Tide (financial service)

Tide (Tide Platform Limited) is a UK financial technology company providing mobile-first banking services for small and medium-sized enterprises. It enables businesses to set up a current account and get instant access to various financial services (including automated bookkeeping and integrated invoicing). Established in 2015, Tide is one of the first digital-only finance platforms in the UK to provide current accounts for businesses.

For other uses, see Tide (disambiguation).
Tide Platform Limited
Private
IndustryFinTech
PredecessorStarfish Platform Limited[1]
Founded18 May 2015 (2015-05-18)[1]
FounderGeorge Bevis[2][3]
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
Oliver Prill (CEO),[4] Eileen Burbidge (Chairman)[5][6]
ProductsCurrent accounts for small and medium-sized enterprises[7]
ServicesAutomated bookkeeping, integrated invoicing, financial services, accounting software integrations[8][9]
Number of employees
80[10] (2018)
Websitewww.tide.co

History

Tide was founded by George Bevis, who previously worked as a banker.[6] He was joined by the UK Government advisor, venture capitalist and founder of Passion Capital, Eileen Burbidge, who became the Chairman of Tide.[6]

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.[11] Banking services are provided by PrePay Solutions, which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.[9][12] Tide became one of the first digital-only finance platforms in the UK to provide accounts for businesses.[13]

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.[6][14][5]

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.[13][19] Alongside this, Tide announced a partnership with European online lender iwoca, to initiate its first loan program.[13][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, an updated FreeAgent integration and Team Cards.[24][25][26] Later in March 2018, George Bevis announced he intended to stand down from his CEO role.[3] In August 2018, Oliver Prill, former chief operating officer at German online lender Kreditech, joined Tide as CEO.[10][27] Later in August 2018, Tide secured £8m in bridge funding by existing investors Anthemis, Creandum and Passion Capital joined by new investor Augmentum Fintech.[28][10]

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]

Products and services
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 will be sent a Mastercard debit card to use for business transactions.[14] Tide business service is available on iPhone, Android devices and on desktop.[16]

The firm also offers an automated bookkeeping service and integrated invoicing.[16][8] Tide developed its own API that allows integrations with the loan provider iwoca, as well as with accounting software such as Xero, FreeAgent, ReckonOne and Sage.[7][36] Tide was one of five fintech disruptors to launch Xero Bank Feed integration, alongside Starling Bank, TransferWise, Revolut and Soldo.[37]

Tide has partnerships with PayPoint and with the Post Office to facilitate cash deposit services.[38][7]

gollark: Well, Rust still does this more nicely.
gollark: I see.
gollark: Rust would just infer when you need to Drop things.
gollark: Besides, you have to do that repeatedly and might forget it!
gollark: Modern garbage collectors are very good so that doesn't really happen.

References
  1. "Tide Platform Limited". Companies House. 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  2. Withers, Iain (2017-10-21). "Sunday interview: Digital business bank Tide 'shooting at open goal'". The Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2017-10-22. Retrieved 2019-03-16.(subscription required)
  3. O'Hear, Steve (2018-03-22). "The founder of business banking startup Tide plans to step down as CEO". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  4. Megaw, Nicholas (2019-02-22). "Metro Bank wins biggest share of RBS fund to boost competition". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-03-16.(subscription required)
  5. Burn-Callander, Rebecca (2016-07-30). "Wonga and Zoopla founders back mobile bank start-up". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2019-03-16.(subscription required)
  6. Williams-Grut, Oscar (2016-07-25). "There's a new digital-only bank and its CEO says Brexit is the 'perfect scenario' to launch". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  7. Jobson, Myron (2019-02-11). "Tide targets 16% share of the small business banking market with a grant from the £775m RBS remedy package - but is it any good?". thisismoney.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-02-11. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  8. Rubini, Agustín (2018). "Commercial Banking Transformation". Fintech in a Flash: Financial Technology Made Easy (3d ed.). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-5474-1716-2 – via Google Books.
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  10. Field, Matthew (2018-12-10). "Start-up business bank Tide doubles accounts as it eyes new funding". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
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  12. Shapland, Mark (2018-05-08). "How digital banks are trying to shake up the City's titans". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 2018-07-11. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  13. Lunden, Ingrid (2017-07-03). "UK's Tide raises $14M to challenge big banks with a mobile-first service for SMBs". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  14. Butcher, Mike (2016-07-25). "Super-fast small biz mobile banking service Tide raises $2M seed round". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
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  17. "Tide Bank goes underground to raise profile". IBS Intelligence. 2017-03-06. Archived from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  18. Borri, Anais (2017). "Turning the Tide". Fintech Age (Spring 2017): 8–9. Retrieved 2019-03-16 – via issuu.
  19. Hodgson, Camilla (2017-07-04). "Banking startup Tide raises $14 million to 'give small businesses back their time'". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  20. Lee, Peter (2017-07-14). "Fintech: Incumbents and disruptors all want a piece of iwoca". Euromoney. Archived from the original on 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  21. Weeks, Ryan (2017-10-10). "Fintech lender launches API, partners with digital bank". altfi.com. Archived from the original on 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  22. "No more waiting for the credit you deserve". Tide. 2017-11-14. Archived from the original on 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
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  25. Andreasyan, Tanya (2018-03-21). "UK regulator grants Tide e-money authorisation". bankingtech.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  26. Nicolle, Emily (2018-03-21). "Tide gets FCA-authorised, launches new card and integrations". altfi.com. Archived from the original on 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
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  28. Osborn, Theo. "Tide secures £8m of funding". specialistbanking.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
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  30. "Tide calls on HM Treasury to allow non-banks to compete for RBS bail out cash". finextra.com. 2018-10-01. Archived from the original on 2019-03-22.
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  33. English, Simon (2019-03-20). "Tide turns Royal Bank of Scotland handout to farce as critics cry foul". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 2019-03-22. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  34. Cockar, Maryam. "Challenger bank Tide backs calls for SME tribunal". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 2019-02-10. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
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