By: Money Navigator Research Team
Last Reviewed: 09/02/2026
FACT CHECKED
Quick Summary
A Tide “rejection” typically means one of three things:
- The business or operating model doesn’t meet Tide’s eligibility and risk criteria
- Tide can’t verify key information (identity/address/business details) to a sufficient standard
- A screening or assessment step can’t be resolved to an approvable outcome.
Most declines are driven by verification confidence and eligibility fit, rather than a single “one-off” issue.
This article is educational and not financial advice.
The most common checks that can lead to a decline
1) Eligibility and risk appetite: the business type, industry, or operating model doesn’t fit
One of the clearest “can’t approve” outcomes is simply that the business sits outside Tide’s acceptance criteria or risk appetite. Tide describes that it cannot support certain business types and industries, and that accepting outside of its criteria would increase risk to its service, in Become a Tide member.
This is different from “missing a document”: where the core activity is outside the acceptance scope, extra evidence usually doesn’t change the outcome because the gating factor is fit. Within our Tide cluster, we separate this mechanism in Tide eligibility: business types that can and can’t apply.
2) Identity, selfie, or address verification can’t be completed reliably
Another common route to a decline is when the required verification steps never reach a reliable result. That can include ID capture quality, selfie verification issues, or address evidence that doesn’t meet requirements or doesn’t align with the application details.
In practice, this tends to show up as follow-up requests and repeated evidence loops, before the process ends with “unable to approve” if verification confidence can’t be reached. For the typical evidence buckets and why they matter, see Tide ID and verification explained: what documents are usually needed and why.
3) Business profile uncertainty: “nature of business” and expected activity can’t be made coherent
Tide’s onboarding questions are not only about proving identity; they also build an “expected use” picture of how the account will be used. In UK customer due diligence, firms are expected to consider information about the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship, reflected in Money Laundering Regulations 2017: Regulation 28.
Where the business description is too broad, internally inconsistent, or hard to support, the application may not become approvable because the provider can’t form a clear, defensible relationship profile. The “why this matters” mechanism is expanded in Nature of business questions explained: why Tide asks for more detail during sign-up.
4) Ownership and control can’t be reconciled for the entity (limited companies)
For limited companies, the checks aren’t only about the applicant; they also involve understanding the entity and who ultimately owns or controls it. Regulation 28 includes corporate customer requirements and reasonable measures to understand ownership and control, in Money Laundering Regulations 2017: Regulation 28.
When ownership/control is complex, recently changed, or inconsistent with the application information, the process can move into manual review and still end in a decline if the facts can’t be reconciled to a reliable standard. The knock-on effect (and what “review” can look like later) is covered in Bank compliance reviews explained: why UK business accounts get restricted.
5) Screening checks produce results that can’t be cleared
Most providers run screening and assessment checks as part of onboarding and monitoring. Delays often happen when results are “close matches” that need manual resolution; a decline can occur if the result can’t be resolved to an approvable outcome.
The UK’s central reference point for sanctions designations is published at The UK Sanctions List. Screening processes vary by provider, but the existence of official designations lists is one reason screening is a standard part of onboarding controls, alongside broader financial crime guidance such as the FCA Financial Crime Guide.
6) Companies House incorporation is rejected (when incorporation is part of the same flow)
If the sign-up journey includes forming a limited company, a Companies House rejection can stop the process from completing as intended. Tide states that if Companies House rejects the incorporation application, Tide won’t be able to open a business current account in that scenario, in What happens if Companies House rejects my application for a limited company?.
This is distinct from “banking eligibility”: it is a registrar outcome that blocks the formation step the linked onboarding path depends on.
Summary Table
| Scenario | Outcome | Practical impact |
|---|---|---|
| Business type/industry is outside Tide’s acceptance criteria | Application can’t be approved | Decline outcome driven by eligibility fit |
| ID/selfie/address can’t be verified reliably | Application can’t be approved | Repeated evidence loops may end in decline |
| Business description is too unclear to profile expected use | Application can’t be approved | Clarification requests; may end in decline |
| Ownership/control can’t be reconciled for a limited company | Application can’t be approved | Manual review; mismatch risk increases |
| Screening produces unresolved results | Application can’t be approved | Manual resolution may fail to clear |
| Companies House rejects incorporation in the same flow | Application can’t be approved | Formation outcome blocks account opening |
Scenario Table
| Scenario-level | Process-level | Outcome-level |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility mismatch | Internal classification against acceptance criteria | Declined because criteria aren’t met |
| Verification confidence gap | Evidence capture/verification never reaches confidence | Declined because checks can’t complete |
| Profile uncertainty | Purpose/intended-use profile can’t be formed coherently | Declined because relationship can’t be profiled |
| Corporate/control uncertainty | Ownership/control structure can’t be evidenced | Declined because entity/control can’t be verified |
| Screening uncertainty | Manual comparison can’t clear results | Declined because risk can’t be resolved |
| Registrar rejection | Incorporation rejected by Companies House | Declined because the flow can’t complete |
Tide Business Bank Account
Tide’s onboarding is structured around eligibility criteria, identity verification, and forming a coherent business profile for the account relationship.
Where Tide can’t approve an application, it typically maps back to one of those check families rather than a single isolated error.
For the wider Tide cluster (onboarding, review states and operational topics), see the Tide business accounts hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. A delay is a processing state where checks are still in progress or waiting on clarification. A rejection is an outcome that Tide cannot approve the application within its process.
Where the status looks like “waiting”, it often reflects a specific bottleneck (evidence quality, business-detail clarification, manual review queue) rather than a decision. Those bottlenecks are mapped in Tide application delays explained: the most common checks that slow sign-up.
In practice, rejection messaging is often limited. Providers may communicate that an application can’t be approved without disclosing internal thresholds or decision logic, especially where screening and risk controls are involved.
The key point is that “limited detail” does not necessarily imply a single missing document; it can reflect that the provider can’t support the relationship within its acceptance framework. Tide’s own framing of eligibility and risk appetite is set out in Become a Tide member.
A lack of trading history can affect how easily a business profile can be verified, but it is not a universal “automatic decline” rule. What matters is whether the provider can form a coherent and verifiable view of what the business does and what activity is expected.
Edge cases include pre-revenue businesses, newly registered entities, and businesses whose evidence trail is still developing. Those scenarios are unpacked in Can you be declined a business bank account with no trading history?.
Where incorporation is part of the flow, a Companies House rejection can prevent the account being opened as intended. Tide states that if Companies House rejects the application, Tide won’t be able to open a business current account in that scenario, in What happens if Companies House rejects my application for a limited company?.
This is distinct from “banking eligibility”: it is a registrar outcome that blocks the corporate formation step that the linked onboarding depends on.
Yes. Verification can be completed and still not lead to approval if the business type, industry, or operating model sits outside acceptance criteria. That is an eligibility fit issue, not a document-quality issue.
Tide’s own explanation of risk appetite and unsupported business types/industries is in Become a Tide member, and the Tide-specific interpretation is explained in Tide eligibility: business types that can and can’t apply.
The common verification-related drivers are:
- Identity evidence that can’t be validated reliably
- Address evidence that doesn’t meet requirements or doesn’t align with the application details
- Business evidence or business descriptions that remain inconsistent after follow-ups
Even where an applicant has the “right document type”, outcomes can still depend on clarity, consistency and whether the evidence supports the declared activity.
The typical verification buckets and why they matter are explained in Tide ID and verification explained: what documents are usually needed and why.
Yes, where the provider can’t form a coherent expected-use picture from the information provided. That does not mean there is one “correct wording”; it means the provider needs enough detail to understand the business model and expected transaction patterns.
This connects to the wider UK expectation that firms consider the purpose and intended nature of the relationship as part of customer due diligence, reflected in Money Laundering Regulations 2017: Regulation 28, and discussed operationally in ECSH33327: purpose and intended nature of the business relationship.
“Under review” is a process state: checks are ongoing and often involve manual assessment or follow-up questions. “Rejected” is the outcome that the application cannot be approved within the process.
Where an application is under review, it can still end in approval, further evidence requests, or decline depending on what can be verified and reconciled. For typical stages and outcomes, see Tide account under review: stages, timelines and typical outcomes.
A rejection is about not opening an account relationship. Restrictions and closures are about an existing account relationship and usually arise from ongoing monitoring and review processes after onboarding.
These states differ materially in practical impact (for example, restricted functionality versus relationship ending), which is explained in Tide business account restricted vs closed: what it means.
They can be related, because both onboarding and ongoing monitoring rely on coherent profiling (who the customer is, what the business does, and what activity is expected) and on screening and verification controls.
However, post-onboarding reviews typically focus on reconciling live activity to the expected profile and updating evidence over time. The general mechanism is explained in Bank compliance reviews explained: why UK business accounts get restricted.
A Tide rejection is best understood as an outcome where the provider cannot establish an acceptable level of confidence in one of the essentials:
- Who the relevant people are
- What the business is and how it will use the account
- Whether that overall picture fits acceptance criteria and control requirements
Because app-led onboarding is evidence-led, “decline reasons” tend to cluster where automation can’t complete and manual review can’t resolve the remaining uncertainty.
The result is often not a single failing document, but a persistent gap between what needs to be verified and what can be verified from the available information.
Sources & References
What happens if Tide is unable to approve my application for a business account? | Tide Business
What happens if Companies House rejects my application for a limited company? | Tide Business
Money Laundering Regulations 2017: Regulation 28 | legislation.gov.uk
ECSH33327: The purpose and intended nature of the business relationship or transaction | GOV.UK
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