What it is
The Tide card reader is a small, usually portable device that lets you accept in-person card payments — chip and PIN, contactless, and mobile wallet payments like Apple Pay or Google Pay — with funds settling into your Tide business account. It's aimed at traders, market stalls, mobile services and small retail that need to take payment on the spot rather than relying on bank transfer or cash.
Who can access it and on which plans
The card reader is generally available as a purchasable device or add-on rather than something bundled free into every plan, and may be more readily available or discounted on certain plan tiers. Availability and any plan-specific pricing changes over time, so check current terms on our plans and fees page or Tide's own page before ordering one, particularly if you're comparing the total cost against a rival reader.
How it works step by step
- Order the card reader through the Tide app or website.
- Pair it with your phone via Bluetooth or a similar connection once it arrives.
- Take payment by inserting, tapping or presenting a mobile wallet at the point of sale.
- The transaction is processed through the underlying payment network and settles into your Tide account, typically within a set number of days.
- Each transaction appears in your feed, usually net of the per-transaction processing fee.
Current cost and allowances
There's usually a one-off or discounted cost to obtain the device itself, plus a per-transaction processing fee (often a percentage of the transaction value) charged whenever it's used. Both the device cost and the transaction fee are set by Tide and its payment processing partner and can change, so check the current figures on our plans and fees page before relying on the reader for high transaction volumes where the percentage fee matters most.
A worked example
A market trader selling handmade goods at weekend markets takes roughly £400 across 30 transactions each Saturday. Previously cash-only, she buys a card reader to stop losing sales to customers without cash on them. Each card sale settles into her Tide account within a few days, net of the processing fee, and she can see exactly which items sold via the transaction notes she adds at the point of sale. Over a season, the extra card sales she captures outweigh the processing fees she pays.
Limitations and exclusions
The card reader needs a phone with Bluetooth and, in most cases, a data connection to process transactions, so it's less reliable in areas with poor signal. It's built for occasional-to-moderate volume rather than high-throughput retail, where a dedicated fixed till system might suit better. Settlement isn't usually instant — funds typically take a few working days to appear in the account, which matters for cash-flow-sensitive traders.
How it compares with alternatives
SumUp and Zettle are the most direct comparisons: standalone card reader providers with their own settlement accounts, meaning money lands there first before you'd transfer it to your bank if you're not banking with them directly. Tide's advantage is settlement straight into the account you already use for everything else, avoiding a second app and a second transfer step. The trade-off is that dedicated readers sometimes offer more competitive processing rates at higher volumes, so a high-volume trader should compare the actual percentage fee before committing.
Relationship to the REFER200 offer
The card reader is about accepting payments from customers, not spending money yourself, so transactions taken through it are income, not qualifying card spend, and don't count towards the £100 spend step. It has no direct bearing on either half of the REFER200 offer.