Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Account is Better? - Business Expert
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Tide and Revolut both offer a range of digital bank accounts for businesses and freelancers.

They’re both top-rated challenger banks with competitive offerings for both new and established companies.

But which is right for your business?

In this article, we’ll compare their banking features, fees, security, and customer service to gauge their differences.

We’ll also consider other factors, such as interest rates, mobile apps, customer service, and account-switching processes, to help you decide which to sign up with.

tide vs revolut bank illustration

Tide vs Revolut: My Verdict

Choosing which one of these two excellent challenger accounts is ‘best’ isn’t easy as they both have much to offer, but the accounts are aimed at slightly different types of business.

If you’re a business trading internationally, Revolut has the edge with the ability to send, receive and exchange in 25+ currencies at interbank rates.

Currently, Tide only allows payments within the UK.

Revolut is also very progressive when it comes to crypto, allowing the direct purchase of cryptocurrency through the app

Tide

If you’re a business using an account primarily in the UK, we think Tide is the one to choose.

It’s a regulated bank account as opposed to an e-money account, meaning you get FCA protection.

They charge £1 per ATM withdrawal as opposed to Revolut’s flat 2%.

It also offers a range of connected business services, such as free legal advice, free company registration, and the ability to get business loans with instant approval through the app.

It’s a more comprehensive bank account offering for a business.

Revolut

For a freelancer, we recommend the Revolut Pro account.

It includes 0.8% cashback on all Pro debit card purchases, quick and easy ways to receive payments through QR codes, payment links, customizable invoices, and access to free side hustle tools within the Revolut app.

Both brands have excellent ratings on Trustpilot, with a 4.3 * average.

Monthly Fee

£0

Bank Transfers

20p

Card Purchases

£0

Overdraft

No

FSCS Protection

Yes
Our Rating

Accessibility

Access your Tide account via the web or the mobile app

Eligibility Criteria

– You must be at least 18 years old.
– You must have a valid UK phone number.
– You must have a device that can access the UK Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
– You must be either the director of an active company registered with UK Companies House or a sole trader/freelancer registered with HMRC.
– Charities/trusts and other high-risk industries are not eligible.
– Businesses operating from outside the UK are excluded.

Revolut Business Basic Account

Monthly Fee

£0

Bank Transfers

20p Tooltip
5 Free per month

Card Purchases

£0

Overdraft

No

FSCS Protection

No
Our Rating

Accessibility

Access your Revolut account via the web or mobile app

Eligibility Criteria

– You must be at least 18 years old.
– Your business must have a physical presence in the UK, EEA or Switzerland.
– You must be a private limited company, public limited company, Limited Liability partnership or partnership.
– Charities/trusts and other high-risk organisations are not eligible.
– Businesses operating from outside the supported countries are excluded.

Tide vs Revolut Banking Features Compared

Here are the top features of the Tide Bank accounts.

Tide Plans

TIDE BUSINESS ACCOUNTSFREEPLUSPROCASHBACK
Monthly costFree£9.99 + VAT£18.99 + VAT£49.99 + VAT
Tide business cardFreeFreeFreeFree
Expense cards for staff£5 / month1 x free card incl.2 x free cards incl.3 free cards incl.
Transfers in and out20p / transfer  20 / month free Unlimited  Unlimited
ATM withdrawals£1 £1 £1 £1 
Scheduled payments
Accounting integrations✓ 
Create and send invoices
Phone support✓ ✓ 
24/7 legal helpline
0.5% cashback with Tide card
Get FREEGet PLUSGet PROGet CASHBACK

Revolut Plans

REVOLUT BUSINESS ACCOUNTSFREEGROWSCALE
Transfers & exchange
Free international payments525
Free local payments51001,000
Foreign exchange at the interbank rate£1,000£10,000£50,000
Crypto exchange1.99% fee0.99% fee0.99% fee
Bulk payments
Spend like a local in 150 currencies
Hold and exchange 30 currencies
IBANs for global transfers
Local accounts in GBP and EUR
Accept payments online
UK consumer cardsFrom 0.8% + £0.02From 0.8% + £0.02From 0.8% + £0.02
International and commercial cards2.8% + £0.202.8% + £0.202.8% + £0.20
Revolut Pay1% + £0.201% + £0.201% + £0.20
Easy bank transfersFees will never exceed £1 per transactionFees will never exceed £1 per transactionFees will never exceed £1 per transaction
Create and track your invoices
Request payments with shareable links
Payroll Management
Accountancy Integration
Get FreeGet GrowGet Scale

Tide vs Revolut Summary

In conclusion, Tide and Revolut are both excellent accounts, but with quite distinct offerings that will appeal to a differing customer base.

Revolut aims its accounts squarely at businesses and freelancers operating internationally, at least some of the time, or at businesses with a particular interest in crypto investments.

Tide is specifically aimed at UK businesses operating domestically.

Its service is designed to facilitate business growth, whether through company registration, access to legal advice, or finance.

Tide vs Revolut: How Do the Fees Compare?

Both Tide and Revolut offer free entry-level accounts.

These accounts give you everything you need to run a basic business, with certain features coming at an extra cost.

FeatureTideRevolut
Monthly account chargesFree
Plus £9.99/month
Pro £18.99/month
Cashback £49.99/month
Free
Grow £19/month
Scale £79/month
Enterprise £Custom/month
Paid PlanPlus £9.99/monthGrow £19/month
Paid PlanCashback £49.99/monthScale £79/month
Fee for cash deposits£2.50 for deposits up to £500Cash deposits not accepted
0.5% of cash amount for deposits over £500 (at Post Offices)
3% (at PayPoints)
Transfers between accounts (Tide/Revolut)20pFree
ATM cash withdrawals£1 each2%

Tide Fees

Tide charges £1 for ATM withdrawals, 20p for transfers between accounts, and £1 for cash deposits via the Post Office.

Revolut Business Fees

With the free Revolut account, you will pay £3 for international payments (outside EEA) and pay just 20p for local (within EEA) payments, outside a free allowance of 5 per month.

Crypto exchange comes with a 1.99% fee, and bank transfers cost 1% + 20p. You can accept payments in person via the APP for a charge of 0.8% + 0.02p.

Tide vs Revolut Interest Rates

Neither Tide nor Revolut offers interest on business current accounts.

Tide vs Revolut Business for Paying in Cash and Cheques

Tide allows you to pay in cash via the Post Office but doesn’t allow cheque deposits.

Revolut does not allow either cash or cheques.

Tide vs Revolut: Which is Safer?

Both Tide and Revolut are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Tide has two-factor authentication, biometric logins, the ability to instantly freeze your card, and real-time notifications.

Tide is also ISO 27001 certified, meaning your information is safe and secure.

Tide’s bank accounts, provided by Clear Bank, also come with FCSC Protection, which means up to £85,000 is protected should the bank fail.

Similarly, Revolut has implemented two-factor authentication, biometric logins, the ability to instantly freeze your card and an anonymous sending feature.

As of July 2024, Revolut has received a UK banking licence with restrictions but is still providing accounts as an electronic money institution. This means that your money is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) but is instead safeguarded.

Safeguarding means your money is placed into accounts that are separate from Revolut, and Revolut cannot use or invest the money.

Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Has the Better Mobile App?

After examining the reviews for both Google Play and the APP store, it seems that Revolut Business and Tide are evenly matched.

Revolut Business has a rating of 4.8 stars with 25.4k reviews on Google Play and 4.9 stars with 32.9k ratings on the Apple Store.

Most of the negative reviews about Revolut’s app have to do with buggy logins and bad UI updates.

In contrast, Tide has a rating of 4.7 stars with 17.8k reviews on Google Play and 4.8 stars with 68.7k ratings on the Apple Store.

Many of the criticisms of the Tide app seem to be around the app freezing or other technical glitches.

Tide vs Revolut Business: Third-Party App Integrations

IntegrationTideRevolut
Xero
Sage
FreeAgent
Coconut
Kashflow
Quickbooks
Crunch
Clear Books
Reckon
Zoho Books
Zapier
Slack
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Pandle
Money Dashboard
Dext Prepare
Odoo
NetSuite
Shopify
Crezco
WooCommerce
Magento2
PrestaShop
FreshBooks
Ember
QuickFile
Board

Tide Vs Revolut: Using Your Card Abroad

When abroad, Tide allows you to use your card at any retailer accepting Mastercard without additional fees, providing you with the Mastercard exchange rate.

However, if you need to withdraw cash from an ATM abroad, Tide charges a £1 fee.

Revolut offers a prepaid currency card for payments abroad in over 150 currencies, with no fees using the interbank exchange rate.

It’s important to note that Revolut may charge a markup fee between 0.5% and 2.5% to the interbank rate on weekends due to foreign exchange markets being closed.

Tide vs Revolut Customer Support

Both companies have a majority of “Excellent” reviews, indicating that most users are satisfied with their services, but what services do they offer?

Tide has a live chat feature on its website and also offers email support.

Phone support is offered to users on paid plans, as well as 24/7 live chat.

Revolut offers all its customers 24/7 support via their in-app live chat.

Tide vs Revolut Customer Reviews

Tide

On Trustpilot, Tide has achieved an average rating of 4.1/5 from more than 19.6k total reviews.

5-star reviews make up 72% of the total, and 1-star reviews make up 18%.

User engagement statistics are exceptional, with over 96% of the negative reviews receiving responses from Tide.

Positive Reviews

A number of positive reviews outline Tide’s security in all its processes and the measures it takes to ensure customer information remains private and secure.

Tide is also praised for its variety of features and intuitive app design, which help enormously with managing business finances.

Tide vs Monzo Business Bank Accounts
Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Account is Better?

Negative Reviews

Some users express frustration towards Tide’s customer support, receiving automated or slow responses and wasting people’s time asking for information that was already provided.

Other customers report that their accounts were closed unexpectedly with their funds frozen in the account, and they received little to no help from customer support.

Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Account is Better?
Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Account is Better?

Revolut

Similarly, Revolut has gained a 4.1/5 rating out of over 159k reviews.

74% of these reviews are 5-star, with 11% being 1-star.

Like with Tide, Revolut user engagement is extremely high, with more than 97% of negative reviews receiving a response.

Positive Reviews

The majority of positive reviews mention excellent experiences with Revolut’s customer service, for its speed and how it helped with very pressing issues.

Other users praise Revolut’s app, outlining its stability and user-friendly interface, which makes managing finances much smoother.

Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Account is Better?
Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Account is Better?

Negative Reviews

Lots of the negative reviews report that their funds had been held by Revolut for random reasons while getting no help from customer support, sometimes for more than a week.

Other users have experienced issues with being locked out of their accounts despite following the necessary account recovery steps, as well as other technical issues.

Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Account is Better?
Tide vs Revolut: Which Bank Account is Better?

Account Switching

Neither Tide nor Revolut is signed up for the easy switching service, so account migration will be your responsibility.

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