Zilch secures GBP 100 million financing deal

This financing is aimed at supporting Zilch's growth initiatives and enhancing its ability to introduce new products to a wider customer base. The platform offers a debit card with rewards and zero-interest instalment options, underpinned by an ad-subsidisation model. According to the company press release, to date, Zilch has facilitated over GBP 2.5 billion in transactions and has saved customers more than GBP 450 million in fees and interest, focusing on reducing the costs associated with consumer credit. 

Officials from Zilch expressed enthusiasm for the financing, highlighting its importance in advancing Zilch’s growth trajectory. They emphasised that the funding will enable Zilch to triple sales volumes and achieve greater capital efficiency, further driving commerce through its retail network and delivering substantial savings to its customer base. 

Zilch representatives also noted the significance of entering the securitisation market to optimise the company’s capital structure and pricing strategies. They underscored Deutsche Bank’s role in creating a customised solution that aligns with Zilch’s capital-efficient business model. This financing has the potential to set a benchmark for future debt issuances, supporting Zilch’s competitiveness and strategic goals, including potential future steps towards an IPO.

What else has Zilch been up to? 

In April 2024, Zilch extended its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support the launch of AI capabilities across its proposition. As part of this expanded alliance with AWS, Zilch intended to leverage the latter’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions to improve how it serves its customers and collaborates with merchants in the future.  

The partnership was set to allow the company to access services such as Amazon SageMaker, a fully managed service for building, training, and deploying ML models, and Amazon Bedrock, a solution that provides high-performing foundation models (FMs) from AI startups and Amazon available via a single API. 

In the same month, Zilch collaborated with digital payments solution provider Checkout.com. The partnership between the two entities focused particularly on the UK and USA markets. With Checkout.com's extensive coverage, Zilch wanted to maintain its reputation for fast and reliable payments for its growing customer base.  

This collaboration marked a step forward in Zilch's operational and technological strategy as it adapted to support its rapid growth. In February 2024, Zilch expanded its consumer debit and credit offerings by introducing 'Pay over 3 months' in addition to 'Pay over 6 weeks', catering to its over 3.6 million registered users. According to the official press release, the average usage of Zilch cards by customers stands at 100 times a year, with over 10 million payments processed monthly.