Tide officially launches app and Business Account in India

UK SME banking provider Tide has launched in India, rolling out its app on the Google Play Store for Android smartphones and opening applications for its Business Account.

Over the next 24 months, Tide says it now plans to onboard 500,000 SMEs in India, rapidly scaling up as part of the £100m investment it is making in the country.

Tide says that all businesses will be onboarded via a full Know Your Customer (KYC) process, and only then will be able to access their accounts and start making transactions.

To start off with Tide is only offering a basic account with spending and expense tracking and card payments, but next year if working to add a full Current and Savings Account complete with bank transfers, invoicing and more, ultimately reaching parity between its Indian and UK offerings.

“We believe there is a vast untapped segment of small businesses in India that hasn’t been formally accounted for,” said Tide CEO Oliver Prill, announcing the launch today.

“We, at Tide, are committed to introducing and including a large segment of this market into the formal economy.”

Tide first announced its intention to expand to India in January 2021 with a plan to rollout services towards the end of the year, however, this was later revised to “early” 2022, and eventually to “later” in 2022.

The launch today was also welcomed by the UK’s Minister for Trade Policy, Greg Hands, who said it was: “fantastic to see Tide has chosen India as its first international market.

“As we continue negotiations on a future-facing trade agreement with India—whose middle-class is set to reach 250m by 2050—any deal which makes it easier for businesses to reach this consumer market could unlock huge benefits for UK firms like Tide.”