Jaipur, January 25, 2023: In a move to remove barriers to MSMEs’ growth and strengthen the MSME ecosystem across Jaipur, Tide, the UK’s leading SME-focused business financial platform announced the launch of the Tide app. The fintech aims to help more than two lakh MSMEs in the region save time and money and meet their diverse needs.
India, as a market, harbours over 64 million MSMEs contributing close to 30% of the country’s GDP. According to the Ministry of MSME’s annual report 2021-22, Rajasthan has the ninth highest number of MSMEs in the country with 26.87 lakh enterprises. Within the state, Jaipur comprises 8 percent share of the overall MSME base.
In line with this, the business financial platform has introduced two business banking solutions – the Tide Business Account and its RuPay-powered Tide Expense Card in partnership with Transcorp (an RBI regulated PPI issuer). Tide aims to on-board half a million SMEs in India over the next 24 months. Tide believes that the India market is potentially a £100 million revenue opportunity, and aims at creating a sizable business in India in due course.
SMEs who sign up for the Tide Business Account will have access to contactless services and can already use the free-of-cost Tide Expense Card to withdraw cash, for in-store purchases (including contactless tap and pay), e-commerce purchases, and other payments.
Dr. Oliver Prill, CEO, Tide said, “We are delighted to be launching this product in India, Tide’s first international market. India’s 64 million SMEs are the backbone of its economy, providing vital services, jobs and growth. We believe a vast untapped segment of small businesses in India hasn’t been formally accounted for. We at Tide are committed to introducing and including a large market segment into the formal economy.”
To reduce the cost of due diligence, and prevent illegal activities such as money laundering and financial fraud, Tide will onboard small businesses only on the basis of a full Know Your Customer (KYC) process. This is at par with traditional banking practices. This means that SMEs can reap all the business account benefits from day one.
Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO, Tide (India) said, “We, at Tide, are working hard to support entrepreneurs in their growth journey and believe we are in a strong position to do exactly that. As Tide scales in India, we will expand our product offering for entrepreneurs to manage their finances seamlessly and take the big step of starting out – whether as a freelancer, sole trader, contractor, or small business owner. We are building a product that will offer business accounts and related banking services and a comprehensive set of highly usable administrative solutions.”
The company is working to introduce a host of other features which it will offer to small businesses across India. These include a Business Savings/ Current Account in partnership with a bank, QR code for payments, bank transfers, invoicing, GST, pay by link and credit services. Tide will ultimately bring the full richness of the UK platform tailored to the needs of SMEs in India.
As a digital-only service, the Tide business account can be opened anytime and anywhere. The Tide app is now available on the Google Play Store, for Android devices.
The Tide app is now available on the Google Play Store for Android devices.
