Current Tide business accounts: ClearBank and FSCS protection
The Tide Business Current Account is powered by ClearBank, a licensed UK bank authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Because the account infrastructure sits with a licensed bank, eligible deposits held in the Tide business current account can receive FSCS protection.
From 1 December 2025, the standard FSCS deposit-protection limit is £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm. This applies to eligible deposits held with ClearBank through your Tide account, subject to eligibility and FSCS aggregation rules.
The aggregation rule means that if you already hold deposits with ClearBank through another provider, those balances count toward your £120,000 limit. For most businesses with a modest working balance, this is not a practical concern, but it is worth checking if you hold significant sums across multiple ClearBank-powered accounts.
How Tide is regulated
Tide Platform Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an e-money institution (FCA register number 900843). It is the company you interact with: it builds the app, runs customer support and owns the account relationship.
Tide Platform Limited is not itself a bank and does not hold a banking licence. The banking infrastructure — the sort code, account number, Faster Payments access and deposit protection — is provided by ClearBank (FCA register number 754568), a fully licensed UK bank that sits behind the Tide product.
This is a common and well-established structure in UK fintech: a regulated technology and payments company builds the customer-facing product, while a licensed bank provides the regulated banking infrastructure underneath.
PPT-powered Tide e-money accounts
Some Tide members hold e-money accounts powered by PrePay Technologies Limited (PPT), normally associated with sort code 23-69-72. PPT is an electronic money institution, not a bank.
Funds in a PPT-powered Tide e-money account are safeguarded: PPT holds an equivalent amount in a safeguarding account to protect members if PPT becomes insolvent. Safeguarded funds are not FSCS-eligible deposits.
Tide Business Current Accounts powered by ClearBank are normally associated with sort code 04-06-05. If you are unsure which type you hold, check your sort code, Tide app and the current product terms before relying on a protection statement.
Fraud controls and account security
Beyond the structural protection question, day-to-day safety is mostly about the controls you use. Tide supports two-factor authentication for login and for authorising higher-risk actions, and offers in-app controls to freeze and unfreeze your card instantly.
UK payment providers including Tide also participate in Confirmation of Payee — the industry check that confirms whether the name on a payment matches the account you are sending to before you complete a transfer. This is one of the most effective everyday defences against misdirected payments and certain types of invoice fraud.
Practical risk management
- Use Tide for trading and working capital rather than as the home for a large reserve you cannot afford to have tied up.
- Check whether you already hold deposits with ClearBank through another provider — those balances count toward your £120,000 FSCS limit.
- Turn on every available security control: two-factor authentication, transaction alerts, instant card freeze, and Confirmation of Payee checks on new payees.
- Keep a second account with a different provider so a freeze or outage does not stop your business.
- Reconcile weekly — fraud found early is far easier to resolve than fraud found at month end.
Account freezes and compliance reviews
Most complaints about fintech providers concern sudden account restrictions during compliance reviews. This is not unique to Tide; it happens across the sector because firms are obliged to act on certain signals under anti-money-laundering rules. The defence is straightforward: describe your business accurately at signup, keep documentation for unusual inbound payments, and do not run personal money through a business account.
If your account is restricted, respond promptly and fully to any information request — incomplete responses are the most common reason a review drags on. Having a second account elsewhere means a review does not stop you paying staff or suppliers while it is resolved.