London-based FinTech Zilch has raised $10m to fund the rollout of its buy now, pay later platform, aiming to compete with companies like Klarna and Afterpay.
Last time we reported on Zilch the FinTech company had just signed up to be part of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority’s fifth regulatory sandbox. The startup has been busy since then.
Zilch launched its beta product in August 2019 and has been operating in stealth since. During that time, it has attracted on average 10,000 new customers per month, predominantly among the millennial and Gen Z segments of then market.
Zilch has already given its users the opportunity to pay over time anywhere they like online at big brands such as Amazon, eBay, Ali Express and Nike. The startup hinted that customers will soon be able to enjoy a similar feature in stores as well.
Of course, there is no shortage of companies offering solutions that enable customers to pay in instalments. Startups like Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm are just some examples. Moreover, big players in the payment industry are also adding buy now, pay later features to their offerings. For instance, PayPal announced one such feature earlier this week.
From the outset, Zilch may look like it works just like its rivals in the industry. Its over-the-top product empowers customers to shop wherever Mastercard is accepted and spread their payment over six weeks for zero interest and zero fees whenever they chose to buy from one of Zilch’s 5,000 retail affiliate partners.
But the company argues that it has one thing that sets it apart from the competition. It claims that its product does not need any technical integration with merchants, which the startup argues mean that it can instantly provide its offering to users everywhere.
“Our unique over-the-top approach to BNPL has been built out of our strong knowledge for instalment cards in developing economies such as South Africa and South America amongst others,” said Philip Belamant, founder and CEO of Zilch. “We combine the benefits of instalment and card products to offer the best way for our customers to pay overtime, anywhere. We believe that this generation should be able to responsibly have what they want when they want without being financially penalised for the privilege.”
Jason Lane, EVP of market development Europe at Mastercard, added, “Zilch is a flourishing FinTech which aims to help shoppers manage their cashflows in a way that fits their timeline. At Mastercard, we continue to be the partner of choice for FinTech across Europe as we strive to help scale innovative payment solutions that improve people’s lives.”
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