Question 1

How can I become a Tide partner?

Accepted Answer

To register your interest, fill in our partner sign-up form. If there is scope for partnership opportunity, the team will be in contact within 3-5 working days to set up a call and get the ball rolling.

Question 2

Who can become a Tide Partner?

Accepted Answer

A typical Tide partnership is agreed with any organisation that has marketing access to a network of sole traders, contractors, self-employed workers or registered companies. Whether your business is in financial admin, the GIG economy, a company formation agent, consultancy, working in construction, courier company, or food delivery service & want to refer your clients to Tide, then we want to hear from you.

Please note, our partnerships team manages client referral partnerships only – product partnerships or offerings are not within its remit.

Question 3

Is there a cost to becoming a Tide partner?

Accepted Answer

No, it’s completely free, and in fact, being a Tide partner can become an independent revenue stream for your business. However, our successful partnerships are those where partners invest in a sustainable marketing plan.

Question 4

Do I have to refer a minimum number of members as a partner?

Accepted Answer

While there is no minimum number of referrals required, the partner incentive level is driven by results, mutual marketing investment, and strategic relevance to the SME market. The more members you refer to Tide, the greater the opportunity to discuss long-term incentives.

Question 5

Will I need to sign a partnership agreement?

Accepted Answer

Initial partnership engagement is based on joint mutual understanding, however, as our partnership grows we will naturally seek to secure a more formal framework.

Question 6

What are the benefits of the Tide partner programme?

Accepted Answer

Tide is a proven customer acquisition and retention tool
Opportunity to create bespoke customer lifecycle marketing strategy
Partner with a market leader
Competitive tailored incentives & commission structures
Ongoing scaling support
Member perks
Dedicated application support from the onboarding support team

Question 7

Can I put my Tide partner information on my website?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Once your Tide partner status has been confirmed, we will work with you to supply you with the Tide assets needed and brand guidelines to market our partnership professionally. In order to ensure consistency and brand identity, we kindly ask you to align with us prior to using Tide image and video assets.

Question 8

How do I refer clients to Tide?

Accepted Answer

You’ll be given a referral code and landing webpage that you can use to refer clients to Tide. This will enable us to track your clients and give them all the benefits of a partner referral. In case you have a digital onboarding journey and you wish to include Tide as an opt-in, our API connections are available to facilitate this.

Question 9

If my clients have any issues with signup, or their account in general, what can I do to help?

Accepted Answer

You will have your own dedicated Partnerships Manager. Just send them an email and they’ll be right on the case to assist.

Question 10

Which sort of businesses can get a Tide account?

Accepted Answer

If your client is the director of a company registered with UK Companies House, your client will be eligible for a Registered Business account. UK-based sole traders and freelancers with a valid UK residential address who are registered with HMRC are eligible for a Sole Trader account. For both account types, your client needs to be aged 18 or above, have a valid UK phone number, and hold a device registered to a UK App or Google Play store. We’re on a mission to help businesses owners spend less time on money admin, and we want to enable as many small businesses as possible to do that.

But it’s a balancing act: we can’t take on too many accounts that are in high risk industries as that means we’re not able to focus our time and energy on the rest of our members. As a result and going forwards, we will not be offering current accounts to businesses in the following industries:

Trading of cryptocurrencies
Trading of precious metals and stones
Money services (such as foreign exchange, loan providers, money transfers)
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
Sale, import and export of used vehicles or heavy machinery
Escort services and other services in the adult industry
Bidding fee auctions
Unregistered charities and charities that aren’t incorporate

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

Question 11

What fees will my clients be charged?

Accepted Answer

We don’t charge monthly or annual fees for our current account.

Your clients will only pay for what they use:

Bank transfers (in or out) - 20p*
Cash withdrawals in GBP - £1
Cash deposits (through the Post Office) - £2.50 for deposits up to £500, or 0.5% of the total deposit amount for deposits over £500
Cash deposits (through PayPoint) - 3% of the total deposit value
Payments between Tide accounts - Free
Card transactions in GBP (home and abroad) - Free**

* The payment fee (20p) is automatically deducted. For Outbound transactions, your clients will see the amount plus this fee on their confirmation screen. Inbound payments will arrive minus the fee.

Members on our Lite plan will get 5 free monthly transfers. Members on our Smart, Pro and Max plans also have a monthly free transfer allowance – check how it works for each plan over on this page.

** Free plan members are charged a fee of 2.75 % of the transaction amount, for card payments or ATM withdrawals in foreign currencies. Smart, Pro and Max plan members will not be charged this fee.

Question 12

Can my clients who live internationally get a Tide account?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Applicants who are not based in the UK may apply for a registered business 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 their application, and all accounts are subject to approval criteria. Your clients will need to switch their Google Play or App store to the UK to download the Tide app.

Question 13

Will Tide refer their members to me?

Accepted Answer

At the moment, we’re not able to support this kind of partnership, but watch this space!

Question 14

Do you offer overdrafts?

Accepted Answer

Whilst we don’t offer overdrafts, we’ve partnered with Iwoca to bring you business loans – allowing you to apply for up to £150,000 of credit straight through the app, which can be used as an alternative to a traditional overdraft. Your clients can apply straight through the app, on the home screen. For more information visit our business loans page.

Question 15

Can my clients log in to their account from a desktop?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Your clients can access their account from a desktop at web.tide.co by using the QR code scanner found within the Tide app.

Question 16

Can I make payments on behalf of my clients?

Accepted Answer

No, but you can have read-access of their full transactional data, available for download whenever you like!

Question 17

Is my client’s money safe?

Accepted Answer

Yes, your client's money is safe with Tide. Most of our members have ClearBank accounts and their eligible deposits up to £120,000 are protected by the UK Government’s deposit guarantee scheme. This is the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). If the sort code of your client's account is 04-06-05, then it's a ClearBank account. In the past we offered e-money accounts to new members, but we no longer do. If your client still has an e-money account with us, then the money in their account is stored and protected. With an e-money account, the money is never invested or loaned out, and is safeguarded in line with regulatory requirements. FSCS protection does not apply to the legacy e-money accounts. If the sort code of your client's account is 23-69-72, then it's a legacy e-money account.

Question 18

Can my clients make and receive international payments?

Accepted Answer

Yes, your clients can make and receive international payments in EUR via SEPA (The Single Euro Payments Area) now.

They can also receive international payments via SWIFT.

Here’s our International Payments FAQ that explains the types of payments we offer and accept, and any fees involved.

Question 19

Does Tide carry out credit checks when opening accounts?

Accepted Answer

No! To open a current account, we perform electronic checks run by third-party services to verify your client’s identity and comply with UK anti-money laundering regulations. While these checks will not impact your client’s credit score, they will appear on your client’s credit report.

ACCOUNTING PARTNERS

Become an accounting partner today

Join over 1,800 accountants today!

A tailored package that benefits you and your clients

Member Incentive

Accountant Commission

Why you should partner with Tide

Join a market leader

Earn competitive commissions

Boost your growth

Dedicated support for your clients

Strengthen your profile

Easy-build promotional campaigns

Give your clients the tools they need to grow seamlessly

Company Registration

Business Bank Account

Business Savings Account

Tide Card Readers

Invoicing

Business Loans

Tide Accounting

Accountancy Integrations

Tide Payroll

Access a range of business finance options from our trusted partners

Unlock even more features for your clients

Payment Links

Auto-categorisation

Virtual Cards

International Payments

Expense Cards

CSV exports and more

How to become an accounting partner at Tide

Partner Programme FAQs