Tide Adds Telecom to Its SME Banking Platform
Hey Digital Banking Fanatic!
Tide just launched a mobile plan for businesses. And it sits directly inside its banking app.
The UK platform serves around 800,000 SME members, roughly 14% of the UK small business market. The new feature is called Tide Business Phone Number. It gives entrepreneurs a dedicated business number directly inside the Tide app.
The service runs via eSIM, so no additional device is required. Users get unlimited calls and texts, with an optional unlimited 5G plan plus 10GB of EU roaming for £15 per month.
Everything is managed inside the platform. One number. One bill. One interface.
Heather Cobb, UK Managing Director at Tide, explained the motivation clearly. “Small business owners tell us time and again that admin gets in the way of doing what they actually set out to do.”
This expansion didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier, Tide introduced numberless payment cards for SMEs, moving sensitive card details fully into the app to reduce fraud. I unwrapped that story here 👉: Tide Rolls Out Numberless Cards to SMEs
That progression shows that Tide is gradually pulling more business infrastructure into its platform. Banking. Payments. Cards... And now telecom services are embedded directly inside the same environment.
More signals are emerging across SME FinTech platforms. Keep scrolling 👇 I presented a few more below.
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
📰 The often-ignored reason your customers abandon their carts by Dor Golan, Co-founder & CEO, Grain. This article highlights an often-overlooked reason behind cart abandonment: lack of price trust in cross-border transactions. It explains how unstable currency conversions, approximation symbols, and hidden FX buffers can make shoppers hesitate at checkout. Read the full article here
NEWS
🇬🇧 Tide launches Tide Business Phone Number mobile plans globally, powered by Gigs. The launch is designed to help Tide’s nearly 800,000 UK members better separate their personal and professional lives. Tide BPN allows members to set up a dedicated business number directly within the Tide app via eSIM, either by transferring an existing number or activating a new one.
🇬🇧 Monzo slammed for ‘shaming’ end of year reviews. Digital bank Monzo has been accused of overstepping the mark by using data it holds on customers to call out their spending habits and lifestyle choices. The bank used data to tell one customer with a past eating disorder that she eats a lot of fast food.
🇧🇷 PicPay's feature shows investments from other institutions within the same app. The feature allows users to view and track investments held in different financial institutions directly within the app. The aggregator also identifies available balances in other institutions and presents investment opportunities on the platform.
🇷🇴 CEC Bank launches RoPay P2B for instant payments to merchants. The new functionality enables customers to complete payments by scanning a QR code displayed in stores, with funds transferred instantly from account to account. Read more
🇨🇭 AMINA becomes the first regulated bank on 21X, Europe’s first fully regulated DLT trading and settlement venue. The partnership creates a complete tokenisation infrastructure that addresses a major constraint of institutional adoption.
🇵🇭 Security Bank and VeritasPay expand digital payment solutions for MSMEs. Through this partnership, Security Bank’s MSME clients can access VeritasPay’s secure POS terminals at preferential rates through the Bank’s referral program, making digital payment acceptance more accessible and affordable.
🇮🇪 Main Irish banks to launch mobile payments service. Customers of AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB will be able to send, request, and split payments under the new system this week. The Zippay service will be rolled out on a phased basis, with the potential to reach more than five million eligible customer accounts of the three retail banks.
🌎 MercadoLibre bets on AI and digital banking as shares trade below targets. MercadoLibre is rolling out AI tools across its platform, including humanoid robots in warehouses, to automate logistics and customer interactions. The company is also preparing to launch full digital banks in Mexico and Argentina.
🇵🇱 Brighty launches an API for agentic banking. The API enables AI agents to check balances across all accounts, send payments, convert currencies in real time, manage payroll, and reconcile transactions. In addition, Brighty’s AI agent can read incoming invoices and initiate international transfers with full audit trails and compliance.
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