“Stay away will freeze your account and keep you in the dark still. Have 10k stuck with them and all I get is well were doing checks for a week to see if I'm able to transfer money to my other account”
“Total and utter discrace
The chat system is slow, account frozen with no warning or reason given
I have staff, suppliers and bills to pay and they don’t give a shit
I even got told today that by chasing them was a waste of time and make no difference
Takes 20 days apparently but that can take longer
I will attach a very typical reply from them”
“As the director of a transportation company, I feel compelled to share my distressing experience with Tide Bank (Clear Bank) to warn other businesses and potential clients of the pitfalls they might encounter. My account with Tide Bank has been an integral part of my business operations since March 2021. However, the bank's recent actions have not only disrupted my business but also raised serious concerns about their professionalism and customer care.
Sudden Account Freeze and Inaccessibility to Funds:
Tide Bank, without warning or explanation, froze my business account, cutting off access to my funds. This arbitrary action has left my company in a precarious situation, unable to make payments for goods, services, or meet obligations to contractors and employees. The blockage of incoming payments only adds to the distress, hindering the smooth running of my business.
Unexplained and Inadequate Communication:
Adding to the frustration, Tide Bank's communication has been far from satisfactory. A request was sent via their banking app asking me to document certain transactions. I complied by sending the requested documents in photo format, as I lacked access to scanning facilities at that time. Despite this, on February 16, I received an email informing me of the imminent closure of my account and requesting details of an alternative account to transfer my funds. The lack of clarity and reason behind these actions is alarming.
Inaccessible Customer Service:
Since the freezing of my account, attempts to contact Tide Bank have been futile. Neither emails nor messages through their app have been answered. This lack of response is unprofessional and disrespectful, leaving me without crucial information about the status of my funds and the future of my business banking.
Questionable App Communication Practices:
The reliance on app-based communication by Tide Bank has proven to be ineffective. Notifications don't always appear reliably on phones, and the absence of timestamps in the app's correspondence makes it difficult to track and document interactions properly. This lack of transparency favors the bank and puts customers at a disadvantage.
Previous Technical Issues with the Banking App:
This is not the first time that Tide's banking app has caused operational disruptions. Past technical issues have often resulted in limited access to banking services, with no prior notice of planned maintenance. Such unreliability is unacceptable for any business relying on seamless financial operations.
Potential Retaliatory Actions for Voicing Concerns:
My decision to share my grievances on TrustPilot seems to have led to further punitive measures from Tide Bank. Rather than addressing the issues I raised, they chose to freeze and then close my account. This reaction to customer feedback is concerning and suggests a lack of commitment to resolving legitimate customer concerns.
Echoing Complaints from Other Users:
I am not alone in my experiences. Other Tide Bank users have expressed similar frustrations on platforms like TrustPilot. It appears that my case is not an isolated incident but part of a larger pattern of inadequate service and disregard for customer needs.
In conclusion, I strongly advise current and potential customers of Tide Bank to reconsider their banking choices. The bank's handling of my account, lack of transparent communication, and apparent indifference to the impact on my business are red flags that cannot be ignored. It is crucial to partner with a financial institution that values its customers and provides reliable, professional service. Unfortunately, based on my experience, Tide Bank falls short of these essential criteria.”
“Summed up in short, shockingly bad! Customer service is terrible, they only have a chat system which resulted in endless amount of chats with no real outcome at the end. Set up the account and after about a week of putting up with nonsense and no customer support whatsoever, I closed my account. I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be if actual £’s were involved!”
“This actually deserves no stars. Absolutely useless organization. . Tried to open an account it was torture. Conflicting information, “we will be in touch promises” with no answer. Multiple contacts from TIDE from different people making their organization look dysfunctional.
Once the account account was opened their ridiculous mithering held our account hostage despite as a new business we needed to pay urgent invoices. Muck promise from eager to please minions but frankly no action with much lying. Suggest you avoid them.”
“This actually deserves no stars. Absolutely useless organization. . Tried to open an account it was torture. Conflicting information, “we will be in touch promises” with no answer. Multiple contacts from TIDE from different people making their organization look dysfunctional.
Once the account account was opened their ridiculous mithering held our account hostage despite as a new business we needed to pay urgent invoices. Muck promise from eager to please minions but frankly no action with much lying. Suggest you avoid them.”
“AVOID by all cost. Suspended my account today with no explanation. No communication at all. Tried to contact them by chat and got absolutely no where. Put a complaint in and takes 3-15 days what an absolute joke tide is.”
“This is the worst bank ever I would never recommend to use this bank to anyone.
I’m unable to make the payments, the application doesn’t work which cause the problem running my business.
This is not the first time it happened.”
“They are not a bank, they're a laughing stock!! The give you an IBAN number on the app but fail to mention that you can only be paid in GDP. An American client made a payment however unbeknown to them or me, the bank took the payment but did not place into my account. Tide stated my clients should have their bank request the monies are returned, which they did. 2 weeks later, the funds were still not returned. When you message Tides customer service, you will typically receive a generic response within 3 days, and this is to ask a ridiculous question. When you pay for an account upgrade, just for the pleasure of speaking to someone, you'll be told someone will call you back. This again, will take days, and with no assistance. My Tide account will be closing as soon as this matter is resolved, whether through the FCA or solicitors. These people are not fit for purpose and should be avoided without question!!”
“I had 2 business accounts with Tide and honestly it was the biggest regret of my entire life, my first company account got frozen whilst they conducted a review “following FCA guidelines” leaving me unable to receive money for weeks, I managed to open a new account for my company with Barclays (who are great) and then spent weeks begging tide to close my account down whilst they still took fees from me
My second company account had a £20,000 invoice due to be paid from a client in the next day or two, Tide decided to freeze my account for a review on 3 small transactions from November last year, I explained how important it was for my invoice to be able to get paid in and they confirmed to me that no money will enter my account whilst the review takes place for the next 3-5 working days
I begged and pleaded for them to unfreeze my account as I have staff and bills to pay out of the invoice, after 6 hours of messaging back and forth they made the decision to CLOSE MY ACCOUNT WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT!!! Meaning my £20,000 invoice due will get rejected back to the client and the other £20,000 invoice I had pending through tide is also lost
No matter your situation do not ever even contemplate opening a tide account, this is your urgent warning to avoid them now!!”
“Ive had nothing but problems with this company since i opened a bank with them in 2023.
But most recently they are just USELESS!!! Messaged about an unauthorised payment and straight away they froze my account leaving me unable to pay my bills or rent. Over a 93p payment. Then the woman i was speaking to just stopped responding. I got a reply from someone else saying i had to order a new card, so basically rather than helping me they let the payment come out anyway, dint adress the actual issue, ive had other payments declined because they froze my account and had to order a new card and wait for it it come then ill have to update all my accounts with this new card.
But better than that they now say if you want support or replies from customer service you have to pay an extra 9.99 a month... so basically you cant speak to anyone and if you actually need help you have to upgrade your account again and pay even more. Will be taking my business elsewhere the first opportunity i get!”
“Absolutely disgraceful service. They never answer calls. They also took money to register my company for VAT. I tried to cancel this transaction but they still have the money and I have no way of getting it back!!”
“I reported that a person failed to provide the service i paid for and the person is well known to collect customer money and not deliver, i even provided a videoclip from 2 yrs ago of the person being exposed as a scammer, Tide advice i contacted CAB as its civil dispute and because i made faster payment they are unable to intervene and also if its a card transaction, they MAY have been able to raise a dispute, which i then inform the person doesn't have card machine and i don't have a cheque book, so safest way is to pay by bank transfer in case something like this happens. I find this bank very unhelpful and thus allowing this kind of scammers to succeed.”
“No need to go through the numerous potentially fake reviews here
I personally have a tide account which i will be closing the second these imbeciles unblock restrictions on my account, and my friend also had a tide account. We both had similar experiences. In conclusion, if you hardly use you tide account or only use it for small payments then you will be fine the second you start having over say £500 going in and out of your account you might aswell jump of a ledge off a 40 storey building because this bank will take you on a rollercoaster ride constantly demanding you prove what business you are doing regardless of the fact that you have already provides all evidence multiple times on separate dates for unrelated transactions. Im sure tide will have a smart ass answer but heres the reality, stick with highstreet banks or you could try revolut or sterling (unfortunately i havent tried these yet)…. Either way for a peaceful financial experience steer clear of tide”
“TIDE IS PROPER DECEPTIVE SCAM AND ILLEGITIMATE. THEY WILL ROB/STEAL YOUR MONEY BY SUSPECIOULY CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNTS. THEY SELL YOUR DATA AND MISUSE IT. HIGH STREET BANKS AND OTHER BUSINESS DO NOT TRUST TRANSACTION WITH TIDE ACCOUNT. WE ARE TAKING LEGAL ACTION ABOUT THIS SCAM, MANIPUALTIVE, ILLEGITIMATE AND DECEPTIVE THEF. PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE A VICTIME AND WE WIL HELP YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK.”
“Honestly speaking never recommend this they not based uk they freeze accounts without telling u (money still in)
Really annoying losing business so be careful open your bank with only trusted bank like Lloyd Barclays NatWest etc
Be aware tide can scam u any time and u can’t claim ur money even u are 100% legit business owners
Don’t waste your time and money
Never recommended”
“Same problem as Arkadiusz.
Cannot access my account. Keep getting told by support it must be a problem with my phone/computer. Nonsense. I've tried other devices - same issue. Also, noticed QR code for logging on keeps switching. Doesn't seem right. In fact - nothing seems right with this crowd.”
