Bolton Business Finance is not Zempler Bank
This page is published by Bolton Business Finance Ltd, an independent commercial finance broker in Bolton, England. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Zempler Bank Limited, formerly Cashplus Bank. We do not offer Zempler business overdrafts or Zempler business credit cards, we cannot apply for them on your behalf, and we have no access to your Zempler account or to Zempler’s credit decisions. Zempler Bank Limited is a fully licensed UK bank, authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. We are not a bank and we are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Zempler and Cashplus are named on this page only to identify the bank a business uses.
Bolton Business Finance arranges business loans and other commercial finance for UK limited companies and LLPs that bank with Zempler Bank, the bank that traded as Cashplus until July 2024. The funding comes from independent lenders on our panel, not from Zempler. It matters because Zempler’s business lending stops at a £10,000 overdraft and a credit card, and there is no Zempler business loan at all.
Plenty of Zempler and Cashplus customers still refer to the bank by its old name, so both are used on this page. The account is the same one, the licence is the same one, and the lending position is the same either way: a short term overdraft, a credit card, and nothing beyond that. Above those limits the wider market is the only route.
Written by Marcus Wright, owner and founder of Bolton Business Finance Ltd, in financial services since 2008 and a commercial finance broker since March 2019. Zempler’s published position on this page was checked on 20 September 2026. Last reviewed September 2026.
On this page
- Zempler Bank used to be Cashplus
- What Zempler Bank lends
- Sole traders and the £25,000 line
- Where an independent broker fits
- Who banks with Zempler
- Products we arrange
- Worked example
- If your credit is impaired
- Eligibility
- How to apply
- Questions from Zempler and Cashplus customers
- Trade marks and non-affiliation
The short version
- We are an independent broker with no connection to Zempler or Cashplus. The funding described here comes from third party lenders on a panel of 135+.
- Zempler Bank was Cashplus. It was granted a banking licence in 2021 and rebranded to Zempler Bank in July 2024. Existing accounts carried across unchanged.
- Zempler’s business lending is a business overdraft with a limit of up to £10,000, subject to eligibility, and a business credit card. There is no Zempler business loan. Business Creditbuilder is not borrowing at all.
- If you are a sole trader borrowing £25,000 or less for business purposes, that is a regulated credit agreement and we cannot arrange it. Zempler can, because Zempler is FCA authorised and we are not. This matters more on this page than any other, because Zempler’s business accounts are used heavily by sole traders.
- For limited companies and LLPs we arrange from £10,000 to £10 million, from around 6.9% per annum for strong established companies and considerably higher where the risk is greater.
- Poor credit is considered across a good part of our panel, which matters given how many businesses open a Zempler account precisely because there is no credit check to open one.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Provider | Third party lenders arranged by Bolton Business Finance. Not Zempler |
| Who we can act for | UK limited companies and LLPs. Sole traders and small partnerships only where the credit exceeds £25,000 and is wholly or predominantly for business purposes |
| Amount | £10,000 to £10 million unsecured, up to £10 million secured |
| Rates from | Around 6.9% per annum unsecured, around 4% per annum secured. Higher where the risk is greater |
| Term | 3 months to 7 years unsecured, up to 10 years secured |
| Speed | Offers back in as little as 24 hours on unsecured. Secured lending takes 2 to 6 weeks |
| Security | Usually a director’s personal guarantee on unsecured. A charge over property on secured. No change to your Zempler account |
| Minimum criteria | Six months of trading, twelve months of filed accounts for most of the market |
| Credit profile | Poor personal or business credit considered. Undischarged bankruptcy and live insolvency proceedings are not |
| Broker fee | None on unsecured business loans. £495 upfront plus 1% on completion where the facility is secured on property |
Zempler Bank used to be Cashplus
If you opened the account as a Cashplus customer and it now says Zempler, nothing has gone wrong. The business started in 2005 as Cashplus, selling prepaid cards before moving towards small business banking. It was granted a full UK banking licence in 2021 and traded as Cashplus Bank. In July 2024 it rebranded to Zempler Bank. Existing accounts carried across, and the sort code and account number did not change.
We mention this because a large number of people still search for Cashplus business loans, and because the name on the statement matters when a lender asks who you bank with. The legal entity is Zempler Bank Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 04947027, authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under firm reference number 671140. Zempler states that eligible deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000.
What Zempler Bank lends
Zempler does lend to its own business customers, which sets it apart from some of the other app based banks. What it lends is deliberately small and short term. Zempler’s own overdraft page describes an overdraft as a short term safety net rather than a long term source of credit, which is a fair description of the whole range.
| Product | What Zempler publishes |
|---|---|
| Business overdraft | Limit of up to £10,000 once eligible. Limited companies can apply during the account application. Sole traders need the account open at least three months and are contacted when eligible. First £5 interest free, then interest charged daily. Accounts opened since January 2023 pay an annual fee for the overdraft. Limit reviewed every six months |
| Business credit card | Zempler’s business credit card page currently states that you cannot apply on its website and that applications will reopen as soon as it can. When open: rates from 19.9% per annum variable on purchases depending on circumstances, no annual or monthly fee, up to 56 days interest free on purchases if paid in full, 1% cashback, credit limit reviewed within the first six months |
| Business Creditbuilder | Not lending. It is a twelve month payment plan for the £9 Business Extra account fee, reported to credit reference agencies. Total payable £108, 0% interest, 0% representative APR. Zempler states plainly that you do not receive any money |
| Business loans | Not offered. There is no Zempler or Cashplus business term loan product |
Zempler is the only authoritative source for its own products, and the positions above change. Check the Zempler business overdraft page and the Zempler business credit card page before relying on anything written here.
Worth being clear about Creditbuilder. It is a common misunderstanding. Business Creditbuilder does not give you money and is not a loan you can spend. It restructures the monthly account fee you already pay into a twelve month payment plan so that the payments get reported to credit reference agencies. It can help a thin credit file over time. It will not fund anything, and missing a payment on it can damage the score it was meant to build.
Sole traders and the £25,000 line
This section matters more on this page than on any other page on our site. Zempler markets specifically to sole traders, freelancers and micro-businesses, and a large share of the people reading this will be sole traders. So read it before you make an enquiry, because the honest answer for a good number of you is that we are the wrong people to ask.
Why we cannot arrange a sole trader loan of £25,000 or less
Under article 60C(3) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, a credit agreement is exempt from regulation only where the credit exceeds £25,000 and the agreement is entered into wholly or predominantly for business purposes.
That means a business loan of £25,000 or less to a sole trader, or to a partnership of two or three people not all of which are companies, is a regulated credit agreement. Arranging one is a regulated activity. Bolton Business Finance Ltd is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, so we cannot do it and we will not try.
Zempler can, because Zempler Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. That is exactly why its overdraft is available to sole traders and why a £10,000 sole trader overdraft is a product Zempler can offer and we cannot arrange.
Where the position changes:
- Limited companies and LLPs. A company is a body corporate, so its borrowing is never a regulated credit agreement whatever the amount. We can act at any facility size.
- Sole traders borrowing more than £25,000 for business purposes. The agreement falls outside regulation and we can act.
- Partnerships of four or more people. Treated differently again, and usually outside the consumer credit regime. Tell us the structure and we will confirm before doing anything.
- Asset finance and invoice finance. Different agreements with their own rules. Tell us what you are trying to do and we will tell you straight away whether we can act.
If you are a sole trader under that figure, the sensible routes are Zempler’s own overdraft if you are eligible for it, an FCA authorised lender directly, or an FCA authorised credit broker. If your turnover has grown to the point where you are borrowing regularly, it is worth asking your accountant whether incorporating makes sense. It changes the lending market open to you and it changes whether a broker like us can act.
Where an independent broker fits
For a limited company banking with Zempler, the line is reasonably clean.
| Situation | Best route |
|---|---|
| A few hundred pounds of headroom for an occasional dip | Zempler’s own overdraft. A broker adds nothing at that size and we would not try to |
| Up to £10,000, short term, and you are eligible | Zempler’s overdraft, if the annual fee and the daily interest work out cheaper than the alternatives. Compare it properly |
| More than £10,000 | The independent market. Zempler’s overdraft ceiling is published at £10,000, so above that there is no in-house route |
| A fixed sum repaid over one to five years | The independent market. Zempler has no business term loan product at any size |
| Equipment, vehicles or machinery | Asset finance from a specialist funder, spread over the life of the asset |
| Money tied up in unpaid invoices | Invoice finance. Nothing in Zempler’s range does this |
| You need the money against card takings | A merchant cash advance, sized on your card settlements rather than your balance sheet |
| You were declined and want to know why | Worth a conversation. A decline from one lender says very little about the rest of the market |
We will say if your own bank is the better answer. There is nothing in it for us in putting a company through a market search for a facility it can get more cheaply in its own app.
Who banks with Zempler
Zempler aims at micro-businesses, sole traders, freelancers and start-ups, and it names hospitality, retail and construction as key sectors. It is also one of the few business accounts that can be opened without a credit check, which has made it the default for businesses and directors whose credit file would get them turned down elsewhere.
That last point shapes almost every enquiry we get from Zempler customers. It is rarely a company with three years of clean filed accounts choosing between offers. It is more often a company that has had a difficult couple of years, is trading profitably again, and has been told no by a high street bank without much explanation.
That case is not hopeless and it is not unusual. A meaningful part of our panel prices for risk rather than screening it out, and specialist funders look at the recent trading pattern far more than the historic one. What it does mean is that the application needs to go to the right funders first time, because a run of declines leaves a footprint that makes the next lender more cautious.
Products we arrange
A term loan is not always the right answer, and it is worth knowing what else exists before you fix on one.
| If you need | The product |
|---|---|
| More than the £10,000 overdraft ceiling | An unsecured business loan, £10,000 to £10 million |
| A facility you draw and repay as you go | A revolving credit facility, which is a larger version of what the overdraft does |
| Funding sized on card takings | A merchant cash advance, repaid as a share of daily sales. Common in hospitality and retail |
| A vehicle, machine or piece of equipment | Asset finance, spread against the asset rather than drawn from working capital |
| Cash tied up in unpaid invoices | Invoice finance, releasing most of an invoice’s value the day you raise it |
| Funding around stage payments and CIS | Construction finance, built for applications and retentions rather than clean invoices |
| To buy stock or fund a purchase order | Stock finance, repaid as the stock sells through |
| To buy premises | A commercial mortgage |
| To move fast on a property purchase | A bridging loan for business purposes |
| Cover for a dated VAT or tax bill | A short term business loan over 3 to 12 months |
| Government backed support | The Growth Guarantee Scheme, through accredited lenders |
Worked example
A café and takeaway, a limited company, two years trading, banking with Zempler since it was Cashplus. It has the £10,000 overdraft and is sitting in it most months. It wants £40,000 to fit out a second unit, roughly £18,000 of which is kitchen equipment. The director has a default from 2023 that is still on file.
| Route | Shape | Illustrative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Unsecured business loan over 3 years | £40,000, capital and interest, about £1,385 a month | About £9,860 total interest at 14.9% per annum, priced for the default |
| Asset finance on the equipment | £18,000 of kitchen equipment spread over its working life, secured on the asset itself | Usually cheaper than unsecured, because the funder holds the asset |
| Merchant cash advance | Advance repaid as a fixed percentage of daily card settlements, so it flexes with trade | A factor rate rather than a rate. At 1.25 an advance of £40,000 repays £50,000 in total |
The sensible answer here is not one of the three, it is two of them. Put the £18,000 of equipment on asset finance where it is cheapest, then take a smaller facility for the remaining fit-out costs. That leaves the overdraft free for what it is meant for, which is the odd week when the card takings land late. Figures are illustrative, reviewed September 2026, and are not an offer or a quotation. Run your own on the business loan calculator or the merchant cash advance factor rate calculator.
If your credit is impaired
Because Zempler opens business accounts without a credit check, a fair share of its customers carry something on file. Defaults, a satisfied county court judgment, a rejected finance application, a period of late filing. None of those automatically rules out borrowing.
What actually moves the decision
- How old it is. A default from three years ago with clean trading since is a very different case to one from three months ago.
- Whether it is satisfied. A satisfied judgment reads far better than an outstanding one, and the cost of settling it is often less than the rate difference it causes.
- Current trading. Recent bank statements carry more weight than historic accounts with most specialist funders. Consistent credits and few returned direct debits do a lot of work.
- Whether the money has a purpose. A specific purpose with a return attached is underwritten differently to a general request for cash flow.
- How many searches you have already run. This is the one people damage themselves with. Apply directly to five lenders, get five declines, and the sixth reads a file that looks desperate.
There is more detail on business loans for bad credit, including what different adverse entries actually do to pricing. If insolvency proceedings are live, or a director is an undischarged bankrupt, the answer is no across the market and we will tell you that straight away rather than run a search.
Eligibility
Minimum criteria across our panel
- A UK limited company or LLP. Sole traders and partnerships of two or three people only where the credit exceeds £25,000 and is wholly or predominantly for business purposes.
- Six months of trading is the practical floor and only a handful of funders will look at it. Twelve months of filed accounts opens up most of the market. Two to three years gets the best rates and the largest facilities.
- Any legitimate business purpose: stock, hiring, equipment, premises, a tax bill, marketing, expansion, or clearing a more expensive facility.
- Poor personal or business credit considered. Undischarged bankruptcy and live insolvency proceedings are not.
- Most unsecured lenders will ask at least one director for a personal guarantee. That makes the director personally liable if the company cannot repay.
- Banking with Zempler is neither a help nor a hindrance, and no lender on our panel requires you to move your account.
What we need to look at it: your last three to six months of business bank statements, exported from Zempler as PDF or CSV from the app or Online Banking, your most recent filed accounts with management figures if those accounts are more than nine months old, the amount you need and what it is for, and directors’ names, dates of birth and home addresses for the last three years. If there is adverse credit, tell us at the start rather than letting a funder find it.
We do not need, and will never ask for, your Zempler login or read only access to your Zempler account. Nobody legitimate needs it. Everything a lender requires comes from statements you export yourself.
How to apply
Tell us the company name, what you need and what it is for, and we will come back the same day with the lenders that are realistic and roughly what each is likely to cost. There is no broker fee on unsecured business loan applications, the lender pays us, and there is no obligation to proceed. This is not an application to Zempler, and Zempler is not told about it.
Tell us what you need
Send the figures and we will search the market and come back with the options realistically available to your company. If you are a sole trader under £25,000, say so and we will point you somewhere useful instead of wasting your time.
Prefer to speak to someone? Call 0161 546 9128, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Or read the main business loan broker page for the full range of what we arrange.
Questions from Zempler and Cashplus customers
Are you part of Zempler Bank or working with Zempler?
No. Bolton Business Finance Ltd is an independent commercial finance broker in Bolton with no affiliation, partnership, endorsement or commercial relationship with Zempler Bank Limited. We do not offer Zempler business overdrafts or credit cards and cannot apply for them, appeal a decision or alter an offer on your behalf. Zempler Bank Limited is a fully licensed UK bank regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. We are not a bank and we are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Zempler and Cashplus are named on this page only to identify the bank a business uses.
Is Zempler Bank the same as Cashplus?
Yes. The business launched in 2005 as Cashplus, was granted a full UK banking licence in 2021 and traded as Cashplus Bank, then rebranded to Zempler Bank in July 2024. It is the same legal entity, Zempler Bank Limited, and existing Cashplus accounts carried across to the new name without customers needing to reapply. If your paperwork says Cashplus and your app says Zempler, that is the rebrand rather than an error.
Does Zempler Bank do business loans?
No. Zempler’s published business credit consists of a business overdraft with a limit of up to £10,000 subject to eligibility, and a business credit card. There is no Zempler or Cashplus business term loan. Business Creditbuilder is often mistaken for one, but it is a twelve month payment plan for the monthly account fee, reported to credit reference agencies, and Zempler states plainly that you do not receive any money from it. That position was checked on 20 September 2026 and Zempler is the only authoritative source for its own products.
How big is the Zempler business overdraft?
Zempler publishes a limit of up to £10,000 once you are eligible. A limited company can apply as part of the account application. A sole trader needs the account open for at least three months and is contacted when eligible. The first £5 is interest free, interest is charged daily above that, and accounts opened since January 2023 pay an annual fee for the overdraft on top of interest. Zempler reviews the limit every six months. Above £10,000 there is no in-house route, which is where an independent lender comes in.
I am a sole trader. Can you arrange a business loan for me?
Only if the credit exceeds £25,000 and is wholly or predominantly for business purposes. Below that figure a loan to a sole trader, or to a partnership of two or three people not all of which are companies, is a regulated credit agreement under article 60C of the Regulated Activities Order, and arranging one is a regulated activity. We are not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, so we cannot act. Zempler itself can, because it is FCA authorised, which is why its overdraft is available to sole traders. An FCA authorised lender or credit broker is the route below £25,000. Limited companies and LLPs are not affected by this at any facility size.
Can I get funding if my credit is poor?
Often, yes, and this comes up more on Zempler cases than most because the account can be opened without a credit check. What matters is how old the adverse entry is, whether it has been satisfied, and what the recent trading looks like. A default from three years ago with clean statements since is a very different case to one from three months ago. Undischarged bankruptcy and live insolvency proceedings are a no across the market. The thing to avoid is applying directly to several lenders in a row, because a run of declines leaves a footprint that makes the next one more cautious.
Do I have to move my business account away from Zempler to borrow?
No. No lender on our panel requires you to change bank, and nothing changes on your Zempler account. Repayments are collected by direct debit from whichever business account you nominate, which can be your Zempler account. Zempler is not involved in the facility and is not notified of it, and taking a facility elsewhere does not affect the overdraft you already hold.
Will you need my Zempler login?
No, and you should not give it to anyone who asks. Lenders assess a company from the statements you export yourself from the Zempler app or Online Banking, together with filed accounts and management figures. No legitimate broker or lender needs access to your bank account, and we will never request it.
Will I have to give a personal guarantee?
On unsecured company lending, usually yes, and it is more likely rather than less where the credit profile is impaired. A personal guarantee makes a director personally liable for the debt if the company cannot repay it. It is not a mortgage over your home and it does not give the lender an automatic charge over your property, but it is a real obligation that outlives the company. Establish whether it is capped, whether it is joint and several, and whether it covers future borrowing before you sign anything.
Trade marks and non-affiliation
Zempler, Zempler Bank, Cashplus and Creditbuilder are trade marks of Zempler Bank Limited. Monzo, Starling, Revolut and any other company named on this page are trade marks of their respective owners. These names are used here solely to identify the banking services a business may use. Bolton Business Finance Ltd is not affiliated with, sponsored by, endorsed by, appointed by or otherwise connected to any of them, and none of them has reviewed or approved this page. Nothing on this page should be read as a statement made by Zempler or on Zempler’s behalf.
Zempler Bank Limited is registered in England and Wales, company number 04947027, and is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under firm reference number 671140. Bolton Business Finance Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is not a bank.
Zempler’s products are described in outline only and the details were taken from Zempler’s published website and checked on 20 September 2026. Rates, limits, fees and availability change. Zempler is the only authoritative source for its own products and eligibility, and the statements on this page should be verified against Zempler’s website before you rely on them.
About the author
Marcus Wright is the owner and founder of Bolton Business Finance Ltd. He has worked in financial services since 2008, beginning his career at Santander, and has been a commercial finance broker since March 2019.
He founded Bolton Business Finance in 2020 to give businesses access to the whole lending market rather than one bank’s own product range. The firm is a member of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers and works with a panel of 135+ lenders.
Marcus arranges commercial mortgages, bridging, development finance, business loans, asset finance, invoice finance and merchant cash advances. Call 0161 546 9128.
Marcus is also the author of UK Commercial Finance (2026), a commercial finance book for UK business owners and property investors.
Bolton Business Finance Ltd is an independent commercial finance brokerage, not a lender and not a bank. We are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and can only complete non-regulated introductions for business purposes. We cannot arrange regulated credit agreements, which includes business lending of £25,000 or less to a sole trader or to a partnership of two or three people. Figures on this page are illustrative and are not an offer or a quotation. Rates, terms and facility limits are set by the lender and subject to underwriting and status. Where a personal guarantee is given, personal assets may be at risk if the loan is not repaid. We may receive a commission from the lender we introduce you to. Registered address: Westgate House, 1 Westgate Avenue, Bolton, Greater Manchester, BL1 4RF. Company number 12495909.