Tide serves as a provider of financial services by giving business banking accounts to independent contractors, self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs. The service operates like a bank while offering all typical banking features because the FCA regulates it just as banks are regulated. You can sign up for a free Tide business account or select an account plan that charges as high as 49.99 GBP monthly based on your business characteristics.

Account Fees

New Tide users cannot make payments to other countries. This payment feature exists solely for established clients who have a Tide International Currency Account. If you have a Tide International Currency Account monitor exchange rates in the Tide app to secure optimum payment value. When your Tide account doesn’t support international payments you can still send payments outside the country with Wise or OFX services which we will compare with Tide alternatives later.

What is Tide for business

The UK’s FCA regulates Tide even though it isn’t a bank because 450,000 businesses and people in the UK use Tide’s account services with complete trust. In addition to its business accounts Tide provides services for company setup plus offers both loan options and virtual office addresses.

Tide business accounts/plans

With Tide’s business account options, you can choose between a monthly subscription for free transactions or no subscription with pay-per-transaction rates. Higher account levels give you faster service priority. 

Where is it available

UK-registered businesses and HMRC-registered sole traders and freelancers can obtain Tide accounts.

Debit and expense cards

With each Tide business account comes one debit card plus an option to order 50 expense cards for team members. The paid Tide plans include multiple expense cards in your monthly rate but charge 5 GBP monthly for additional cards. Expense cards help companies control costs by decreasing work burdens and lowering errors in expense tracking.

Cash deposit

Tide gives you easy cash deposit options for your business accounts at Post Office and PayPoint locations. You can deposit cash at any Post Office or PayPoint store location. You will pay 2.50 GBP for bank deposits up to 500 GBP at the Post Office or 0.5% above that amount but PayPoint requires a flat 3% fee.

Invoicing

Tide business customers can create invoices in the Tide app through the Tide invoice generator feature. You can design your invoice details within the app and send the finished document for payment processing.

How does Tide work

Tide is a financial application that provides digital business banking services through both its website and mobile platform. Download the app before starting to manage most business transactions from anywhere. You may deposit physical money into your Tide account at Post Office branches and designated places but need to pay additional fees.

Does the UK regulate Tide and make it safe for users

Tide operates outside banking regulations yet maintains equal security standards under financial authority supervision. Through its partnership with ClearBank Tide provides UK business services under FCA regulation.

Verification process

Tide can approve your account using just your business details and ID document. You will receive a notification if additional information is necessary then you can quickly add more documents through the Tide app.

What is the transfer processing time

Your funds move in real time between Tide accounts. Tide business accounts use Faster Payments to deliver GBP online instantly. Payments reach their destination within several hours. If your Tide business account permits international transfers they may take several days to reach their destination.

Conclusion

Tide offers a range of digital business banking solutions in the UK including free accounts that help new businesses start and paid options for growing companies. You can control your business money through Tide’s online and mobile apps and deposit physical cash at low costs. Most Tide business account holders can neither send international payments through Tide nor authorize other people to access their Tide account. Test Tide against some competitors to choose the best financial solution for your needs. For complete online banking experiences, Monzo fits your needs while Wise supports low-cost international transactions and team account management.


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