Tide says it has become the first UK provider of business cards to remove numbers from its cards to reduce fraud risk.

The company's platform offers business accounts and related banking services, as well as admin tools like invoicing and accounting.

The new card removes the card number, three-digit security code, and expiry date, with these details instead stored in the Tide app.

Tide said that this means if a member's card is lost, stolen or shoulder surfed, it cannot be used to make unauthorised purchases.

The move comes as figures from UK Finance show that losses from 'card-not-present fraud' hit £399.6 million in 2024, an 11 per cent 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.

“Criminals have been plundering printed card details for too long, and small businesses have paid the price," said George Schmidt, UK/Europe chief executive, Tide. "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.”

Tide’s numberless cards are being rolled out soon to new and existing members, in collaboration with Mastercard.

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 is also extending the lifespan of its cards from three to four years to save the equivalent of around 27,000 plastic bottles.

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