Zilch Partners With Visa For Physical BNPL Card

• New multi-year partnership unlocks Zilch’s access to Visa’s 150 million+ global merchant network
• Zilch launches first physical card as the brand surpasses 5 million customers in under 5 years
• The launch builds upon Zilch’s digital native proposition, increasing credit access to 80% of UK adults who still don’t regularly use mobile wallets*
• Zilch shifts billions in annual transactions onto Visa’s global infrastructure to power its future scale and technological innovation

Zilch, the London-based ad-enabled FinTech building a revolution in the way people pay, today announced a strategic multi-year partnership with Visa, a global leader in digital payments. This deal will drive Zilch’s  growth by paving the way for innovative new products and enable the launch of the company’s first-ever physical payments card, capturing an even greater wallet share of customers’ spend.

The partnership marks a significant step forward for Zilch in delivering faster, smarter and more seamless payment experiences, laying the groundwork for continued growth. The deal will also continue to help expand the next generation of customer-first benefits, including more ad-enabled deals, discounts and cashback opportunities. 

One in seven UK working adults are already Zilch customers with a virtual payment card stored in the Zilch app or in their mobile wallets. To date, Zilch has processed over £4 billion of purchases – both online and in-store. The new physical card opens up flexibility to millions of customers – particularly those who prefer the assurance a physical card brings. It also unlocks the ability for Zilch to be used for key transactions like home maintenance, hotel check-ins or car rentals, unlocking a space that currently witnesses tens of billions in spend annually. The card will work securely and seamlessly across Visa’s extensive global network that reaches over 150 million merchant locations in 200+ countries and territories, providing trust, resilience and innovation to global money movement. Customers will have the ability to shop anywhere in the world that Visa is accepted, online or offline, while continuing to earn rewards and enjoy flexible repayment options.

The card will be available to Zilch’s existing customers from September, function identically to the virtual card and be available in different shades of the brand’s distinctive bright green. Its launch means the near 50% of active customers who currently only use Zilch for online shopping, not in-store via digital wallets, can now instead have the assurance and convenience of a physical card to ‘tap-and-pay’ anywhere in the world. 

Upgrading to Visa’s technology has already enabled a transformation in how Zilch processes card transactions and capital efficiencies. This partnership paves the way for powerful new features which deliver expanded value for customers.

Mandy Lamb, Managing Director, UK & Ireland at Visa, commented: “It’s fantastic to welcome Zilch into the Visa ecosystem, as we work together to deliver word-class products and solutions to help them scale. Fintechs are shaping the future of commerce and we’re proud to support UK unicorns such as Zilch with their growth ambitions as they provide innovative services to consumers and businesses, while driving financial inclusion through their core offering.”  

Speaking on the main stage at Money 20/20 Europe in Amsterdam Zilch CEO and Co-Founder, Philip Belamant, said: “Today’s announcement is about scaling reach, deepening utility, and setting the stage for the next era of Zilch. By partnering with Visa – a global leader in payments – we’ve plugged our AI-driven engine into a network that touches over 150 million merchants worldwide. This move will allow us to fully deploy our ad-enabled payments technology across both digital and physical retail, bringing measurable savings to consumers and margin efficiencies to merchants.

With nearly 80% of UK adults still not regularly using mobile wallets, the physical card is a strategic unlock to greater transaction volume. This move is Zilch executing its model at scale – removing cost from payments, increasing behavioural intelligence, and converting that into enduring value for both users and the ecosystem.”

Source : Zilch

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