By: Money Navigator Research Team
Last Reviewed: 29/01/2026
FACT CHECKED
Quick Summary
Tide Instant Checkout applies a percentage service fee on each successful payment, with different rates depending on the payer’s card type (including international cards and Amex).
Tide also states there is no subscription fee specifically for using Instant Checkout, which means “per transaction” charges still apply even when there is no separate monthly add-on.
Not every cost related to card payments is “per transaction”. Some costs are event-based (for example, a chargeback handling fee) and some costs are separate from Instant Checkout entirely (for example, Tide membership plan billing).
This article is educational and not financial advice.
What Tide Instant Checkout charges per transaction
Tide publishes its Instant Checkout service fee table in the Help Centre article Will I be charged for using Tide Instant Checkout?. In that table, the service fee is applied for each payment collected using an Instant Checkout link, and the published rates are:
Domestic cards – 1.5%
Domestic business cards – 2%
International cards – 2%
Amex cards – 2.50%
Tide also flags that these fees are subject to change under its payment acceptance terms, which are set out in the PDF Tide Payment Acceptance Terms and Conditions.
What “per transaction” means in plain terms
A “transaction” here is the completed customer payment made through an Instant Checkout link. Because the fee is percentage-based, the £ amount varies with the payment amount and the payer’s card category.
Separately, Tide explains that Instant Checkout has published minimum/maximum collection limits and that transactions/settlements are in GBP in Are there transaction limits for Tide Instant Checkout and what currencies can I accept payments in?. Those limits do not change the fee type (it’s still percentage per payment), but they do shape what counts as an eligible transaction in the first place.
Why Instant Checkout fee rates vary by card type
Tide’s published fee table varies across domestic, international, business-card and Amex categories. That’s not unusual in card acceptance, because “card type” is effectively a processing classification (issuer location, scheme, and commercial category).
Tide’s own payment acceptance terms describe fees as incorporating underlying cost components (such as interchange and scheme-related charges) within the broader structure described in the Tide Payment Acceptance Terms and Conditions.
For wider context on interchange as a concept in card payments, the legal framework is set out in Regulation (EU) 2015/751 on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions.
When the fee is taken and where it may appear
Instant Checkout sits inside a “payments chain”, which can affect how businesses see gross vs net amounts and where deductions show up.
Tide describes the processing structure for Instant Checkout in How are the payments made with Tide Instant Checkout processed?, including that payments are collected and recorded in a merchant-account-style structure before being paid out onward.
That chain-level context is also covered in our guide Merchant account vs EMI balance vs bank balance: the payments chain, which focuses on where funds sit at each stage rather than quoting any fee table.
Where the chain includes third-party processing terms, Tide points to Adyen terms applying to the merchant-account processing layer, and Adyen’s relevant framework is set out in Adyen for Platforms Terms & Conditions.
Summary Table
| Scenario | Outcome | Practical impact |
|---|---|---|
| Customer pays using a domestic consumer card | 1.5% service fee applies | Lower published rate vs other card categories |
| Customer pays using a domestic business card | 2% service fee applies | Same sale value can net less than a domestic consumer card payment |
| Customer pays using an international card | 2% service fee applies | Cross-border issuer classification can increase the rate vs domestic consumer cards |
| Customer pays using Amex | 2.5% service fee applies | Highest published Instant Checkout rate in Tide’s table |
| Instant Checkout feature use (separate from per-payment fees) | No subscription fee specifically for using Instant Checkout | Access to the feature is not priced as a standalone monthly fee in Tide’s help article |
| A dispute escalates into a chargeback request | A separate chargeback handling fee may apply | Chargebacks are not “per transaction” charges; they are triggered by a dispute event |
What isn’t charged per transaction (and what that means)
“Per transaction” is only one fee shape. Instant Checkout costs become clearer if everything is separated into three buckets.
1) Not charged as a subscription for the feature
Tide states there are no subscription fees for using Instant Checkout in Will I be charged for using Tide Instant Checkout?. That is distinct from per-payment acceptance charges.
2) Separate Tide charges that are not Instant Checkout transaction fees
Instant Checkout fees are not the same thing as Tide membership plan billing. Plan charges, VAT treatment, and invoice timing are covered separately in our guide Tide membership billing: monthly fees, VAT, billing dates, invoices.
3) Event-based fees that are not applied to every payment
Chargebacks are a common example of event-based cost. Tide sets out a specific chargeback fee (charged when a chargeback request is received) in How will I be charged for a chargeback request?.
The operational stages and typical evidence requests during chargebacks are covered in our guide Tide Payment Links chargebacks explained: stages and evidence requests, which is useful for understanding workflow even when the original payment came via a checkout-style link.
Instant Checkout vs Payment Links: why fee conversations get crossed
Both Instant Checkout and Payment Links can result in card payments, but they’re presented for different use cases and user journeys. In practice, people often look at a Payment Links fee article and assume it applies identically to Instant Checkout.
If the goal is to separate product behaviour first (before fees), the clean comparison is in Tide Instant Checkout vs Payment Links: key differences. If the goal is specifically Payment Links pricing labels and statement timing, that is covered in Tide Payment Links fees: transaction charges, timing, statement labels.
Scenario Table
| Scenario-level | Process-level | Outcome-level |
|---|---|---|
| Successful payment received | Card category is identified and the published % fee is applied | Net receipts reflect the relevant card-type rate |
| Same gross amount paid by different customers | Different card category (domestic / international / business / Amex) | Different fee totals on identical sale values |
| Funds moving through the chain | Payment is recorded before payout onward | Ledger views can show gross vs net differently depending on where the view is taken |
| Refund or reversal event occurs | A reversal workflow updates the payment record | The net position changes after the event, not at the time of the original sale |
| Chargeback request is raised | Dispute workflow triggers deadlines and evidence handling | Event-based chargeback fee and possible reversal exposure may apply |
Tide Business Bank Account
Instant Checkout fees sit alongside other Tide account costs and product terms, so it helps to separate “payment acceptance charges” from the wider account proposition.
A neutral overview of Tide’s business account positioning is available in our guide Tide business bank account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tide publishes Instant Checkout as a percentage service fee per payment, with different rates by card category in Will I be charged for using Tide Instant Checkout?.
A percentage model means the £ fee scales with the payment amount. It also means two payments of the same value can have different fee totals if the payer’s cards classify differently in processing.
Tide’s Instant Checkout pricing table separates domestic and international cards. In card processing, that distinction typically comes from issuer location data rather than something the merchant sets manually.
The practical impact is that a business can see different fee totals across customers even for the same product price, because issuer location and category are attributes of the payer’s card.
Tide lists a distinct category for domestic business cards with a different published rate. Business cards are frequently treated as a separate category in acceptance pricing.
In day-to-day reconciliation, this shows up as “same gross sale, different net receipt” where customer mix includes a higher share of business cards.
Tide lists Amex separately in the Instant Checkout fee table. Amex operates differently from Visa/Mastercard in scheme and commercial structure, and pricing is commonly separated.
Where Amex share rises, businesses can see blended acceptance costs shift upward relative to a domestic Visa/Mastercard-heavy mix, even if volumes remain constant.
Tide states it does not charge subscription fees specifically for using Instant Checkout in Will I be charged for using Tide Instant Checkout?. That does not remove per-payment service fees.
This distinction matters because “no subscription fee” can be misunderstood as “no fees”. Tide’s position is “no subscription fee” alongside “percentage per collected payment”.
Tide flags that fees are subject to change under its payment acceptance terms, which are set out in the Tide Payment Acceptance Terms and Conditions.
From an accounting viewpoint, a change in effective fee rates matters most for period comparisons and margin analysis. Historic and current periods may not be comparable without noting rate changes.
Tide explains the processing flow in How are the payments made with Tide Instant Checkout processed?, including that money is recorded in a merchant-account-style structure before being paid out onward.
That “chain” framing helps explain why some businesses reconcile sales and bank credits as separate layers: the payment acceptance record and the final payout/credit stage.
Instant Checkout’s published fee is a per-payment acceptance fee. Refunds are a separate event in the lifecycle and can affect the net position after the original payment, rather than being “a fee on the original sale”.
This separation matters because refunds change the transaction’s final economics, but they are not the same thing as the base service fee that applied when the payment was taken.
No – chargebacks are typically event-based, because they only occur when a customer dispute escalates into a formal chargeback request. Tide sets out a specific chargeback fee in How will I be charged for a chargeback request?.
Operationally, chargebacks introduce evidence handling, deadlines, and potential reversals after the original sale. That workflow is mapped in our guide Tide Payment Links chargebacks explained: stages and evidence requests.
Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) rules can apply to online card payments depending on factors such as transaction type and risk controls, and the FCA provides an overview in Strong Customer Authentication.
SCA is not a fee line item in Tide’s Instant Checkout fee table, but it can influence customer payment flow, friction, and dispute/authorisation outcomes, which can indirectly affect operational cost and reconciliation.
The biggest source of confusion is treating “Instant Checkout fee” as a catch-all cost label. In practice, Instant Checkout pricing has three separate layers: the per-payment acceptance fee, event-based dispute costs, and separate account plan billing.
Keeping those layers distinct also clarifies reconciliation: the payment acceptance record can show gross activity and deductions, while the business account credit stage reflects net outcomes once funds move through the chain described by Tide’s processing explanation and terms.
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