Zilch, a payments platform, says that it has secured a payments services license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Zilch states that the licensing marks a key milestone for them, removing the reliance on third-parties and “enabling the business to build payments methods in-house, develop and bring products to market as new technologies in the market unfold (like stablecoins).
It follows other Fintech focused product launches for Zilch, including Zilch Pay, set to go live in H1 2026, that will try to “capture an increasing share of consumers’ wallets and enhance the customer experience with a one-click checkout experience, and Intelligent Commerce, an AI-powered platform that transforms unmatched live engagement data into real-time insights.”
According to the company, the FCA license supports this product development ability with direct access “to roadmap discussions, early testing of new products and deeper commercial partnerships, setting the business up to continue pioneering the future of the payments industry.”
Philip Belamant, Co-Founder and CEO of Zilch that this is a step change for Zilch, bringing them “into the payments tent and giving them a … seat at the table to shape the ecosystem.”
Simultaneously, Zilch has also secured Principal Membership of Visa “for the first time, reinforcing its collaborative relationship.”
Zilch and Visa intend to explore opportunities “to collaborate together on payments, leveraging technologies such as agentic commerce.”
According to the firm, the news follows a significant few months for Zilch, having raised over $175 million in debt and equity, “including the expansion of its securitization led by Deutsche Bank, and also becoming the Official Way to Pay for Arsenal Football Club.”
As covered, Zilch is the London-headquartered consumer payments platform making “money go further.”
Introduced back in 2020 with the stated mission to eliminate “high-cost” credit, Zilch offers a new kind of payments experience combining “flexible ways to pay with meaningful rewards, putting consumers in control of their finances.”
With a significant number of (reported) registered customers, Zilch uses its technology to connect its user base with retailers and brands “helping them acquire customers more efficiently whilst delivering consumers personalised rewards, benefits and discounts.”
Backed by firms such as AWS, Deutsche Bank and Visa, the business has scaled to become the UK and EMEA’s fintech unicorn, harnessing “the power of credit, AI tech and data to improve financial outcomes for consumers and drive growth.”