouLend?

Not as far as SumUp's UK pages show. SumUp's UK cash advance terms name SumUp Payments Limited and a generic financier, and SumUp ties YouLend to its German and French products. YouLend does fund Dojo's merchant funding and Stripe Capital in the UK, per their own sites.

Who provides Dojo funding?

Dojo funding is provided through YouLend, which says the partnership passed £2 billion of funding (September 2026). Liberis also runs Dojo Flex Funds, launched with Dojo on 26 February 2026, for UK merchants with £60k+ annual revenue and 12+ months trading, per Liberis's announcement.

Can I switch card machine while repaying a provider advance?

Only with care. These advances are repaid from the sales that provider settles, so moving your takings elsewhere stops the repayments while any minimum payment still applies. Liberis asks merchants to stay with their provider for the life of the advance. Repay first, or agree a settlement figure before you switch.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the provider's own website or terms, or a named primary source, read on 1 November 2026. Where a provider does not publish a term we say "Not published" rather than fill the gap from a comparison site.