The problem, stated plainly
Your running total of card spend looks like it should have reached £100 within the 30-day window, but the qualifying figure shown, or the outcome after the deadline, suggests otherwise. The gap is almost always explained by one of a short list of exclusions below, combined with settlement timing. Work through these in order before contacting support.
Immediate checks, in order
- Filter your transaction list to settled card payments only, ignoring pending and declined items.
- Check for any refunds, reversals or chargebacks against payments you had counted.
- Check the date each qualifying payment actually settled, not the date you made the purchase.
- Remove anything that was a transfer, ATM withdrawal, Tide fee, or Direct Debit — none of these are card spend.
- Recalculate the settled, non-refunded total and compare it against £100.
It has not settled yet
Card payments pass through authorisation before settlement. Only settled payments count, and settlement can lag by several days. This is why spending in the final week of the window is a bad plan even though the money has clearly left your control.
It was not card spend
- Bank transfers, including to your own accounts, are not card transactions.
- ATM withdrawals are cash access, not card spend.
- Tide fees and plan charges are not qualifying spend.
- Direct Debits and standing orders are not card payments.
It was refunded or reversed
A refund removes the payment from your qualifying total. So does a chargeback or a merchant reversal. If you bought something and returned it, that spend has effectively been undone for campaign purposes.
It was declined or is still pending
A declined transaction never happened. A pending one has not happened yet. Neither counts, and both can appear in an app view that makes them look like activity.
The dates and window that matter
The relevant period is the 30-day window measured from your account opening date, not from any other date such as your first card payment. A settled payment that falls even one day outside that window does not count, regardless of when it was authorised. See our page on the card spend requirement and on qualifying card transactions for the full mechanics.
Evidence checklist
- Full transaction list for the 30-day window, exported or screenshotted, showing status for each item.
- Any refund or chargeback notifications relating to those transactions.
- Your account opening date, to confirm the window boundaries.
- A running total of settled, non-refunded card payments only.
How to get back on track
- Add up only settled, non-refunded card payments — ignore everything else.
- Work out the shortfall and cover it with genuine business costs you were going to pay anyway.
- Complete it well before the deadline so settlement has room.
- Screenshot the settled total once you are over £100.
How and when to contact Tide support
If your recalculated settled total is genuinely £100 or more and the reward step still has not been recognised after the deadline and the usual validation window, contact support in-app. State your account opening date, the exact settled total with a breakdown, and ask specifically whether the £75 step has been validated. Do not ask Tide to count a payment that has not settled or that was refunded — that is not a processing error, it is the mechanics working as designed.
What support can and cannot do
Support can tell you exactly which transactions were counted and why one was excluded, and correct a genuine system error. Support cannot count a transfer, ATM withdrawal or refunded payment as qualifying spend, and cannot promise in advance that a borderline payment will be included before settlement has actually occurred.