By: Money Navigator Research Team
Last Reviewed: 12/02/2026
FACT CHECKED
Quick Summary
Tide supports cash deposits through two partner networks:
- Post Office (higher Tide-set limits and tiered fees)
- PayPoint (lower daily cap and a flat percentage fee)
Deposits often appear quickly on business days, but “late in the day”, weekends and bank holidays can push arrival to the next business day, even if the cash was accepted at the counter.
This article is educational and not financial advice.
How Tide cash deposits work (the simple model)
A Tide “cash deposit” is not a feature inside the app in isolation – it’s a cash-in service delivered by third-party counters. In practice:
You hand over cash at a participating counter (Post Office or PayPoint).
The counter processes a cash-in transaction against your Tide account.
Tide applies the published fee, and the net amount appears in your account after processing.
Tide’s own help guidance sets out the two routes (Post Office and PayPoint), the usual processing windows, and the Tide-side limits and fees in one place: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
Tide also summarises Post Office fee bands (including the “up to £500” flat fee and the “over £500” percentage fee) on its help-centre deposit guide: Deposit cash and cheques into your Tide account.
Post Office deposits with Tide: what’s happening behind the scenes
For Tide, the Post Office route is positioned as the higher-capacity option:
Tide’s published caps (Post Office route): up to £25,000 per single deposit, £25,000 per month, and £300,000 per year (combined across deposits). Those figures come directly from Tide’s deposit guidance: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
Counter requirements: Post Office lists Tide cash deposits as available “with card and PIN” on its Tide services page: Tide | Business Services | Post Office.
Important nuance: branch-level security limits can still apply
Even if Tide publishes a higher ceiling, the Post Office also explains that what you can pay in can depend on branch security layout, giving examples such as up to £4,000 at open-plan counters and up to £20,000 where there’s a glass screen (with bank/account specifics varying).
That’s on Post Office’s business banking guide: Business banking at Post Office branches. Practically, this is why two branches can behave differently on the same day.
PayPoint deposits with Tide: what’s different
PayPoint is typically the smaller-deposit route on Tide:
Minimum deposit: £10
Maximum deposit: £500 per day
Fee: 3% of the deposit amount
Typical processing on weekdays: “within 10 minutes” (with the same late/weekend/bank holiday caveat)
Those specifics are stated by Tide in its deposit guidance: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
Separately, PayPoint describes the customer experience of cash deposits in-store (including the retailer providing a receipt) on its own service page: Banking cash deposits at PayPoint. (That page is network-level; Tide’s limits/fees/timings remain the definitive reference for Tide accounts.)
Fees: Post Office vs PayPoint (and what you actually receive)
Tide applies cash deposit fees automatically at the time of processing, and the amount that lands in the account is deposit minus fee. This is explicitly stated in Tide’s deposit guidance: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
Post Office fee bands (Tide)
Tide publishes:
£2.50 for a deposit up to £500 (any plan)
0.99% for deposits over £500 on the Free plan
0.5% for deposits over £500 on Smart, Pro or Max
Source: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
PayPoint fee (Tide)
3% of the deposit amount
Source: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
Worked examples (net amount credited)
Post Office, £300 deposit: fee £2.50 → £297.50 credited
Post Office, £1,000 deposit (Free plan): 0.99% = £9.90 → £990.10 credited
Post Office, £1,000 deposit (Smart/Pro/Max): 0.5% = £5.00 → £995.00 credited
PayPoint, £200 deposit: 3% = £6.00 → £194.00 credited
For a wider, non-provider-specific overview of how business account fees can be structured (and why the label on a statement often differs from the “headline” feature name), see What fees do business bank accounts charge?.
Timing: when deposits typically appear (and why they sometimes don’t)
Tide’s guidance is consistent across both routes:
Weekday deposits often show quickly (Post Office “within a few minutes”; PayPoint “within 10 minutes”).
Deposits made late in the day, on weekends, or on bank holidays can arrive on the next business day.
Source: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
What “next business day” usually means in practice
Cash-in services still rely on operational cut-offs. If a deposit is accepted after a processing cut-off (or on a non-business day), it can be queued even though the counter has completed its part.
If you’re checking whether a day is a bank holiday in the UK, GOV.UK maintains the official calendar: UK bank holidays.
Summary Table
| Scenario | Outcome | Practical impact |
|---|---|---|
| Post Office deposit up to £500 | Flat £2.50 fee applied at processing | Net credited is the cash amount minus £2.50 |
| Post Office deposit over £500 (Free plan) | Percentage fee (0.99%) applied | Higher fee sensitivity for larger deposits |
| Post Office deposit over £500 (Smart/Pro/Max) | Lower percentage fee (0.5%) applied | Net credited is closer to the deposited amount |
| PayPoint deposit | 3% fee; £10–£500/day cap | Fees scale directly with amount; daily limit can constrain batching |
| Deposit made late / weekend / bank holiday | Arrival can move to next business day | Cash is handed over, but funds may not be usable until processing completes |
| Attempted large cash-in at a specific Post Office branch | Branch may apply its own security limits | Deposit may need splitting across visits/locations (subject to Tide limits) |
| Deposit processed successfully | Fee deducted automatically | Statement/timeline reflects a net credit after fees |
Scenario Table
| Scenario-level | Process-level | Outcome-level |
|---|---|---|
| Higher-value deposit | Post Office route supports higher Tide-set caps; branch security limits may still constrain | Deposit may succeed, or be limited by branch setup even if Tide caps are higher |
| Smaller deposit / convenience | PayPoint route is capped at £500/day with a flat % fee | Predictable fee calculation; hard ceiling on daily cash-in size |
| Non-business day cash-in | Counter accepts cash, but processing can be deferred | Funds appear later (often next business day) despite the completed counter step |
| Reconciliation need | Keep counter proof until Tide timeline reflects the credit | Easier matching between takings and account entries if timing slips |
| Elevated cash activity pattern | Monitoring systems may prompt additional checks in some situations | Possible friction (questions/temporary limits), depending on circumstances |
Reconciling deposits: receipts, statement entries, and mismatches
Because fees are applied automatically at processing, a common reconciliation pattern is:
The counter receipt shows the cash handed over.
Tide ultimately shows a net credit (deposit minus fee), and sometimes a separate fee presentation depending on how the transaction is described in the timeline.
For PayPoint’s general in-store flow, PayPoint describes the retailer issuing a receipt as part of the process: Banking cash deposits at PayPoint. For Post Office, the counter service is face-to-face and Tide deposits are listed by Post Office as card-and-PIN enabled for Tide: Tide | Business Services | Post Office.
Cash deposits and compliance checks: why activity can trigger questions
Cash-heavy or unusual cash-in patterns can draw attention because financial institutions are expected to maintain financial crime systems and controls, including transaction monitoring.
The FCA consolidates guidance for firms on financial crime controls in its published material: FG18/5: Guidance on financial crime systems and controls.
On the Tide-specific side, we cover what “cash-intensive” signals can lead to extra questions or restrictions in Tide cash-intensive activity: extra questions or restrictions.
Tide Business Bank Account
Cash deposits are only one part of how Tide accounts operate day-to-day, and the plan tier can change how certain charges apply (including how Post Office deposits over £500 are priced in Tide’s published bands). Our neutral plan breakdown is here: Tide plans: Free vs Smart vs Pro vs Max.
Frequently Asked Questions
Post Office lists Tide services as available at “thousands of Post Office branches”, and shows Tide cash deposits as supported “with card and PIN” on its Tide page: Tide | Business Services | Post Office. In other words, the service is designed to be widely available across the network.
However, availability is not the same as identical handling in every location. Post Office explains that how much can be paid in may depend on branch security layout (with examples such as lower limits at open-plan counters), and that bank/account specifics vary: Business banking at Post Office branches. That’s one of the reasons two branches can respond differently to the same deposit request.
Tide’s published caps for Post Office deposits are £25,000 per single deposit, £25,000 per month, and £300,000 per year (combined across deposits). Tide also notes you can make multiple deposits, but the combined amount can’t exceed those limits: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
Separately, Tide notes the Post Office can have its own limits, and Post Office itself explains branch-level security constraints can apply (for example, by branch layout): Business banking at Post Office branches. So, the practical limit on the day can be the lower of Tide’s published cap and the counter’s operational limit.
Tide states that PayPoint deposits have a minimum of £10 and a maximum of £500 per day: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?. That daily cap is a defining constraint of the PayPoint route on Tide.
This also means PayPoint and Post Office are not interchangeable for every cash-in pattern. Even if both are available locally, the PayPoint route may not be able to accommodate higher-value takings in a single day purely because of the published daily maximum.
Tide’s published Post Office pricing is tiered: £2.50 for deposits up to £500 (any plan), then 0.99% over £500 on the Free plan, or 0.5% over £500 on Smart/Pro/Max: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
Tide also states the fee is deducted automatically at processing, and what lands in the account is the deposit minus the fee. That matters for reconciliation, because the counter receipt can reflect the gross amount handed over while the Tide timeline reflects the net credit after fees.
Tide states PayPoint deposits are charged at 3% of the deposit amount: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?. Unlike the Post Office route, this is a flat percentage rather than a tiered structure.
Because the fee scales linearly, the difference between the cash handed over and the net amount credited increases as the deposit size increases. Tide’s guidance is explicit that fees are deducted automatically at processing, so the net credit is what you’ll see in-account.
For weekdays, Tide states Post Office deposits are “usually processed within a few minutes” and PayPoint deposits “within 10 minutes”: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?. Those are “usual” processing windows, not guarantees for every transaction.
Tide also notes that deposits made late in the day, on weekends, or on bank holidays can arrive on the next business day. If you are checking whether a specific date is a bank holiday, GOV.UK publishes the official list: UK bank holidays. In practice, this is often the difference between “cash was accepted” and “funds are visible and usable”.
When the counter accepts cash, the in-store step is complete – but Tide’s guidance still allows for processing to occur later, particularly for late-day, weekend, or bank-holiday deposits: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?. This is why “receipt in hand” and “funds in account” can be separated by time.
Another common factor is that the counter network itself can have operational cut-offs or constraints, which are separate from Tide’s own stated caps. Post Office explicitly references branch security layout as a driver of how much can be paid in at a given location: Business banking at Post Office branches. That doesn’t just affect size – it can also affect how smoothly the deposit is handled.
A restriction or review can affect what functions are available at a given time, and cash deposits may be impacted depending on what the restriction covers and when the deposit is processed. If a deposit is delayed to “next business day”, the account’s status at the time of processing can matter as much as the status at the counter.
For how account reviews typically work (stages and outcomes) in a Tide context, see Tide account under review: stages, timelines, typical outcomes. For the specific “cash-intensive” angle (where repeated or unusual cash patterns can trigger extra questions), see Tide cash-intensive activity: extra questions or restrictions.
Post Office’s business banking guide says you can pay in both notes and coins, and notes that coins need to be properly bagged (with a suggestion to check with the branch first for large amounts of change): Business banking at Post Office branches. That is network-level guidance about what Post Office branches can support.
For Tide specifically, the deposit route is still “cash deposit via Post Office”, with Tide-side caps and fees defined in Tide’s deposit guidance: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?. If a coin-heavy deposit is accepted, the same “fee deducted automatically at processing” rule applies to what ultimately credits into the account.
Tide applies the published fee at processing, and the fee structure differs by route and, for Post Office deposits over £500, by plan tier: How do I deposit cash into my Tide account?.
Mathematically, splitting vs not splitting can change the total fee paid if it changes which fee band applies (for example, a flat fee band vs a percentage band).
Limits also interact with splitting. Tide publishes monthly and annual caps for Post Office deposits, and a daily cap for PayPoint deposits, and it also notes you can make multiple deposits as long as combined totals stay within the stated limits.
Separately, the Post Office describes branch-level constraints that can influence what can be paid in at a specific counter: Business banking at Post Office branches. So “splitting” is not just a fee question – it can be constrained by route limits and counter practicalities.
Cash deposits in app-led business accounts are best understood as a three-part chain:
- A physical cash-in network
- An account provider’s processing and controls
- Settlement cut-offs that determine when an entry becomes visible and spendable
Post Office vs PayPoint differences are largely differences in the cash-in network design (capacity, daily caps, and how fees are structured to price handling costs).
The “late/day-weekend-bank holiday” delay pattern is not unique to Tide – it’s a predictable outcome of operational processing windows. And because cash is higher-risk from a monitoring perspective, unusual patterns can attract additional scrutiny.
That does not imply wrongdoing; it reflects how financial crime controls and transaction monitoring are expected to function across the sector, as described in FCA guidance materials such as FG18/5: Guidance on financial crime systems and controls.
Sources & References
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