credit builder

Improve your business credit score in 12 months for under £33

Give your company credit rating the chance to grow with Tide Credit Builder. Make 12 monthly payments, boost your credit score and widen your business funding options.infoTide Credit Builder does not guarantee an increase in your credit score, as this assessment is performed by the Credit Reference Agencies and it’s their responsibility to determine your credit score.

Open an account

How to build your business credit score in 3 easy steps

Icon joining Tide

New to Tide?

Sign up for a free business bank account in minutes

Icon tick

Make 12 monthly payments

Activate Credit Builder to start making monthly payments (principal + interest). We’ll hold the principal payments in a sub-account

Icon coins

Receive your funds

After 12 months, we unlock the sub-account so you can withdraw the principal paid minus the interest

Stay in control

With Credit Builder, you can:

  • Access your payment history anytime
  • Know exactly what you need to pay and when
  • Cancel Credit Builder anytime in the Tide app
Boost-credit-score-image

Is Credit Builder right for me?

If you’ve just started your own company, recently moved to the UK, or haven’t built up much credit history, then your business credit score may need a helping hand.

Tide Credit Builder is designed to help small businesses grow their creditworthiness and open up options for future business funding.

This product is subject to eligibility and only available to:

  • Limited companies that have been incorporated for less than 2 years
  • Limited companies that had no CCJ raised against them in the last 6 years

Not yet a limited company? Register your business for FREE with Tide.

grow-your-credit-score-image
tide-credit-builder

How does Credit Builder work?

Credit Builder helps you demonstrate your lending potential by reporting monthly loan repayments to Credit Reference Agencies. By making payments on time and in full you can help improve your company score and widen funding opportunities.

  • Repay over 12 months 📅

    Credit Builder is structured as a loan that you repay with 12 monthly payments.

  • See what you pay at a glance 🔍

    The loan consists of a £240 principal and an interest rate of 24% fixed.info26.8% representative APR based on an assumed unsecured loan amount of £240 with 12 monthly repayments of £22.69 at an annual interest rate of 24% (fixed). Total amount payable £272.33. Net cost: £32.33 .

  • Receive your funds back ✔️

    At the end of the 12-month period, you will get back all the principal paid while we will keep the interest (under £33).

  • Boost your business credit score 📈

    We’ll report your payments to Experian to help grow your business credit score.

  • Get peace of mind 🧠

    There are no hidden fees, penalties, late or early repayment fees. You can also cancel Credit Builder at any time during the 12 months. If you cancel, we will refund you the principal paid and keep the interest up to the cancellation date.

Open an account

Credit Builder FAQs

What if I have difficulties making the monthly payments?

You should consider cancelling your Credit Builder to avoid missing a payment. Any missed payment is reported to Experian, which could impact your credit score.

Assuming you’ve not missed any payments when you cancel Credit Builder, we’ll report your loan as a settled debt. This means your credit report will show that you’ve paid the full loan amount and fulfilled your obligations, so there is no negative impact on your credit score for cancelling Credit Builder.

How much does Credit Builder cost?

Credit Builder is structured as a loan with a credit limit of £240 and an annual interest rate of 24% (fixed). There are no hidden fees, penalties, late or early repayment fees.

The interest is included in the monthly repayments that we deduct from your Tide account. At the end of the 12-month period, you will get back your monthly payment and we will keep the interest.

A representative sample:

26.8% representative APR based on an assumed unsecured loan amount of £240 with 12 monthly payments of £22.69 at an annual interest rate of 24% (fixed). Total amount payable is £272.33.

Net cost £32.33*

*As £240 will be returned to you upon final instalment

Is Credit Builder a loan?

Credit Builder is structured as a 12-month loan. This allows us to report your monthly payments to Experian as a repayment of a loan, which helps build your credit score. However, unlike a traditional loan, the principal payments are made available to you when you activate the product but the principal payments are made available at the end of the 12-month period (or if you cancel earlier).

As a result of this structure, eligibility is not subject to your creditworthiness and almost every registered business incorporated less than 2 years ago is eligible  (see Am I eligible for Credit Builder? For more details).

What is Credit Builder?

Credit Builder helps you build your business’ credit score, and therefore your creditworthiness to credit reference agencies – the people who compile and keep your credit report.

It’s a key component of your business as; 

  • A high credit score means lenders are more likely to give you access to a wider range of loans and other credit products with lower interest rates, saving you money.
  • Unlike a personal credit score, your business credit score is available for anyone to view. Customers, suppliers and other companies can check it so this directly impacts your day-to-day business dealings – for example, when you’re negotiating contracts or tenders, or when you’re looking for insurance.

How does Credit Builder work?

Credit Builder is a bit like a business loan, only you receive your principal payments at the end of the term (see Is Credit Builder a loan? for more details);

  1. Make 12 monthly payments made up of principal and interest to us, which we will report to Experian as loan payments
  2. We collect the payments every month and lock the principal in a dedicated sub-account. At the end of the 12 months, we will give you immediate access to the principal you paid and we keep the interest

Am I eligible for Credit Builder?

This product is subject to eligibility and only available to:

  • Limited companies that have been incorporated for less than 2 years
  • Limited companies that had no CCJ raised against them in the last 6 years

*Tide Credit Builder does not guarantee an increase in your credit score, as this assessment is performed by the Credit Reference Agencies and it’s their responsibility to determine your credit score.