How Zilch & Visa’s Partnership Could Scale BNPL Transactions
Zilch, the London-based ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) start-up, has secured a multi-year partnership with Visa.
The deal will see the fintech unicorn launch its first physical payment card while gaining access to Visa’s global merchant network of more than 150 million locations.
This new partnership represents a significant shift for Zilch, which has built its business around advertising, virtual cards and digital wallet integration since its launch in September 2020.
The physical cards will be available in various shades of Zilch’s signature bright green branding and will work across Visa’s network spanning more than 200 countries and territories.
Philip Belamant, CEO and Co-Founder of Zilch, announced the partnership at Money 20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, saying that this new direction “is about scaling reach, deepening utility and setting the stage for the next era of Zilch”.
How Zilch’s new card addresses a gap in the market
The new physical card will be available to existing customers from September and aims to capture users who remain hesitant about mobile wallet adoption.
According to a recent survey conducted by research company Finder, a little more than one in five (21%) of UK citizens regularly use a digital wallet on their phones to pay for things, which represents a substantial untapped market for Zilch.
The card will function identically to Zilch’s existing virtual offering, but it will enable usage in scenarios previously inaccessible to the company, including hotel check-ins, car rentals and home maintenance services.
“With nearly 80% of UK adults still not regularly using mobile wallets, the physical card is a strategic unlock to greater transaction volume,” Philip explained during his presentation at Money 20/20.
Zilch’s growing customer base
In just five years, Zilch has reached five million customers, with one in seven UK working adults now holding a virtual payment card through the platform.
The company has processed more than US$5bn in purchases across online and in-store transactions to date.
But around 50% of active customers currently limit their Zilch usage to online shopping rather than utilising digital wallets for in-person transactions, which speaks to the gains that could be made with the introduction of these physical cards.
Why Zilch is partnering with Visa
The partnership involves migrating Zilch’s transaction processing onto Visa’s infrastructure, which the company says has already delivered improvements in processing efficiency and capital utilisation.
“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,” says Mandy Lamb, Managing Director for UK & Ireland at Visa.
The integration is expected to enable new features and expand Zilch's ad-enabled deals, discounts and cashback programmes.
Market positioning and future growth
Zilch’s model combines advertising revenue with flexible payment options, differentiating it from traditional buy-now-pay-later providers.
The Visa partnership positions the company to compete more directly with established payment providers across both digital and physical retail environments.
“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,” Philip says.
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