Question 1

Am I charged extra when my customer pays me with Google Pay?

Accepted Answer

There is no extra charge when accepting Google Pay with Tide Payment Links. You will be charged the standard transaction fee, which will be deducted from the payment before it enters your Tide account.

Question 2

Are the credit and debit card numbers of my customers passed to me when they pay with Google Pay?

Accepted Answer

When your customers use Google Pay, Google Pay protects their payment info with multiple layers of security and doesn’t send their actual credit or debit card number with the payment. Instead, an encrypted virtual account number is used to represent their information – so the real card details stay safe.

Question 3

What kind of payments can I accept with Tide Payment Links?

Accepted Answer

You can accept payments made with these cards:

American Express
Visa
Mastercard
Diners Club
Discover

You can also receive digital wallets payments, like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Our ‘Pay by bank’ option for Payment Links is available too – you can find out more about it over on this page.

To see all about Payment Links, including related fees, click here.

Question 4

How will I know that my transaction is subject to a limit?

Accepted Answer

If you attempt to process a transaction that we have considered high-risk, the transaction will be declined and we will notify you immediately.

Question 5

How can I help Tide verify my transactions?

Accepted Answer

Keeping evidence of the validity of your transactions is essential to helping us verify their security and lift any limits we’ve imposed.

To do this, we may request additional information, such as:

A signed copy of the invoice
A signed copy of the contract with your customer
Proof of delivery of goods or services

We may also request other relevant documentation, including your customer’s contact details.

Question 6

What is a high-risk transaction?

Accepted Answer

There are a number of different scenarios in which we might consider a transaction to be high-risk, including if:

you are new to Tide and we do not have a lot of processing history on your Tide Account
there are sudden changes in the volume or size of transactions you’re processing

Question 7

What are transaction limits?

Accepted Answer

In certain situations, we may limit your ability to process transactions through Tide payment acceptance products. We impose these transaction limits to protect your Tide account, your customers and other Tide members from transactions that present an increased security risk.

Question 8

Are there any transaction limits when using Payment Links?

Accepted Answer

Yes, there are limits. The minimum transaction limit for an invoice payment link is £5, and the maximum is £10,000. The minimum transaction limit for a payment link without an invoice is £5, and the maximum is £3,000.

Question 9

What is Tide Payment Links and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

Tide Payment Links is a secure and convenient payment method that enables collecting customer card payments remotely without the need to set up any infrastructure. Tide Payment Links could be shared via various communication channels such as SMS, email, social media, and within invoices.

Question 10

What are the eligibility criteria to sign up for Tide Payment Links?

Accepted Answer

We’re on a mission to help business owners with secure payment acceptance methods. It’s a balancing act though, certain company types are more complex to onboard. Currently, as part of our ongoing efforts to prevent fraud and protect our existing members, there may be occasions when restrictions are placed on who can use Tide Payment Links. Access to this feature may be restricted due to factors such as:

The age of your business: at least 90 days must have passed from the day you opened your Tide account
The nature of your business and its size
How long you have held a Tide account
The number and frequency of transactions you make with your Tide account

We hope to broaden this scope as we grow, but currently, we’re unable to sign up the following types of companies (the list is not exhaustive)::

Fetish products
Content: Books, magazines, audio, videos, websites, streaming services and other content formats deemed offensive or of a sexual nature
Escort services and other services in the adult industry
Financial service or money service business.
E-wallet or e-money that can be monetised, re-sold or converted to physical and digital goods and services or otherwise exit the virtual world
Credit repair and credit protection business
Buy now pay later / Instalment payment methods
Bearer share entities and binary options
Independent or unlicensed financial advisors
Insurance sales and services (life)
Money transfer & remittance businesses
Payroll, invoice & business services
Provider or seller prepaid access/stored value
Marketing related services
Airlines and Cruise Lines
Cloud storage, VPN, file sharing, (high-risk) cyber lockers
Animals and wildlife products classified as endangered or protected
Bail bonds and bankruptcy lawyers
Bidding fee and penny auctions
Certain social media business (e.g. click farms)
Casual dating services
Direct Marketing – Inbound teleservices, outbound telemarketing and travel-related arrangement services, Insurance services, catalogue merchants, door-to-door sales, multi-level marketing
Governmental services, such as embassies or consulates
Hazardous materials (B2B and B2C)
Intravenous therapy or Medical benefit packages
Key-entry telecom merchant
Live-streaming Services with in-app currency and donations
Mail order spouse or international match-making services
Pawn shops
Political, religious or Social Campaigning
Drugs, and tools specifically intended for the production of drugs, drug paraphernalia, illegal drugs, substances designed to mimic illegal drugs and / or other psychoactive products
Gambling services
Products or services specifically offered or intended to be used to create, produce or grow drugs or drug ingredients
Pharmaceuticals, prescription medicine and medical devices (including animal pharmaceuticals)
Tobacco, smoking supplies, e-cigarettes, e-liquids, vaping liquid, vaping accessories
Trade of fireworks, flammable or radioactive materials
Trade of weapons, ammunitions, military arms, explosive devices and firearm parts
Cryptocurrency exchange
High-risk securities, such as contract for difference (CFD), financial spread betting, initial coin offering (ICO), forex currency options, cryptocurrency options, trading and purchases
Security brokers /investments of any kind including the purchase of securities, currencies, derivatives, commodities, shares, options, precious metals, other financial instruments
Third-party Payment Processing such as aggregators, aggregators, including but not limited to marketplaces, platforms
Staged Digital Wallet Operators
Payment Facilitators or other internet payment or member service providers (IPSP or MPS)
Payment service companies, including but not limited to peer-to-peer, bill payments, commissary accounts
Decryption and descrambler products and services, devices designed to block, jam or interfere with cellular and personal communications

Question 11

How do I enable Tide Payment Links?

Accepted Answer

To enable Payment Links, log in to your Tide account via the web and click Accounts > Get Paid > Payment Links. Read and decide if you accept the Terms and Conditions. If you accept them, your account will move to ‘Pending’ and then show an ‘Available’ status. Refresh the page to see the Payment Links dashboard that will contain any future-issued Payment Links.

Question 12

What do the various onboarding status types on the Terms and Conditions page mean?

Accepted Answer

The meaning of the different status types is as follows:

Available - You will see this status if you have not yet been onboarded to use Payment Links
Pending - This means your onboarding process to use Payment Links is underway between Tide and our payment provider
Active - You’ll see this status when you have been successfully onboarded and Payment Links is available to use
Unavailable - If you see this status, it means that your member access has been deactivated, usually as a result of regulatory obligations that we have to comply with. Should this occur, then our Member Support team will work with you to resolve the issue.

Question 13

In which currencies can I accept payments?

Accepted Answer

You can accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express contactless cards from UK or foreign issuers, but all transactions and settlements will be in GBP.

For now, we don’t accept payments with cards issued in these countries:

Afghanistan
Barbados
Belarus
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Congo Democratic Republic
Croatia
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gibraltar
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti
Iran
Iraq
Jamaica
Lebanon
Libya
Mali
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Philippines
Russia
Senegal
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
Syria
Tanzania
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine Sanctioned Regions (Donetsk, Crimea, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia)
United Arab Emirates
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zimbabwe

* This list is subject to change.

Question 14

Can I accept international payments using Payment Links?

Accepted Answer

Payment Links can only be paid in GBP and with a UK bank card, or bank transfer from a UK account.

Question 15

Can I use one payment link to accept payments from multiple customers?

Accepted Answer

A payment link can only be used to accept one payment, from one customer.

Tide Instant Checkout is your solution to this. Create links using this feature, that can be used repeatedly, by all of your customers.

Question 16

How will I know the status of my Tide Invoice Payment Links request?

Accepted Answer

On a mobile device, you will receive 2 types of notifications that will enable you to check the status of your Invoice Payment Links request:

A notification to let you know that your customer has successfully made their payment.
A second notification to advise when the payment has been initiated to your Tide Account.

Other than these notifications, you can also check your Tide account at any time via the app to confirm the receipt of payments into your Tide Account.

Question 17

How can I access capital once the payment is processed?

Accepted Answer

The amount will be directly credited to your Tide Business Bank Account within 3 working days. No action is required from you.

Question 18

How will the payment link transaction appear in the account statement?

Accepted Answer

If you have sent an payment link, then all transactions relating to this will appear in the account statement from Tide Payout
If you have made payments using an invoice payment link, then all transactions relating to these will appear in the account statement from Tide Platform Ltd *Tide Member’s Name*

Please note that many customers will initiate chargebacks if they see payments to companies that they do not recognise. Therefore, please ensure that you make your customers aware of what wording will be displayed on both the billing and statement descriptors for their transactions.

Question 19

What is the Transaction fee and how is it charged?

Accepted Answer

There are certain costs incurred by Tide at the time of processing a payment link transaction and a fee is charged relating to your account. Our fees incorporate costs to us such as interchange, scheme fees and payment processing fees. The fees are automatically deducted from your Payout amount. From time to time, we may offer time-limited promotional Fee discounts, so please make sure to read any notices we give you regarding such promotional terms. We may withdraw or change promotional offers at any time.

Question 20

Why have my Tide Payment Links been declined or failed?

Accepted Answer

If a customer payment fails, they will be asked to try again. Typical reasons for a payment failing include errors with entering the card number, expiry date or CVC number, or potentially even a connection issue. These issues can usually be resolved when the customer tries to enter the payment for the second time. Another reason for a payment being declined or failing is that the Payment Links function may be temporarily unavailable. In the rare event of this occurring, the customer would see a notification advising that this method of payment is currently unavailable. They would then need to make their payment by bank transfer instead.

Question 21

How are Tide Card Reader payments processed?

Accepted Answer

We’ve partnered with Adyen to facilitate the collection and processing of payments from your customers when you use your Tide Card Reader. Adyen will hold your money in a payment processing account which we refer to as “Merchant Account”. Adyen uses the Merchant Account to collect and record the payments received by your customers when they pay via the Tide Card Reader before the transactions are processed by Adyen and sent to your Tide Business Account. Adyen’s Ts&Cs apply to the Merchant Account and the payments processed in it.

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