TIDE CARD READER

We offer business accounts to sole traders and directors of limited companies. To apply, you must:

• Be a minimum of 18 years old

• Have a valid UK mobile phone number

• Have a device that's registered to a UK App or Google Play store.

Sole traders or freelancers must also

• Have a valid UK home address

• Be registered with HMRC 

Directors of limited companies must also

• Have a valid home address in the UK or overseas

• Be registered with Companies House 

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.

We don’t currently offer current accounts to businesses in the following industries:

• The holding, managing and/or controlling of a third party’s (client’s/customer’s) finances in the Tide account. This includes using the money on behalf of other individuals

• Insurance companies (incl. insurance brokers)

• Trading of crypto/virtual currencies

• Operating as a pawnbroker

• Extraction of precious metals and stones

• Investments (incl. real estate investments)

• Money services (such as foreign exchange, loan providers, money transfers)

• Banking services (incl. BCAs, loans, digital wallets, etc.)

• Casinos, prize draws and other betting or gambling activities

• Sale of unlicensed pharmaceuticals

• Sale or trade of cannabidiol (CBD) products

• Trading of weapons, explosives or armaments

• Unlicensed trading and processing of scrap metal

• Unlicensed waste management

• Unlicensed animal breeding

• Sale, import and export of used vehicles or heavy machinery

• Escort services and other services in the adult industry

• Bidding fee auctions

• Non-profit organisations, including charities

• Operating as, but not limited to, CICs and CIOs, PLC, LLP, Partnership, Trust.

You can read more about this in our blog post: Providing financial security for our members.

Yes! However, you must have a UK residential address and phone number. 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.

You can now digitally deposit cheques using the Tide app. You can’t deposit cheques at the bank or the Post Office. 

We only support cheques made out in GBP. Other currencies won’t be accepted. 

Just a heads up – you can only deposit your cheques if your sort code is 04-06-05.

See how to make a digital cheque deposit over on this page.

To take a payment using the Tide Card Reader or Tide Card Reader Plus, you don’t need to do anything in the Tide app, or even have it handy.

Instead, select: ‘Payment’ > enter the price > ‘Continue’, directly on the terminal.

Your customer can tap or insert their card, and the payment will land in your account within 3 business days. 

If you prefer, you can use the Tide app to take a payment with your card reader, too.

In the app, tap: Sales > Take a payment > enter the price and a description > Take a payment.

After your customer taps or inserts their card in the terminal, the payment will land in your account within 3 business days.

As your Tide Card Reader will process sensitive card data, you must verify that the device you received is the correct one, and hasn’t been tampered with. There are a few ways to do this:

1. Check that the box containing the machine hasn't been opened and that the security seal is still intact. The security seal is a red label with a barcode and a number, stuck across the lid of the box.

2. Next, break the security seal and take the device out of the box. Verify that the serial number (S/N) on the device matches the serial number on the box.

3. Inspect the device for tampering. Check for missing seals or screws, additional wires or labels, holes in the device, and anything inserted in or attached to any part of the device.

If you have any concerns about your package or device then please contact Tide support immediately.

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.