Zilch offers the first BNPL card that shoppers can use to buy from major retailers with no additional fees.
As the number of sign-ups for a Zilch buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) card continues to grow, the financing enterprise has closed a new funding round to scale up the unique payment system. Zilch launched the first fee-free BNPL card last year, which enables consumers to shop at online retailers that accept Mastercard and spread their payments without any fee catches.
Described by reviewers as ‘the next shopping revolution,’ the virtual card has a 0% interest rate and can be used when shopping at over 10,000 online retailers, including Amazon, eBay, iTunes, GAME, Carphone Warehouse, Sports Direct, Adidas, Hype, Topman, Nike, Boohoo, UGG, and ASOS. Customers can use the virtual card to pay just 25% of product prices upfront and clear the remaining balance over the following six weeks. Customers will soon be able to use Zilch when shopping in-store, too.
New Funding to Accommodate Zilch Sign-Ups
Zilch has announced a successful $10 million funding round to grow the over-the-top BNPL scheme. The over-the-top approach allows Zilch to connect with consumers instead of retailers. Zilch will use proceeds from the funding to expand its customer reach, stepping up the rollout of the payment system to accommodate the ever-growing waiting list of circa 65,000.
‘Our unique over-the-top approach to BNPL has been built out of our strong knowledge for instalment cards in developing economies such as South Africa and South America amongst others,’ says Philip Belamant, CEO of Zilch. ‘We combine the benefits of instalment and card products to offer the best way for our customers to pay overtime, anywhere. We believe that this generation should be able to responsibly have what they want when they want without being financially penalised for the privilege.’
Zilch Mastercard Partnership
Zilch has leveraged a strategic partnership with Mastercard to effectively deliver its unique payment solution. The partnership enables customers to use a Zilch Virtual Mastercard when using any online retailer that accepts Mastercard payments. UK shoppers can sign up for a Zilch Virtual Mastercard using their debit card details, postal address, mobile phone number, and email address. Once shoppers have signed up, Zilch will issue a virtual card immediately.
‘Zilch is a flourishing fintech which aims to help shoppers manage their cashflows in a way that fits their timeline.’ says Jason Lane, EVP, Market Development Europe at Mastercard ‘At Mastercard, we continue to be the partner of choice for fintechs across Europe as we strive to help scale innovative payment solutions that improve people’s lives.”
Zilch’s founders
The founders behind Zilch’s fast-growing business are serial entrepreneurs who’s previous businesses have been listed on the Nasdaq and featured in Forbes’s top 100 companies. CEO Philip Belamant and Chairman Serge Belamant bring a host of technological expertise to the cutting-edge finance enterprise.
CEO: Philip Belamant
Zilch’s founder Philip Belamant has conceived numerous award-winning fintech enterprises. Not only has he worked with Vodafone, TNM, MTN, Orange, and Airtel to launch mobile payments and value-added services in 15 countries, but he also conceived and launched South Africa’s first Cash-To-Mastercard system for UBER.
On top of this, Philip has founded a Top 40 Fintech company in Africa, which attracted over eight million users within six months.
Chairman: Serge Belamant
Serge Belamant is an entrepreneurial computer scientist who has won numerous awards for his benchmarking, operations research, statistics queue management, and telecommunications protocols. Known as one of the founders of blockchain technology, Serge patented the world’s first electronic purse using smart-card technology (UEPS) and advanced encryption methods. He also engineered the South-African ATM switching and settlement system (SASWITCH), which is the third-largest ATM system on the planet.
About Zilch
Zilch is redefining the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market by enabling customers to pay overtime anywhere, instantly. While traditional BNPL products rely on various third parties, Zilch’s unique patent-pending model doesn’t require integrations and provides instant accessibility. While most credit cards have costly interest rates and late fees, Zilch is completely interest-free. The system works by using open banking and AI to calculate each customer’s affordability, and Zilch only funds low-value discretionary purchases to protect shoppers against over-borrowing.
Based in London, Zilch released its original BETA product in August 2019 and has experienced a huge level of traction since, particularly from young millennial and Gen Z markets. Now, over 15,000 new customers sign up to Zilch every month.
Learn more about Zilch’s ground-breaking payment solution at www.payzilch.com.