DIGITAL BANKING

Capital backing and commercial partnerships The licensing follows a period where the company has raised over US $ 175m in debt and equity, led by KKCG with participation from BNF Capital. The funding round followed the launch of both Intelligent Commerce and Zilch Pay. Karel Komarek Jr., CEO of KKCG US Advisory, said at the time:“ Zilch’ s impressive track record demonstrates that its approach to using technology to challenge the status quo and re-engineer the credit landscape delivers exceptional value for consumers and businesses.”

Zilch has also expanded its securitisation facility to £ 150m through Deutsche Bank, securing additional backing from two global credit funds. The expanded facility, announced in October 2024, will support £ 10bn in annual commerce through Zilch’ s payment network, representing a £ 50m increase from its initial securitisation.

From startup to payments infrastructure The combination of FCA authorisation, Visa principal membership and capital raising positions Zilch for product expansion in 2026. The company operates in a market where consumer payment platforms compete for transaction volume and merchant relationships, with differentiation coming from technology capabilities, regulatory status and network effects.

The company’ s model generates revenue from advertising and merchant commissions rather than relying solely on consumer fees, enabling it to offer interest-free credit and cashback rewards to users. The approach has built a user base that now represents approximately 15 % of the UK ' s working adult population.

“ It might sound obvious but the key to standing out is building a product that solves an existing real-world problem,” Philip said in a previous interview.“ The fact that we were prudently creating it with regulators to ensure consumer protection and financial health existed from the start was very attractive to investors.”

The regulatory authorisation and Visa principal membership mark milestones in Zilch ' s evolution from consumer fintech to payments infrastructure provider, giving the company the authorisations and partnerships necessary to compete not just in buy-now-pay-later but across the broader payments landscape.“ This is a major step change for Zilch, bringing us firmly into the payments tent and giving us a true seat at the table to shape the ecosystem,” says Philip.“ It opens the door to new opportunities, setting us up to move even faster, more efficiently and cost-effectively.”

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