Tide strips card numbers to reduce card fraud risk
Tide has become the first UK provider of business cards to remove printed numbers from its cards – eliminating its own exposure to several major types of card fraud that rely on visible card details.
New Tide cards will no longer carry a printed long card number, expiry date, or three-digit security code. Instead, these sensitive details are stored securely in the Tide app. This means that if a Tide member’s card is lost, shoulder surfed, stolen, or intercepted, it can no longer be used to make unauthorised online purchases, phone payments, or mail orders.
By removing card details from the plastic itself, Tide has eliminated its exposure to these specific types of fraud – offering greater protection to its members and encouraging others in the industry to do the same.
The move comes as remote purchase fraud – a type of ‘card-not-present fraud’ – reaches an all-time high in the UK. According to UK Finance, losses from this fraud type hit £399.6 million in 2024, an 11% year-on-year increase and the highest figure ever recorded. A further £65 million was lost across related fraud types that also rely on printed card details, including counterfeit card fraud, card ID theft, and card-not-received fraud.
George Schmidt, UK/Europe CEO at Tide, said: “Criminals have been plundering printed card details for too long, and small businesses have paid the price. By removing numbers from the reverse of our cards, we’re helping reverse the rise of online card fraud.
“We’re proud to be the first in the UK to roll out numberless cards for business owners, and to help raise the bar for card security across the industry.”
Darren Deal, Senior Vice President, Fintech, Government and Digital Partnerships, Mastercard UK & Ireland, said: “At Mastercard, we’ve already committed to phasing out manual card entry across Europe by 2030. That means working with innovative partners like Tide to give British businesses safer, more convenient ways to pay and get paid. Tokenised transactions are secure, seamless and strengthen anti-fraud protections for British business owners.”
Tide’s numberless cards are being rolled out soon to new and existing members, in collaboration with Mastercard.
Alongside the new design, Tide will also be extending the lifespan of its cards from three to four years, reducing unnecessary re-issuance, and saving an estimated 270kg of plastic annually – the equivalent of around 27,000 plastic bottles.
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