BNPL startup Zilch secures FCA customer credit authorisation

By Megha Bhattacharya

London-based Buy Now, Pay Later startup, Zilch has secured a customer credit authorisation with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Zilch leverages Open Banking data in partnership with Credit Kudos as well as soft credit checks to ensure each customer’s creditworthiness and affordability.

Philip Belamant, Zilch founder and CEO said, “Zilch was built with customer affordability at the forefront of everything we do and we have been working towards this point since our conception. Having secured our consumer credit authorisation with the FCA is another step towards improving consumer financial wellness and removing credit-related anxiety for our customers.”

Zilch’s solution allows customers to pay overtime and interest-free wherever Mastercard is accepted. Zilch is merchant agnostic and has partnered with Mastercard to provide a service directly to its customers wherever they choose to shop. Customers can use Zilch to get discounts and deals as well as pay overtime wherever they like.

Philip continued, “We have been working very closely with the FCA over the past 12 months to make this a reality – I don’t think I’ve ever come across a regulator with such a forward-thinking approach to innovative business models. The Sandbox programme allowed us to seek advice from the FCA, get their oversight and guidance on our initial testing and ultimately ensure we were building a model that is not only profitable for our business but, importantly, one that works for our customers too.”

“We welcome and fully support this approach and believe lenders should always do their best to ensure they are at no point becoming a burden on the customer. For this to happen one must make use of the latest technologies in order to assess not just credit worthiness but affordability too. Zilch is leading the way in this regard.”