By: Money Navigator Research Team
Last Reviewed: 03/02/2026
FACT CHECKED
Quick Summary
Tide’s “Expense Cards” (also referred to in-app as Team Expense Cards) are priced as a monthly add-on for team spending.
Tide states each Expense Card costs £5 per calendar month (with no VAT), and that eligible paid plans include a free allowance: Smart includes 1, Pro includes 2, and Max includes 3. Tide also states the fee is billed on the 4th of each month, including for cards that have not been activated.
The most common “gotchas” are not about the headline £5 price, but about timing: ordering late in the month, cancelling after minimal use, and how final charges are applied after cancellation.
Separately, card-use fees (like ATM withdrawals and foreign exchange) are not “card pricing” – they’re transaction-type charges covered in Tide card fees when card use triggers charges and Tide ATM cash withdrawal fees explained.
This article is educational and not financial advice.
What Tide means by “Expense Cards” and “additional” cards
Tide positions Expense Cards as company cards for team spending that are managed in the app (limits, freeze/cancel, receipt capture and transaction categorisation).
Tide’s public feature page describes them as company Mastercards for team members and highlights per-card spend controls and expense admin features in Expense Cards: Company expenses made simple.
In pricing terms, “additional” simply means any team card beyond the free allowance included in your plan.
In practice, many businesses experience this as “adding another team member card” rather than “replacing a card”, because the pricing is tied to having more active team access/cards rather than changing the main account holder’s card.
The headline price: what extra Expense Cards cost
Tide states that each Expense Card costs £5 per calendar month and that no VAT applies to that fee, in its help article How much do Expense Cards cost?. The same page also states Tide bills the charge on the 4th of each month, and that billing applies even where a card has not been activated.
Tide also frames team-card pricing as “pay per seat” (i.e., for the number of team members using team cards) within its help centre guide Using your Expense Cards. The practical takeaway is the same: adding more team-card access typically increases the monthly bill in £5 increments once the plan’s included allowance is used up.
What’s included by plan vs what counts as “extra”
Tide’s plan pricing page lists a free allowance of Expense Cards on paid plans and lists a monthly price for Expense Cards on the plan comparison table. See Plans and pricing.
Included allowance (as described by Tide)
Across Tide’s plan pricing and Expense Cards help content, the included allowance is shown as:
Smart: 1 free Expense Card
Pro: 2 free Expense Cards
Max: 3 free Expense Cards
For context on what the product is and how team cards are managed, Tide’s Expense Cards page is Expense Cards: Company expenses made simple.
What counts as “extra”
Any Expense Cards beyond the free allowance shown above are treated as chargeable at the stated monthly price. The most important nuance is the billing mechanic (covered below), because timing can matter more than the number of days the card was actually used.
Billing mechanics that create “surprise” charges
The pricing is straightforward; the billing rules are where most confusion sits.
1) Billing date matters more than order date
Tide states it bills Expense Cards on the 4th of each month and that the fee can apply even for cards that have not been activated (as described in How much do Expense Cards cost?). This means the same decision (adding a team card) can produce different first-bill timing depending on when it is ordered relative to the billing cycle.
2) Cancellation can still leave a final charge
Tide’s help centre states that when an Expense Card is cancelled, a final £5 is charged on the 4th of the following month (see Using your Expense Cards).
Operationally, that means “cancel now” does not always mean “no further charges ever” in the next billing run, because the final charge is applied after cancellation.
3) Plan fee billing is separate from Expense Card billing
Expense Cards can sit alongside membership fees and other plan-based charges. Where plan billing dates and invoices matter (for example, when a business is tracking multiple monthly charges), see Tide membership billing: monthly fees, VAT, billing dates, invoices.
That page is about plan billing, not Expense Cards specifically, but it’s often the source of “why did I get charged twice?” confusion when multiple monthly items coexist.
Limits and scaling: how many Expense Cards can exist
Tide states you can order Expense Cards for up to 50 team members per account in How many Expense Cards can I apply for?. That page also notes that if Expense Cards are linked to additional accounts, they count towards the overall maximum per account.
Separately, Tide’s help centre guide states that team members can hold up to 6 Expense Cards per business (see Using your Expense Cards). The practical impact is that large teams (or complex role structures) can expand card issuance substantially – but the “pricing step” still tends to track how many billable team-card seats exist beyond the included allowance.
Summary Table
| Scenario | Outcome | Practical impact |
|---|---|---|
| Business stays within plan’s free allowance | No extra Expense Card monthly line item | Additional team spending capability without changing the Expense Cards bill |
| Business adds one card beyond the free allowance | A £5/month Expense Card charge applies | Monthly costs increase in predictable increments once the allowance is exceeded |
| Card ordered late in the month (close to billing date) | Charge still billed on the 4th cycle | Short “time used” does not necessarily reduce the first charge |
| Card ordered but not activated | Charge can still apply per Tide’s stated billing rule | Unused cards can still create a charge if not cancelled before the billing run |
| Card cancelled after brief usage | Final £5 can be charged on the next month’s 4th | “Cancelled” does not always mean “no further charge ever” in the next cycle |
| Team grows towards high card volumes | Issuance can scale (subject to stated limits) | Operational control increases, but monthly cost depends on how many chargeable seats/cards exist |
Scenario Table
| Scenario-level | Process-level | Outcome-level |
|---|---|---|
| Adding team Expense Cards | Cards are ordered in-app and issued to team members | Monthly Expense Card pricing applies once included allowance is exceeded |
| Managing timing | Tide bills on a fixed monthly date | Charges can appear even if the card was used for only part of a month |
| Activation vs billing | Billing can apply even if activation hasn’t happened | Admin processes (invites, onboarding, activation) can affect expectations but not necessarily billing |
| Cancellation | Cancellation triggers a defined final-billing mechanic | A final charge may still appear after a card is cancelled |
| Plan change events | Upgrade/downgrade changes included allowances over time | “Included vs extra” can shift depending on when the plan change takes effect |
Tide Business Bank Account
Tide’s pricing structure combines plan-level features (monthly membership tiers) with certain “per feature” costs such as team Expense Cards. For an overall view of Tide’s business account proposition and how its plans are positioned, see Tide business account overview.
Plan changes can also affect what’s included versus extra, depending on when the new plan price and entitlements begin. For related timing mechanics, see Upgrading your Tide plan: when new pricing starts and what’s pro-rated and Downgrading a Tide plan: what changes immediately vs at renewal.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Tide describes Expense Cards as company cards intended for team members, managed through the Tide app as part of an expense-management workflow. Tide’s product page positions them as company Mastercards for team spending and admin control in Expense Cards: Company expenses made simple.
Operationally, this matters because “additional Expense Cards” are about expanding team spending access, not about replacing or duplicating the account holder’s primary card. The pricing and billing rules apply to team cards and seats, and they can sit alongside separate transaction fees that apply to card use (ATM, FX, and certain overseas usage patterns).
Tide states each Expense Card costs £5 per calendar month and that no VAT applies to that charge in How much do Expense Cards cost?. Tide also states it bills the fee on the 4th of each month, including for cards that have not been activated.
The practical implication is that “additional” is not a one-off purchase; it’s a recurring monthly cost that typically scales with team size and how many cards are held beyond a plan’s free allowance.
Tide states that paid plans include a free allowance of Expense Cards:
- Smart includes x1
- Pro includes x2
- Max includes x3 (as described in How much do Expense Cards cost? and also shown on Plans and pricing).
The included allowance is important because it changes what counts as “extra”. Two businesses with the same number of team cards can see different monthly Expense Card totals depending on which plan’s allowance is applied and when.
Tide states billing is taken on the 4th of each month, and that this applies including for cards that have not yet been activated, in How much do Expense Cards cost?. That makes activation less relevant to whether a charge appears.
In practice, ordering cards involves invitations and onboarding checks, and Tide describes ordering steps and delivery timing in its help centre guide Using your Expense Cards. Those steps affect operational readiness, but Tide’s published billing rule is tied to the monthly billing cycle rather than “first use”.
Tide’s help centre states that when an Expense Card is cancelled, a final £5 is charged on the 4th of the following month in Using your Expense Cards. This can look counterintuitive because the charge can appear after the card has already been cancelled.
The practical impact is reconciliation: a business may see a final card charge in the month after a team member leaves or a card is retired. This is one reason it helps to track team-card changes (issue, cancel, replace) alongside plan billing, rather than treating each card as a one-off item.
Tide states that you can order Expense Cards for up to 50 team members per account in How many Expense Cards can I apply for?. That page also notes how linking Expense Cards to additional accounts can count towards the overall maximum.
This matters for larger businesses because expense-card issuance can scale quickly, especially where multiple people need spending access. The pricing question then shifts from “one more card” to “how many billable seats are active beyond the included allowance”, since that is what typically drives recurring monthly cost.
Tide’s help centre guide states that team members can hold up to 6 Expense Cards per business (see Using your Expense Cards). That implies multi-card setups can exist for operational reasons (for example, separating spend types or roles).
The pricing impact depends on how Tide bills team cards (“pay per seat” is how Tide describes it in the same guide). Even where multiple cards exist, the underlying business question is still “how many chargeable seats/cards sit beyond the included allowance”.
Tide’s help centre describes ordering Expense Cards in-app and states the card is delivered to the trading address within about a week in Using your Expense Cards. That frames delivery as part of the issuance process rather than an explicitly separate delivery line item in the published pricing summaries for Expense Cards.
Replacement is different from “additional”. Replacing a card is usually about keeping the same team access functioning (new physical card, same user). “Additional” is about expanding how many team members have cards or how many chargeable card seats exist – which is what drives ongoing monthly pricing.
Yes, card-use fees can apply depending on transaction type and plan. Tide states (in its Expense Cards cost information) that a foreign currency exchange fee applies on the Free plan for non-GBP card transactions and that there is a standard £1 cash withdrawal charge, alongside potential ATM operator charges and FX fees where relevant (see How much do Expense Cards cost?).
These are not “Expense Card pricing” – they are transaction charges that can happen whether the card is an included allowance card or an additional billable card. For UK-focused explainers on these transaction categories, see Tide ATM cash withdrawal fees explained and Tide card fees when card use triggers charges.
Plan changes can change the included allowance (for example, moving between plans with different free Expense Card counts). However, the effect depends on when a plan change takes effect and how the billing cycle aligns with the change.
For timing mechanics around plan changes (separate from Expense Cards specifically), see Upgrading your Tide plan: when new pricing starts and what’s pro-rated and Downgrading a Tide plan: what changes immediately vs at renewal. In practice, this is where businesses often see “included vs extra” shift without any new cards being ordered – because the allowance changed, not the card count.
“Additional Expense Cards pricing” is best understood as a capacity model, not a one-off purchase. Tide’s published information focuses on a simple recurring unit price, with some plans bundling a fixed number of units as included.
That makes the ongoing monthly total predictable when team structure is stable – and confusing when team structure or plan entitlements change.
The recurring “surprises” tend to come from billing mechanics, not from hidden prices: fixed billing dates, charges applying even when activation hasn’t happened, and final-charge timing after cancellation.
The pricing itself is clear; the operational reality is that card issuance, invitations, onboarding checks, activation, and team changes don’t always line up neatly with a calendar-month billing cycle.
Related Content
