Tide (financial service)

Tide was founded by George Bevis, who previously worked as a banker.[9] He was joined by the UK Government advisor, venture capitalist and founder of Passion Capital, Eileen Burbidge, who became the Chairman of Tide.[9]

The company was registered on May 18, 2015.[1] It received the Financial Conduct Authority’s permission to provide financial products and services in February 2016.[10] Banking services are provided by PrePay Solutions, which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.[7][11] Tide became one of the first digital-only finance platforms in the UK to provide accounts for businesses.[12]

In July 2016, the company received $2 million (£1.5 million) in seed funding from Eileen Burbidge’s Passion Capital, Robin Klein’s LocalGlobe, Zoopla’s founder Alex Chesterman, Wonga founder Errol Damelin and a number of other investors.[9][13][14]

The Tide mobile app was in beta mode until the official launch in January 2017.[15][16] In March 2017, the company opened a pop-up store at London’s Old Street station.[17][18]

In July 2017, Tide secured an £11m series A investment from specialist fintech funds Anthemis and Creandum. Money was also raised from Tide’s existing investors, Passion Capital and LocalGlobe.[12][19] Alongside this, Tide announced a partnership with European online lender iwoca, to initiate its first loan program.[12][20] An integration named Tide Credit was launched in October 2017.[21][22] Tide offered credit lending of up to £150,000 directly through the app.[22]

In January 2018, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) granted Tide authorisation as an electronic money institution (Authorised Electronic Money Institution).[23] In March 2018, Tide presented a new logo and launched several product features, including a new vertical card design, updated FreeAgent integration and Team Cards.[24][25][26] Later in March 2018, George Bevis announced he intended to step down from his CEO role.[3] In August 2018, Oliver Prill, former chief operating officer at German online lender Kreditech, joined Tide as CEO.[27] Later in August 2018, Tide secured £8m in bridge funding from existing investors Anthemis, Creandum and Passion Capital, joined by new investor Augmentum Fintech.[28][27]

In September 2018, Tide argued that just £65m of the total £775m Royal Bank of Scotland bail-out fund was available for non-deposit-taking firms. CEO Oliver Prill wrote to the Treasury urging it to change the rules for the contest.[29][30] In January 2019, ClearBank announced a partnership with Tide to bid for a grant from Pool A of the Capability and Innovation Fund that formed part of RBS’s alternative remedies package.[31] Later in February 2019, Banking Competition Remedies Ltd granted ClearBank £60 million in funding from Pool A of the Capability and Innovation Fund.[32] This decision has been criticized by competitors, saying that Tide didn’t have a banking licence and stating that a £60 million grant was no more than a boost to Tide’s venture capital investors.[33]

In February 2019, Tide backed calls for a financial services tribunal for small businesses to settle disputes with their lenders.[34] In March 2019, the company announced plans to raise £60 million from investors.[35] In October of the same year, the company raised £44.1m in Series B fundraising, with the SBI Group and Augmentum Fintech leading the funding round.[36] This fundraising followed the appointment of Guy Duncan as CTO in September 2019.[37] In September 2020, Tide appointed Sir Donald Brydon as its first independent Chair.[5]

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, a great many firms required funding to cope with the financial consequences of the pandemic and the lockdowns enforced by it. As a non-bank lender, it does not hold deposits but relies on money raised from investors. Tide lent over £50m to just under 2,000 small businesses under the BBL scheme but was forced to close applications in July after running out of funds.[38][39]

Tide does not qualify for the Bank of England's term funding scheme aimed at small business lending, which enables banks to borrow cash to fund bounce back loans (BBLs) at a flat interest rate of 2.5%. The company "continued to ask" the government for access to Bank of England loans to fund further BBLs. The lack of available finance affected the 250,000 small and medium-sized businesses which were unable to use the BBL scheme earlier as they did not bank with any of the 28 accredited lenders.[38]

Tide app for iOS, card overview (April 2019)

Tide has created a set of finance tools for small business owners. Customers can open business current accounts straight from their mobile phone by scanning an ID and are sent a Mastercard debit card to use for business transactions.[13] Tide business service is available on iPhone and Android devices, and on desktop computers.[16]

The firm also offers an automated bookkeeping service and integrated invoicing.[16][6] Tide developed an API that allows integrations with the loan provider iwoca, and with accounting software such as Xero, FreeAgent, ReckonOne and Sage.[40] Tide was one of five fintech disruptors to launch Xero Bank Feed integration, alongside Starling Bank, TransferWise, Revolut and Soldo.[41]

Tide has partnerships with PayPoint and with the Post Office to facilitate cash deposit services.[42]

• Official website