Tide, a UK-based SME-focused business financial platform, has released its Tide app in India. The Tide Business Account and its Tide Expense Card, which is powered by RuPay, are two business banking solutions that have been launched by the business financial platform.
Dr. Oliver Prill, the CEO, of Tide, said, “We are delighted to be launching this product in India, Tide’s first international market. India’s 64 million SMEs are the backbone of its economy, providing vital services, jobs, and growth. We believe there is a vast untapped segment of small businesses in India that hasn’t been formally accounted for. We, at Tide, are committed to introducing and including a large segment of this market into the formal economy.”
Over the next 24 months, Tide hopes to onboard 500,000 SMEs in India. Tide envisions building a sizable business in India over time and sees the Indian market as having a potential for £100 million in revenue. Together, the Tide Business Account and Tide Expense Card will enable transactions at all merchants that accept RuPay, track spending and business expenses, and aid small businesses in saving time and money.
The free Tide Expense Card can be used for cash withdrawals, in-store purchases (including contactless tap and pay), online purchases, and other payments by SMEs who sign up for the Tide Business Account.
Tide will only onboard small businesses after completing a full Know Your Customer (KYC) process to reduce the cost of due diligence and to prevent illegal activities such as money laundering and financial fraud. This corresponds to traditional banking practices. This indicates that SMEs can immediately enjoy all the advantages of a business account.
Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO, Tide (India) said, “We, at Tide, are working hard to support entrepreneurs in their growth journey and believe we are in a strong position to do exactly that. As Tide scales in India, we will expand our product offering for entrepreneurs to both manage their finances seamlessly, and to take the big step of starting out – whether as a freelancer, sole trader, contractor or small business owner. We are building a product that will not just offer business accounts and related banking services, but a comprehensive set of highly usable administrative solutions.”
The business is working to launch several additional features that it will provide to small businesses in India. These include a Business Savings/ Current Account in collaboration with a bank, QR codes for payments, bank transfers, invoicing, GST, pay by link, and credit services. Tide will eventually deliver the complete richness of the UK platform tailored to the requirements of SMEs in India.
