Stay on top of your sales with Tide Merchant Account

The Tide Merchant Account gives you a real-time, unified view of your sales transactions. If you’re a Tide member and eligible for any card payment service, you’ll automatically get one in the app.

This guide covers:

What is a Tide Merchant Account and how to access it

Which transactions are included and how to check their details

Understanding payment statuses

Why a negative balance can occur and how to fix it

The Tide Merchant Account's essence

A Tide Merchant Account is view-only – you can’t spend or withdraw money directly from it. It displays your incoming card payment activities and pending balance. The transactions you'll see are:

Card payments you’ve collected with Payment Links, Tide Card Reader, Tap to Pay and Tide Instant Checkout

Payouts, card payment refunds and chargebacks

Important: Payment Links paid via bank transfer will not be visible in your merchant account.

Account cost and transaction fees

The Tide Merchant Account is free, but note:

Card payments you accept using our payment services are subject to applicable fees

These fees are shown clearly for each transaction in your Merchant Account, so you can always see what you earn and what you pay

Your Tide Merchant Account balance

Access it

In your Tide app:

Head to the Home tab

Select Merchant Account under Accounts

Here you can filter your payments by date, type, payment method and status.

Balance settlement timelines

The balance you see on that screen is the total amount of card sales waiting to be settled into your main Tide account, after fees. Then you can spend, withdraw or transfer the money as usual.

Each payment is settled into your main Tide account in 2-3 business days. If you have an active Next Day Settlement Boost subscription when the payment is made, it’ll be the next business day.

Check your payment’s details

To view a payment’s details, simply locate the payment in your Merchant Account timeline and select it. Then you’ll see:

The full payment amount

Any deducted fees and how much you’ll receive after that

An option to request a refund or share the receipt

Payment statuses and what they mean

Paid – the payment was successful, but the funds haven’t yet been settled into your main Tide account

Settled – the payment was successful, and the money is now available in your main Tide account

Refunded – the payment amount was returned to the customer. You’ll see a new transaction for the refund, but can still view the one and its details to easily track what happened

Declined – the payment was reversed on our side, and the money was returned to your customer

On-hold – we’re quickly checking your payment, as required by UK financial regulations. This ensures compliance and keeps your account safe

Merchant Account in a negative balance?

A negative balance can happen if there’s not enough money in your main or merchant account to cover a:

Chargeback on a card payment you’ve collected

Refund you’ve issued for a card payment

The balance will go back to positive or zero when you:

Take new card payments

Have enough money in your main Tide account to cover the negative amount. See how you can top up if you need to