Payment Expert’s Fintech Unwrapped delivers the latest developing news that has shaped the sector over the course of the last week.
This week, Zilch has reported a $300m annual run rate alongside its FY26 results, which showed revenue up 36% to £147.5m.
Also this week, Verifone has added Visa’s Featurespace fraud screening to its gateways, etoro has agreed to acquire Argentine fintech LB Finanzas, Embat has integrated J.P. Morgan Payments’ bank connectivity API, and Trust Payments has launched virtual cards for travel businesses with Weavr.
Zilch reports $300m annual run rate
Zilch has reached a $300m annual run rate and recorded two consecutive quarters of adjusted profit before tax in FY27, the consumer payments app said as it published its FY26 results.
Zilch’s FY26 revenue rose 36% to £147.5m, gross merchandise value (GMV) grew 28% to £2.4bn and gross profit increased 24% to £65.6m. Credit revenue rose 47% to £108.4m, while feature revenue grew 120% and advertising revenue 12%. Zilch’s revenue take rate rose from 5.98% to 6.34%.
Yearly active users increased 21% to 970,000, and average annual spend per active customer rose 6% to £2,500. Customers made an average of 56 purchases a year.
Zilch increased its securitisation facility to £200m, led by Deutsche Bank, which it said provides capacity for about £4bn in annual GMV. The company ended FY26 with £106.5m in cash, having secured its own Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) payments licence and Visa Principal Membership during the year. Its proposed acquisition of Lithuanian lender Fjord Bank remains subject to regulatory approval.
The firm will relocate to a new London headquarters in 2027, backed by a £77m investment over ten years.
Philip Belamant, CEO and Co-Founder of Zilch, said: “We’re confident in the strength and profitability of our business model, and we’re now seeing the results of those investments. Reaching a $300m annual run rate and delivering two consecutive quarters of adjusted profit before tax demonstrates how the foundations we built during FY26 are translating into accelerated growth and stronger financial performance.”
Verifone deploys Visa’s Featurespace for fraud screening
Verifone has deployed Featurespace, a Visa solution, across its gateways to score every in-store, online and mobile payment for fraud risk in real time. Visa completed its acquisition of UK fraud detection firm Featurespace in December 2024.
“Fraud is increasingly shaped by AI, so the defense has to be, too,” said Fabian Ganster, Head of Global Fraud & Tooling at Verifone.
The framework checks more than 1,800 attributes of each transaction in under 100 milliseconds, using Visa’s patented Adaptive Behavioral Analytics to profile normal activity for each merchant, card and account.
Fraud screening, compliance and anti-money laundering detection run inside the payment flow, so merchants need no extra vendor or integration. Verifone processes $8tn in transactions a year.
etoro to acquire Argentina’s LB Finanzas
etoro has agreed to acquire LB Finanzas, an Argentine investing and payments app, and will use Argentina as its Latin American hub. The deal is etoro’s fourth acquisition of 2026, following Zengo in April, Bit2C in May and TradeZero in August. Terms were not disclosed.
Founded in Rosario, LB Finanzas offers equities, ETFs, crypto and money market funds alongside Argentine and US dollar accounts.
“For our clients, nothing changes today,” said Camilo Cristia, Co-founder and CEO of LB Finanzas. “What comes next is more products and more scale with the same team they already know.”
Embat integrates J.P. Morgan Payments API
Embat has integrated J.P. Morgan Payments’ Banking Authorization Service (BAS) API, letting joint clients connect their J.P. Morgan accounts to its treasury platform with no IT development. Embat will be the first treasury management system to use J.P. Morgan Payments’ own user interface through the integration.
“What used to take months is now operational within days,” said Antonio Berga, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Embat.
Bank connections of this kind normally require certificates from an external certification authority. Embat uses its own certificates for every J.P. Morgan connection, and a single multi-tenant setup covers all of a client’s subsidiaries. Real-time balances, transactions and payment data then flow into the client’s ERP system. Factorial and Cazoo are among the first joint clients.
Trust Payments launches travel virtual cards with Weavr
Trust Payments has launched virtual cards for travel businesses with embedded finance provider Weavr, adding supplier payments to the payment acceptance it already provides the sector. Each single-use Visa card, issued in GBP or EUR, is tied to one booking, which Trust Payments said simplifies reconciliation and supports chargeback claims if a supplier fails to deliver. Eligible payments earn rebates.
Alex Mifsud, CEO and Co-Founder of Weavr, said: “Merchant acquirers already sit at the heart of the payments relationship with travel businesses. Embedded virtual card issuing gives them an opportunity to complement acquiring with supplier payments without having to build that capability from the ground up.”
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