Is Tide safe?

FCA authorisation

Tide is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. Authorisation covers how Tide handles customer money, the services it provides, conduct rules and complaints handling. You can verify a firm's authorisation on the FCA Register — search "Tide" and check the FRN matches the entity you contract with in the app.

FCA authorisation is not the same as a banking licence. It means Tide is regulated; it doesn't mean every Tide product is a bank deposit. Which Tide product you hold determines what protection applies.

The ClearBank partnership and FSCS

Tide partners with ClearBank — a UK-authorised clearing bank — to issue business bank accounts. Funds you hold in a ClearBank-issued account are held with ClearBank, not Tide. That makes them eligible for FSCS protection up to £85,000 per eligible depositor in the event ClearBank were to fail.

The £85,000 limit is per depositor across all accounts you hold at ClearBank — including any held directly or via other fintechs that partner with ClearBank. If you split deposits across multiple ClearBank-fronted fintechs, FSCS limits aggregate across them.

E-money safeguarding

Some Tide products — particularly historic accounts and certain newer flows — are e-money accounts rather than bank accounts. E-money is not FSCS-protected. Instead, e-money issuers are required by law to safeguard customer funds: they hold an amount equivalent to your balance in a segregated account at an authorised bank, or in low-risk liquid assets, ring-fenced from the issuer's own money.

In a failure scenario, safeguarded funds are returned to customers from the segregated pool rather than via the FSCS scheme. The mechanism is different and the timing can be slower, but the principle — your money is not the issuer's money — is the same.

How to know which account type you have

Check the welcome documentation and account details in the app — bank account references will name ClearBank as the issuer. If you'll regularly hold balances close to or above £85,000, contact Tide support to confirm the issuer of your specific account before relying on FSCS coverage.

Identity checks (KYC) and AML

Tide runs full KYC at application — photo ID, address, business details and director/PSC information for limited companies. Higher-risk MCCs and businesses are sometimes declined or asked for more documentation. These checks exist to comply with UK Money Laundering Regulations and aren't a negative signal about your application.

Fraud protection and dispute handling

Tide operates 24/7 transaction monitoring, in-app card freezing, 3DS authentication for online card payments, and follows UK regulatory rules on authorised push payment (APP) scams and unauthorised transactions. Reimbursement for scam losses depends on the specific scenario and current regulation — always raise disputes through the app promptly and keep evidence of communications.

Operational risk

All providers have downtime occasionally. Tide publishes status and incident notes; a sensible operational hedge — for any provider, not just Tide — is to maintain a second business account at a different provider so you're never one outage away from being unable to pay suppliers or accept payments.

What to check before opening

• Which account type you'll be issued (bank account vs e-money).
• Whether your deposits will be FSCS-eligible.
• The latest terms and any updates on tide.co.
• That the FCA Register entry matches the entity you're contracting with.