Zilch is a London-based BNPL payment platform.[1][2] Co-founded in 2018 by Philip Belamant and Sean O’Connor,[3] it was publicly launched in September 2020.[4] As of 2023, Zilch has over 3 million users.[5]
In November 2020, Zilch secured a Consumer Credit Authorisation with the FCA in the United Kingdom.[6][7][8]
In April 2021, Zilch released its Tap & Pay-over-time feature for its customers, via Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay.[9][10] Also in April 2021, Zilch announced a valuation of over $500 million.[11] Shortly after in July 2021, the company announced a funding deal partnership with Goldman Sachs and DMG Ventures.[9] The following month, Zilch announced its acquisition of the US commercial lender Nepfin.[12]
In October 2021, Zilch reported an overall valuation of $2 billion, making it the fastest company in Europe to reach double unicorn status.[9][13][14][15]
In March 2022, Zilch announced it had surpassed 2.5 million customers.[16]
In April 2022, Zilch and Experian announced a partnership to begin reciprocal reporting of credit information in BNPL.[17]
In May 2022, Zilch announced it had launched in the US with over 150,000 pre-registered customers.[18][19][20] Zilch extended its funding in June 2022, bringing the total to $193 million.[21][22]
Zilch partnered with StepChange in February 2023, working to implement StepChange Direct's service directly into its platform.[23] Zilch also announced its partnership with Yapily the following month. Yapily’s open banking platform will be leveraged to support the credit decision process for Zilch’s BNPL offerings.[24]