Zilch, a UK-based payments Fintech, has announced a partnership with StepChange – a “debt advice charity.”
According to Zilch, the collaboration with StepChange will make it the first provider of credit via buy now pay later (BNPL) to fully integrate StepChange Direct into its platform.
Zilch said it will be making financial contributions to StepChange through the Fair Share funding mechanism, supporting the charity in its operations.
Zilch recently became the first provider of its kind to report customer behavior to all major UK Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs).
Philip Belamant, CEO and co-founder of Zilch, stated:
“The entire ethos of Zilch is about being customer-first and we’ve built the business around doing the right thing by our customers – even if it’s difficult – every time. It’s why we’ve invested so much time and resource into building a meaningfully proactive relationship with StepChange. To Zilch, this partnership is a natural and obvious one – why would any responsible lender of credit not want to align with an establishment such as StepChange that is doing so much to support people in these hard times? This partnership ensures we provide our customers with the very best support if they do fall behind on repayments – all for free.”
Phil Andrew, CEO of StepChange, said that over the last three decades, a lot has changed, and there are new challenges like the cost of living crisis as well as new financial products. But while things may be different, the one thing that has not changed is their commitment to supporting people struggling with debt.
“Zilch’s commitment to our work through the payment of Fair Share contributions, as well as finding innovative ways to minimise the barriers to people seeking help, will support us at StepChange to continue our important mission.”