Powerful and simple. Apply today through Tide to open an FSCS protected bank account provided by ClearBank.infoTide offers bank accounts provided by ClearBank. ClearBank Ltd is Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register number: 754568). Registered Address: 13 Dirty Lane, Borough Yards, London, SE1 9PA.
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Straightforward business current accounts at no monthly cost to get started for sole traders, consultants and contractors
Limited companies save time with accounting integration, invoicing directly from the app and Expense Cards for easy expense management
Upgrade to our Plus or Premium memberships when your business needs more support and enjoy exclusive perks
Our mission is to save small businesses time and money. That’s why we offer a free business bank account with no monthly fee. Choose the plan that’s right for you now and upgrade any time as your business grows.
We pay the incorporation fee on your behalf and give you a free business account.
Apply within minutes and get set up all in one go.
We’re an approved formation agent with a secure Companies House integration, so you’re in good hands.
Our business current account is packed with features which save you time and money:
We automatically tag your income and spending. Customise the labels to suit your company.
Upload receipts, auto-match them to transactions, add a note if you like and it’s all stored digitally.
Link your account to software like Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and more.
No need for a separate system, keep on top of your invoices directly in our app.
Manage your finances in a way that works for you, whether it’s in the palm of your hand, or from your computer.
Invite business partners, colleagues or your accountant to view and download transactions.
Download all your payments, attachments and notes, then upload them to any accounting software.
Forget uploading CSVs – connect your account to Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Sage, KashFlow and Reckon.
We’ve made it easy to manage your Tide card so you stay in control.
Spend on your card in the UK and abroad with no fees and no commission. (Getting cash from an ATM costs £1 and some machines might charge an extra fee.)
Stay in control from anywhere. Use the app to freeze, unfreeze, or cancel and re-order your card.
Order up to 50 Tide Expense Cards for your team and keep track of who's spending what. Set up sub-accounts to set aside money for expenses.
Spend in shops, buy online and withdraw cash worldwide wherever Mastercard is accepted.
If you’re the director of a company registered with UK Companies House, you’ll be eligible for a Registered Business account. UK-based sole traders and freelancers with a valid UK residential address who are registered with HMRC are eligible for a Sole Trader account.
For both account types, you’ll need to be aged 18 or above, have a valid UK phone number, and hold a device registered to a UK App or Google Play store.
We’re on a mission to help business owners spend less time on money admin.
However, there are a number of high risk industries that we can’t take on, as this would mean not being able to focus our time and energy on the rest of our members.
As a result and going forwards, we will not be offering current accounts to businesses in the following industries:
You can read more about this in our blog post: Providing financial security for our members.
Yes.
If you have a ClearBank account, then eligible deposits, up to £85,000*, are protected by the UK Government’s deposit guarantee scheme, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
If you have an e-money account, then the funds in your account are stored and protected. With an e-money account, your money is never invested or loaned out and is safeguarded in accounts that keep your money separate from the money we use to run Tide. As your funds are safeguarded, FSCS protection does not apply.
*Eligible deposits with ClearBank are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the UK’s deposit guarantee scheme. This limit applies to the total of any deposits you have with ClearBank. Any total deposits you hold above this limit are unlikely to be covered.
With a bank account, eligible deposits will be protected up to £85,000* by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
E-money accounts store your money in electronic form which can be used to make payments. Your money is held in a Safeguarding Account. This means your money is kept separate from the funds we use to run Tide.
*Eligible deposits with ClearBank are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the UK’s deposit guarantee scheme. This limit applies to the total of any deposits you have with ClearBank. Any total deposits you hold above this limit are unlikely to be covered.
There are 3 ways in which Tide members can identify if they have a PPS or ClearBank account:
Yes!
There are currently two different types of accounts with Tide: an e-money account, provided under the license of Pre-Pay Solutions Limited and regulated by the FCA, and bank accounts provided by ClearBank, which are also regulated by the FCA.
The funds in e-money accounts are stored and protected. With an e-money account, your money is never invested or loaned out and is safeguarded in accounts that keep your money separate from the money we use to run Tide. As your funds are safeguarded, FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme) protection does not apply.
We’re in the process of moving Tide accounts from PPS e-money accounts to ClearBank FSCS protected bank accounts. In the coming months, you’ll have the option to update your account, we’ll get in touch when this is available.
We’ll be able to verify your identity from most European National ID cards, international driving licences and passports.
No, Tide isn’t a bank.
Tide is a business financial platform and the leading provider of digital business banking services in the UK! We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and offer e-money accounts, provided by PrePay Solutions (PPS), as well as business bank accounts, provided by ClearBank.
We believe that this model gives us the opportunity to provide a wider range of products and services to our members, helping them to save time (and money) on their financial admin.
On-boarding timeframes vary depending on the types of applications we receive, but more than half of our new members this year opened their bank account in less than 10 minutes.
To be exact, 53% opened their accounts in under 10 minutes, 70% in under 60 minutes, and 81% within 48 hours. Even if your business is a bit more complex and we can’t complete your application right away, if you meet our eligibility requirements it’ll still be far quicker than most high street banks!
Saving our members time is at the core of what we do, so we’re always working to optimise and improve wait times. You can read about why we sometimes need a little more information on our blog.
Unfortunately, registering charities requires us to follow a different set of rules which would take us away from our main mission as a company. We may support these types of organisations in the future, but we’re currently focused on offering the best experience for small and medium-sized businesses.
No! To open a current account, we perform electronic checks (run by third-party services) to verify your identity and comply with UK anti-money laundering regulations. While these checks will not impact your credit score, they will appear on your credit report.
Yes! However, you must have a UK residential address. Applicants who are not based in the UK may apply for a business bank account, as long as they are directors of a company registered with UK Companies House. In some cases, we may have to complete additional checks in order to process your application.
Don’t forget – you’ll need to switch your App or Google Play store to the UK to download Tide.
Unfortunately not – but you can use Tide alongside your existing bank account until you have fully switched over.
No queuing or appointment required
On play store or app store
Like what you do and any shareholders
To securely verify who you are
Sometimes we ask for more information
Tide is about doing what you love. That’s why we’re trusted by 450,000+ sole traders, freelancers and limited companies throughout the UK.
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Business current accounts
Published February 2023
As part of a regulatory requirement, an independent survey was conducted to ask approximately 1,200 customers of each of the 15 largest business current account providers if they would recommend their provider to other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs*). The results represent the view of customers who took part in the survey.
We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.
View full survey results