What it is
Tide expense cards let you issue additional debit cards, physical or virtual, linked to your main business account, to employees, contractors or partners. Each card can carry its own spend limit and category restrictions, and every transaction on it appears in the shared transaction feed, categorised and attributable to that card holder — so you're not reconciling a pile of personal expense claims after the fact.
Who can access it and on which plans
A small number of expense cards, or the ability to issue at least one, is often available even on lower or free tiers, with the number of included cards increasing on paid plans. Businesses needing cards for a larger team typically need a higher plan tier or pay per additional card beyond their plan's allowance. Check the current number of included cards per plan on our plans and fees page, since Tide adjusts these allowances from time to time.
How it works step by step
- From the app, choose to issue a new card and assign it to a named team member.
- Set a spend limit — daily, weekly or per-transaction, depending on what's supported.
- Optionally restrict the card to certain merchant categories.
- The card holder receives a physical card by post, or a virtual card instantly for online spending.
- Every transaction appears in the main feed tagged to that card and card holder, ready for categorisation.
- Freeze, adjust limits on, or cancel any card instantly from the app if needed.
Current cost and allowances
A set number of cards is typically included per plan, with additional cards beyond that allowance charged individually, either as a one-off issuance fee, a small ongoing fee, or both. There's no standard cost for using a card day-to-day beyond normal transaction handling. Check current per-card costs and plan allowances on our plans and fees page before issuing more cards than your plan includes.
A worked example
A catering business with three part-time staff issues each of them a card with a £50 daily limit restricted to fuel and supermarket categories, for buying ingredients and fuel on delivery days. The owner sets the limits once, and each week reviews the feed rather than collecting receipts and reimbursing three separate expense claims. When one staff member leaves, the owner freezes their card immediately from the app rather than needing to physically retrieve it before it becomes a liability.
Limitations and exclusions
Expense cards draw directly from the main business account balance rather than a pre-loaded, ring-fenced pot in the way some dedicated expense management platforms allow, so a card holder can only be limited by transaction rules, not by a separately funded budget. Reporting is also simpler than dedicated expense platforms like Pleo or Soldo, which offer receipt-matching workflows and approval chains built for larger teams.
How it compares with alternatives
Dedicated expense card platforms such as Pleo or Soldo offer deeper controls — pre-funded budgets, multi-step approvals, richer reporting — but run as a separate subscription and a separate account relationship layered on top of your bank. Tide's cards are shallower on controls but need no second sign-up: the card, the transaction and the account are the same system, which suits a small team more than a large one with formal expense policies.
Relationship to the REFER200 offer
This is one of the more direct connections in the feature set: spending on an expense card issued from the account you opened can count as qualifying card spend towards the £100 threshold for the £75 step, subject to what currently counts as a qualifying transaction under the campaign terms. If you're relying on team spend to hit £100 within the 30-day window, check the current terms for any exclusions (e.g. certain transaction types or cash withdrawals) before assuming every card purchase counts.