Zilch expands physical payments with Visa, offering ad-funded credit to new audiences
Zilch, the London-based ad-subsidised payments company, has signed a multi-year partnership with Visa to expand its reach across more than 150 million global merchants.
Announced today (June 3), the agreement includes the launch of Zilch’s first physical card, providing an offline payment option for its more than five million customers.
The deal gives Zilch access to Visa’s global network and infrastructure, allowing the fintech to scale its transaction volume and customer offering while retaining its core ad-funded, interest-free model.
The new physical card will be rolled out to existing customers from September. It functions the same way as Zilch’s virtual card and will be available in several versions of the brand’s distinctive green colour.
The move comes as research shows that nearly 80% of UK adults still do not regularly use digital wallets to pay in person, according to a 2024 Finder survey. By offering a physical card, Zilch aims to expand its appeal to a broader audience who still prefer physical payment methods for everyday or high-value transactions such as car hire or hotel bookings.
Visa partnership enables greater scale and efficiency
The collaboration allows Zilch to process billions of pounds in transactions through Visa’s infrastructure, increasing operational efficiency while reducing capital costs. This supports Zilch’s plan to scale globally and introduce new features driven by its proprietary data engine.
“It’s fantastic to welcome Zilch into the Visa ecosystem, as we work together to deliver world-class products and solutions to help them scale,” said Mandy Lamb, Managing Director, UK & Ireland at Visa.
“Fintechs are shaping the future of commerce, and we’re proud to support UK unicorns such as Zilch with their growth ambitions.”
The card also opens opportunities to build further customer-first benefits, including more ad-enabled discounts, rewards and flexible payment terms.
A new model for payments and monetisation
Zilch’s core model allows customers to pay in full or spread payments interest-free over six weeks or three months, while earning up to 5% cashback on debit-like purchases. The company earns revenue primarily through advertising, using first-party data to deliver targeted deals at the point of sale.
According to the company, this model has helped its customers save more than £750 million in fees and interest since launch. The firm has also reported an annual revenue run rate of £145 million and over £4 billion in retail sales processed to date.
Speaking at Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, Philip Belamant, CEO and Co-Founder of Zilch, said:
“By partnering with Visa, we’ve plugged our AI-driven engine into a network that touches over 150 million merchants worldwide. This move allows us to deploy our ad-enabled payments technology across both digital and physical retail, bringing savings to consumers and efficiencies to merchants.”
Zilch says its model will continue to expand, powered by its infrastructure partners, which now include Visa, AWS and Deutsche Bank.
