By: Money Navigator Research Team
Last Reviewed: 03/02/2026
FACT CHECKED
Quick Summary
Most Tide card spending does not trigger a fee if it’s a GBP card purchase in the UK. Charges are typically triggered by currency conversion on the Free plan (2.75%) and by cash withdrawals (usually a £1 ATM fee, with a different fee structure for large UK withdrawals, plus any separate ATM-operator surcharge).
The key “gotcha” is that the final exchange rate and fee impact may be applied when the transaction clears, not when it first appears as “pending.”
This article is educational and not financial advice.
What “card usage” means in Tide fee terms
When people say “I used my Tide card”, they usually mean one of four things:
A card purchase (online or in-store).
A cash withdrawal at an ATM.
An ATM balance enquiry.
A card “authorisation” that later settles (or drops off) – common with merchants that confirm the final amount later.
Tide’s published card fees are mainly driven by two variables:
Currency and location (GBP in the UK vs abroad vs non-GBP).
Cash vs purchase (ATM withdrawals are treated differently to purchases).
Tide sets these out in its pricing and help-centre materials, including the fee table in Setting up & using your Tide Card and its plan-level overview on Plans and pricing.
The main triggers for Tide card charges
1) Currency exchange fees on the Free plan (2.75%)
Tide states that Free plan members are charged 2.75% for:
Card payments in foreign currencies, and
ATM withdrawals in foreign currencies, and
GBP card payments made outside the UK (e.g. a purchase processed abroad even if billed in GBP). See How much will a Tide account cost? and Will I be charged when I use my card in store or online at overseas retailers?.
Tide also indicates that Smart, Pro and Max plan members do not pay the currency exchange fee (subject to Tide’s then-current plan terms), again explained in Will I be charged when I use my card in store or online at overseas retailers? and summarised in its Plans and pricing.
2) Cash withdrawal fees (ATM fees)
Cash withdrawals are a separate fee trigger from “card spend”.
In Tide’s fee table, a GBP cash withdrawal is typically shown as:
£1 up to £500, and
0.25% over £500 (with Tide noting that UK cash withdrawal over £500 is only available to ClearBank accounts). See Setting up & using your Tide Card.
For withdrawals abroad, Tide’s fee table distinguishes between “GBP cash withdrawal abroad” and “non-GBP cash withdrawal”, and shows that the Free plan can combine the ATM fee with the 2.75% FX fee (depending on how the transaction is processed). Again, the clearest summary is in Setting up & using your Tide Card.
3) ATM operator surcharges (not a Tide fee, but still a real cost)
Even if Tide’s fee is clear, an ATM operator can add its own surcharge. Tide flags this explicitly in its fee table (and in related guidance about overseas usage). See Setting up & using your Tide Card and Will I be charged when I use my card in store or online at overseas retailers?.
When Tide card usage does not trigger charges
GBP card purchases in the UK
Tide’s card fee table shows “Purchase in GBP in UK: Free” across plans. See Setting up & using your Tide Card.
ATM balance enquiries
Tide’s card fee table lists ATM balance enquiries as free. See Setting up & using your Tide Card.
Replacement cards (the replacement itself, not the subscriptions you might need to update)
Tide states you can order a new card at no cost via the app. See How do I order a new card?.
Separately, Tide notes there can be an operational knock-on: some recurring merchants won’t automatically update card details in every scenario, so the “cost” may be disruption rather than a Tide replacement fee. That’s discussed in How do I order a new card?.
Cash back at the till (it’s declined rather than charged)
Tide states it does not support cash back at the till; if requested or offered, the card payment is declined. See Can I use my Tide card to get cash back at the till?.
Why the final FX amount can differ from the “pending” amount
A common confusion is seeing one GBP amount at authorisation (pending) and a slightly different final GBP amount later.
Tide explains that when you pay in other currencies, Mastercard’s exchange rate applies, and that Mastercard’s exchange rate is applied when the payment clears, so it may differ from what you saw when authorising the transaction. See How are fees calculated when I use my Tide card abroad?.
This is also consistent with Mastercard’s own notes on its converter tool – including that the final conversion may depend on when the transaction is processed and whether the conversion was performed by the merchant/ATM operator rather than the card network. See Mastercard currency exchange rate converter.
Tide explicitly notes that Mastercard’s rate can differ from the European Central Bank’s reference rate; for reference-rate context, see the ECB euro foreign exchange reference rates page.
Summary Table
| Scenario | Outcome | Practical impact |
|---|---|---|
| GBP card purchase in the UK | No Tide card fee | Costs match the purchase amount (subject to normal authorisation/settlement timing) |
| Free plan: card purchase in non-GBP | 2.75% FX fee applies | Transaction cost is higher than the foreign-currency sticker price once converted |
| Free plan: GBP card purchase made outside the UK | 2.75% FX fee applies | “Paying in GBP” abroad can still be treated as a chargeable scenario |
| Smart/Pro/Max: card purchase in non-GBP | No Tide currency exchange fee | Currency conversion still occurs, but Tide’s published FX fee isn’t applied |
| Any plan: ATM cash withdrawal up to £500 | £1 ATM fee (plus any ATM operator surcharge) | Repeated small withdrawals can accumulate fees |
| Any plan: UK cash withdrawal over £500 (where available) | 0.25% fee (ClearBank accounts only, per Tide) | Large withdrawals change the fee basis from fixed to percentage |
| Free plan: cash withdrawal abroad (non-GBP or GBP abroad) | ATM fee + 2.75% FX fee (per Tide fee table) | Costs can stack: issuer fee plus conversion, plus possible ATM operator surcharge |
| ATM balance enquiry | Free (per Tide) | Useful for checking available funds without adding a Tide fee |
Scenario Table
| Scenario-level | Process-level | Outcome-level |
|---|---|---|
| “Pending” foreign purchase looks cheaper than the final debit | Authorisation happens first; the network exchange rate and fee impact are applied when the transaction clears | Final GBP amount can differ from the pending amount, and can appear later |
| Paying “in GBP” abroad | Merchant/processor can route the transaction as a “GBP purchase abroad” or via currency conversion mechanisms | Free plan can still incur the published 2.75% fee for GBP purchases outside the UK |
| Cash withdrawal vs card purchase | ATM transactions are categorised differently from retail purchases and priced separately | A cash withdrawal can trigger the ATM fee even when normal card spending is free |
| ATM operator surcharge | ATM owner adds its own fee independent of the card issuer’s pricing | Total cost can be higher than Tide’s fee table alone suggests |
| Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) prompt at checkout/ATM | Merchant/ATM operator offers conversion into the card’s billing currency, typically adding markup/fees | The conversion can cost more than a network-rate conversion, even before any issuer FX fees |
| High-value UK cash withdrawal | Tide’s fee table switches from £1 to 0.25% over £500, where that feature is available | The fee outcome changes because the price basis changes (fixed > percentage) |
Tide Business Bank Account
Tide’s card fees are tightly linked to which plan is active (Free vs paid tiers) and whether the activity is a purchase or an ATM withdrawal. For a broader overview of Tide’s business account positioning, features, and pricing structure (beyond card-use fee triggers), see our Tide business account page.
It can also help to separate “card use” costs from other cost centres in Tide, such as transfer pricing and allowances, which are covered separately in Tide free transfer allowance: what counts and when it resets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tide’s card fee table shows that GBP purchases in the UK are free across plans. That means the act of paying by card in the UK, in GBP, is not priced as a per-transaction Tide fee in the published tariff. See Setting up & using your Tide Card.
“Free” here relates to Tide’s card fee line-items, not necessarily the full story of what you see at authorisation. Some merchants place temporary authorisation holds (for example, to confirm card validity or for variable-amount services), and those holds can affect available balance until they clear or expire. That’s a settlement mechanic rather than a Tide card fee.
Tide distinguishes between GBP purchases made abroad and purchases made in a non-GBP currency. In its card fee table, both can trigger the Free plan’s 2.75% fee, while Smart/Pro/Max show “Free” for those purchase categories. See Setting up & using your Tide Card and Tide’s explainer on overseas retailer/service-provider charges.
The practical takeaway is that “paying in GBP” abroad does not automatically mean “no FX-related fee”. How the merchant and its acquirer route the transaction (and where it is processed) can matter, which is why Tide breaks out “GBP abroad” as a separate line.
Tide states that its currency exchange fees apply to Tide card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay for the relevant foreign-currency and overseas scenarios. See overseas retailer/service-provider charges.
In other words, paying via a mobile wallet usually changes the form factor (phone instead of plastic) rather than the underlying fee logic. The transaction still rides the card rails and is categorised the same way for pricing.
Tide links the 2.75% fee to Free plan usage in foreign-currency and overseas scenarios, including foreign-currency card payments and ATM withdrawals, plus GBP card payments made outside the UK. See How much will a Tide account cost? and How are fees calculated when I use my Tide card abroad?.
Tide’s fee table adds more granularity by separating “purchase in GBP abroad” from “non-GBP purchase”, and showing where the FX fee can stack with ATM fees for withdrawals abroad. See Setting up & using your Tide Card.
Tide’s fee table shows £1 for many “up to £500” cash withdrawal scenarios, and a separate 0.25% line for “over £500” UK cash withdrawals (with a note that the over-£500 feature is only available to ClearBank accounts). See Setting up & using your Tide Card.
Withdrawals abroad are shown separately, and the Free plan can add the FX fee component depending on how the withdrawal is processed (GBP abroad vs non-GBP). This is why cash withdrawals can be one of the fastest ways to trigger card-related charges even when ordinary spending is free.
Yes – Tide flags that extra fees may be charged by certain ATM providers. See Setting up & using your Tide Card and Tide’s overseas usage explainer that also references possible separate ATM fees. See overseas retailer/service-provider charges.
This matters because the “all-in cost” of getting cash can be:
- Tide’s ATM fee, plus
- Any Tide FX fee (Free plan in relevant cases), plus
- Any operator surcharge. Only the first two are controlled by Tide’s tariff
Tide explains that Mastercard’s exchange rate applies for non-GBP/overseas usage and that Mastercard’s rate is applied when the payment clears, so it may not match what you saw at authorisation. See How are fees calculated when I use my Tide card abroad?.
Mastercard also notes (in the context of its converter) that currency conversion outcomes can depend on timing and on whether conversion is performed by the merchant/ATM operator instead of by the network. See Mastercard currency exchange rate converter. This is why “pending” amounts are best viewed as provisional, not final.
Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) is when a merchant or ATM offers to convert the transaction into the card’s billing currency (e.g. GBP) at the point of sale/withdrawal, typically using the provider’s own rate and fees. Tide describes DCC as something that “will cost you extra” because of varying exchange rates and additional fees. See What is dynamic currency conversion?.
Visa also explains DCC as presenting the option to pay in your home currency and notes that it can include exchange rate and additional fees. See Dynamic Currency Conversion Explained. In practice, DCC can create a “stacking” effect: the merchant-side conversion markup sits on top of the normal card-processing path.
Tide’s published materials focus on how fees and exchange rates apply to the original foreign-currency/overseas transaction and on the fact that the Mastercard rate is applied when a payment clears. See How are fees calculated when I use my Tide card abroad?.
In card systems, a refund is typically processed as its own transaction in the original currency and then converted back into the account’s currency when it clears. That means the GBP value of the refund can differ from the GBP value of the original purchase if exchange rates moved between the two settlement dates, even if no additional “refund fee” is listed as a separate line item.
Tide states that a replacement card can be ordered at no cost through the app. See How do I order a new card?. So the replacement itself is not positioned as a paid service in the standard flow described.
The more material issue tends to be operational: recurring card payments may require updated details depending on why and how a card is replaced. Tide addresses this directly, explaining that some subscription billing details may need manual updating in certain replacement scenarios, while other scenarios may update automatically. See How do I order a new card?.
Card fees are rarely “one thing”; they’re usually the sum of:
- The transaction type (purchase vs ATM)
- Where and how it’s processed (UK vs abroad, GBP vs non-GBP)
- When it settles (authorisation vs clearing)
Tide’s published tariff makes this visible by separating “GBP abroad” from “non-GBP”, and by pricing withdrawals differently to purchases.
The most consistent source of confusion is timing: card systems show a provisional authorisation first, but the final exchange rate and any fee basis is applied when the transaction clears.
That is why the cleanest way to understand “when fees trigger” is to map the scenario first (purchase/withdrawal, UK/abroad, GBP/non-GBP), then interpret the settlement outcome rather than the initial pending notification.
Related Content
