My experience applying for the Capital on Tap Business card to earn a $750 welcome bonus

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

When I developed my credit card application strategy for this year, it didn't include the Capital on Tap Business Credit Card. However, a huge new welcome offer on the card, paired with the fact the application doesn't require a "hard pull" credit inquiry, caught my attention.

Now that I have completed my application, been approved for the Capital on Tap Business card and received the card, I want to share my application experience with you. Not everything went perfectly smoothly, so my experience might help you if you run into the same issues along the way.

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Capital on Tap Business card details and welcome offer

The Capital on Tap Business card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no earning limits. This is not the highest-earning business card on the market, but the other features of the card piqued my interest.

The card has no annual fee and there is no inquiry on your personal credit report during the application process (although it can take 48 hours for a decision to be made on your application). On top of these features, there are no foreign transaction fees and you can add unlimited employee cards to your account for free.

However, the elevated sign-up bonus when using the special offer code "tpg750" is what pushed me over the edge to apply. By using the code, you can earn $750 cash back after spending $7,500 on the card within the first three months after account opening.

For comparison's sake, the standard offer is for $200 cash back after spending $15,000 in the first three months.

Related: New welcome offer of $750 cash back on the Capital on Tap Business Credit Card

In other words, the spending requirement is cut in half, while the bonus amount more than triples. That's a big difference.

With the 1.5% back on each purchase, you'll come away with at least $862.50 in cash back between the bonus and the earnings on the spending required to earn it.

Some surprises with the application and account setup

Once I made up my mind to go for the Capital on Tap Business card, it was time to complete the application. Here's my experience — which wasn't without issues, unfortunately.

Online application

Let's start with the application online. When you click on TPG's exclusive application link for the Capital on Tap Business card, the special offer code for an elevated welcome offer — "tpg750" — should be auto-populated.

(If not, make sure you include the code during your application to be eligible for the offer of $750 in cash back after spending $7,500 on the card within the first three months of card membership.)

If you don't use the offer code, the sign-up bonus is significantly smaller, so it's definitely in your interest to double-check that the offer code is included.

After clicking the "Apply Now" icon, you're taken to the application page — which includes most of the usual information for a card application but also some unique aspects.

For example, I found it really interesting that the application includes a question about whether I want to pay a minimum amount (10%) or the full balance (naturally I selected the latter, as it's one of TPG's most important commandments of travel credit cards).

In addition, you actually set up your online account and password during the application process. This came at the bottom of page 1, after filling out the business and personal information.

However, the most surprising part was what happened when I clicked on the "Continue" button at the bottom of the application.

I expected it would take me to the next page, where I would verify my information was correct before hitting a "Submit" button. Instead, the next page said, "Thanks for applying".

The "continue" button actually submits your application — which was a surprise to me. Make sure you're ready to submit your application before you click on this button.

Approval and online account setup

True to its word, Capital on Tap processed my application quickly and without a "hard pull" on my credit report. I woke up the next morning with an approval email and a $29,000 credit limit — subject to verification.

In order to confirm the credit limit and receive my new card in the mail, I then had to set up my online account. This included providing my bank details to verify my identity and establish a payment method.

However, it was during the account setup process that I ran into issues.

Overcoming issues with the welcome bonus

Part of setting up my account involved accepting the terms and conditions on the website to proceed with claiming my Capital on Tap card. However, both my welcome packet (which came via email) and my user portal listed an incorrect sign-up bonus.

Until this could be clarified, I wasn't willing to proceed with the account creation process.

Requesting clarification

To address this discrepancy, I sent an email with the relevant details and a screenshot from my application, showing that I had used the special offer code. I asked the company to reply in writing to confirm the higher bonus was attached to my account. Once I had that in my possession, I would complete the account registration process.

The next day, I received a phone call from a Capital on Tap customer service representative. He was calling because I hadn't completed my account registration, and he asked why that was the case. I mentioned the email I had sent (to which the phone representative had no access), but he mentioned that he could clearly see the "tpg750" offer code on my account. In the system, I was eligible for the better welcome bonus.

Still, I asked for this to be sent to me in writing. My policy on these limited-time or exclusive offers is, "If it's not in writing, it doesn't exist." He volunteered to send me an email as soon as we hung up from the call, but more than 24 hours later, I didn't have anything.

I then called for an update, and a second phone representative also confirmed that the offer was listed on my account. She, too, said she would send me an email immediately.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Nor did I get the promised email when this process was repeated for a third time the following day. After waiting another 24 hours — day three of trying to confirm my sign-up bonus — I sent an email to the company's customer service, again, stating that I would not complete my account setup without the promised emails confirming my sign-up bonus in writing. I received a response within 10 minutes.

It's worth a note of clarification at this point. After I received the card, I reached out to Capital On Tap via my work email and let them know I was writing this story. They mentioned that they are working to improve their communication with those who apply using the TPG special offer code, such as proactively contacting applicants after approval to confirm that the elevated welcome bonus is attached to their accounts.

Finishing account registration and receiving the card

Once I received this confirmation, I was comfortable finishing the account registration process online, which was very quick. It took two or three minutes to confirm my address and provide information about who owns my business — though I didn't need to upload any documents.

The next part of the process included proving my identity. Capital on Tap sent me a link via SMS, and I completed this portion on my phone. I had to take a photo of my passport and then a selfie.

The mobile portion took two to three minutes, and then I received a message telling me to return to the computer. The process on your phone could take longer if your identity verification photos have glare, bad lighting or if there's another issue, such as your fingers covering important data while taking the picture of your ID.

From here, the status of "My Card" in my online profile changed to say it was being created.

The phone representatives I spoke with initially said my card would arrive three to five business days after completing registration, but I never received a notification that the card had shipped nor could I find any indication of this in my profile.

However, a FedEx envelope arrived two days later with my card inside. That was much quicker than the three to five days I expected, so I was happy with the delivery timeline.

Bottom line

There are positive and puzzling takeaways from my experience applying for the Capital on Tap Business card. The card has some high-quality features, including no annual fee, free additional cards and an elevated welcome bonus when you use the code "tpg750" during your application. The process to apply is simple, and doing so doesn't require a hard inquiry on your credit report.

However, the process wasn't entirely smooth. Once approved, I received automated welcome emails that didn't reflect the correct welcome bonus. And getting written confirmation that I was eligible for this better bonus took several attempts, which shouldn't be the case. Hopefully, this is being improved.

In the end, I received the card quickly and got confirmation of my welcome bonus eligibility, so I'm excited to hit the minimum spending to earn the full bonus. And while Capital on Tap is taking steps to eliminate these hiccups for future applicants, hopefully my experience can help if you encounter issues of your own.