Tide launches Business Banking Platform in Germany

By Gloria Methri

Tide, the UK-based business financial platform, is set to launch operations in Germany. With this, Germany is now Tide’s second market outside of the UK, following the successful start of its operations in India in 2022.

In the UK, Tide offers small businesses that don’t have a finance function, highly connected finance and admin solutions that save members time and money. These range from business current accounts to accounting. Tide serves over 575,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, more than 10% of the market.

In Germany, potential members can today join the waiting list for Tide on the website or on the Tide app, which will become available in the coming months. Members will initially be able to access Tide’s Business Account and card products, with full platform capabilities, which include solutions from invoicing to cash flow forecasting, being rolled out step by step.

Like the UK previously, SME financial services in Germany are dominated by large traditional banks. Tide will bring to Germany its simple, highly innovative offer, appealing to small businesses in Germany as it does in the UK.

The company’s move into Germany follows Tide’s successful launch in India, the world’s largest SME market, in December 2022. The business has rapidly scaled to more than 200,000 members.

Oliver Prill, CEO of Tide, said “As in the UK, small businesses are the backbone of the German economy, Europe’s largest. Our success in the UK has been built on having a deep understanding of the pain points of small businesses, the self-employed and freelancers. Our goal is to help reduce the financial and administrative management burdens with our advanced business financial platform. Looking at what is on offer for SMEs in Germany, we believe there is a huge opportunity for Tide.”

Chris Barton, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner Europe, said, “We are delighted that Tide is entering the German market and beginning to grow in continental Europe. In the UK, its first market, Tide represents a remarkable success story and has already helped hundreds of thousands of small businesses to keep their finances and administration under control in recent years. Tide is now one of the UK’s leading providers of innovative solutions for small businesses and is making an important contribution to strengthening the SME sector.’’