Tide Logo
Tide Logo


Blog Tide Updates How Tide ranks against Great Britain’s biggest business current account providers

How Tide ranks against Great Britain’s biggest business current account providers

3 min. read
01 Sep 2022
01 Sep 2022
3 min. read

It’s best practice to compare business bank account providers when searching for an ideal one to join. But once you’ve opened an account, how often do you get the time to compare it against the competition to make sure you’re getting the best deal?

With the cost of living rising, it’s more important than ever to check the value that business bank account providers offer – whether you want to open an account for the first time or already have one.

Here’s a breakdown of the results of a recent independent survey which ranks the quality provided by Great Britain’s largest business current account providers, including Tide.

How and why the survey took place

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) works to promote competition amongst businesses. This competition encourages businesses to prioritise innovation and value for money, which helps customers like you get better services for a fair price.

The CMA investigated the retail banking sector in 2016 over concerns that the sector wasn’t working well enough in certain areas for its customers. Following this, they set up a survey to get an independent view of the quality of service given to business and personal account holders. The survey is updated and published twice a year, in February and August.

As part of a regulatory requirement, relevant business account providers must participate in each survey and share their ranking on their website, apps and in branches, if they have them.

Between July 2021 and June 2022, research specialist BVA BDRC asked around 1,200 customers of each of the 15 largest business current account providers if they’d recommend their provider to other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These results were published in August 2022.

Why we’re sharing these results with you

The August 2022 edition of the survey is the first that we’ve participated in. We’re very proud to have placed in the top five in three categories, and would like to thank all our members that took part! 🎉

Alongside sharing the results in this blog post, we’ve also published them at the request of the CMA on a dedicated independent service quality results page. By sharing these results, we’re not giving you any advice or making any recommendations. We can only provide you with information about our products and services.

The results of the survey

This year, we were assessed alongside 14 other business current account providers. That includes the four largest banking groups, collectively called the Big Four (HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank, Natwest and Barclays) and digital banks like Monzo and Starling.

The survey results show the proportion of customers of each provider, among those who took part in the survey, who said they were ‘extremely likely’ or ‘very likely’ to recommend each service to other SMEs.

  • 75% of our members would recommend our online and mobile banking services

  • 68% of Tide participants in the survey would recommend our service

  • 66% of our members would recommend our relationship and account management

Some results couldn’t be provided

  • SME overdraft and loan services:

    We provide credit (overdraft and loan) services; however, fewer than 100 Tide members provided an eligible score for this part of the survey, which means the results weren’t provided

  • Service in branches and business centres:

    This part of the survey didn’t apply to us because we don’t operate a branch network

Wrapping up

Amongst the 15 largest business current account providers included in this survey, we’re so pleased to be ranked:

  • 3rd highest for online and mobile banking services (75% of our members would recommend ours)

  • 4th highest for overall service quality (68% of our members would recommend us)

  • 4th highest for relationship and account management (66% of our members would recommend us)

These achievements build upon our bumper year in 2021 and come as we launch new features and welcome more members. We’re excited to keep supporting you and your business as we continue to grow! 🚀

Image by Brooke Cagle, published on Unsplash

Disclaimer: This survey was independently carried out. Neither Tide nor any other body affiliated with the survey is endorsed by the CMA. The information provided here is correct as of 1 September 2022.

About the Author

We understand businesses, it's all we do

We understand businesses, it's all we do

Tide is built by business owners for business owners. That’s why we’re trusted by over 2 million sole traders, freelancers, and limited companies worldwide.

Open an account

Tide | Do what you love.
Tide Platform Limited (Tide) designs and operates the Tide website and app. Tide is not a bank. Tide is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 under firm reference number 900843 for the issuing of electronic money and the provision of payment initiation services and account information services under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. Tide is also authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to its credit and insurance broking activities (firm reference 718743). Tide is incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 09595646 and registered office at 4th Floor The Featherstone Building, 66 City Road, London, EC1Y 2AL. Tide offers bank accounts powered by ClearBank® Ltd (ClearBank) (account sort code is 04-06-05). ClearBank is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 754568. Eligible deposits with ClearBank are protected up to a total of £120,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. For further information visit Home. 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: ClearBank, Level 27, The Broadgate Tower, 20 Primrose Street, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 2EW. Eligible deposits held in the Tide Business Current Account (powered by ClearBank) are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) subject to eligibility. All eligible deposits at the same bank are aggregated to determine the coverage level for each depositor up to £120,000, therefore if you have any other product/services with ClearBank these will be aggregated. To find out more and to check your eligibility please visit: About us . Some of Tide’s members also hold e-money accounts powered by PrePay Technologies Limited (PPT) (account sort code is 23-69-72). PPT is an electronic money institution authorised by the FCA under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 under firm reference number 900010 for the issuing of electronic money. PPT holds an amount equivalent to the money in Tide current accounts in a safeguarding account which gives members protection against PPT’ insolvency. Tide Cards may be issued by both Tide and PPT, who are licensed by Mastercard International for the issuance of cards. The issuer of your Tide card will be identified on your monthly card statement. Tide Capital Limited is an appointed representative of P1 Investment Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 752005 to carry out such regulated activities as are involved in the provision of Tide Investment Account. Seccl Custody Limited is the custodian of assets held in Tide Investment Account and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference number 793200) and registered in England and Wales under No. 10430958. Registered office 20 Manvers Street, Bath BA1 1JW. Tide, the Tide logo, the Swell, and Do Less Banking are trademarks and trade names of Tide Platform Limited, and may not be used or reproduced without the consent of the owner.