Philip Belamant is the co-founder and CEO of Zilch, the fastest European company to achieve unicorn status in just 14 months.
The UK FinTech is the world’s first advertising-supported direct-to-consumer payments network (ASPN), on a mission to revolutionise the global payments industry by eliminating the high cost of consumer credit. Forever.
Can you provide us with a brief description of your company, its main activities and how it was founded?
Throughout my professional life, I have created technology-based companies that generate positive change in society. With a background in payments, I came to understand that traditional credit and payments have not been designed to meet the needs of the underserved.
Can you believe that in 2024, in the United States and the United Kingdom, we will still be spending $150 billion a year on fees and interest? That's $400 million every day. When we discovered this problem, we realized that we had found our purpose. We needed to build something that would take that $150 billion to zero, to zero.
The real question was, how do we do it? We follow the money and ask ourselves: What do people do when they apply for personal credit or use their credit cards? They buy something. I know it seems obvious, but the moment that dawned on us at Zilch was that someone else is profiting from these transactions. The sellers of those goods and services are benefiting from us getting what we consider a total of a trillion dollars of credit simply to buy things.
Brands pay billions in advertising through Google and Meta. We click on those ads and then pay billions in fees and interest to buy the items. If we can cut out the middleman and get buyers to meet sellers at the most important touchpoint (at checkout), we could change commerce as we know it.
So when Zilch was created in 2018, we asked ourselves one question: could we turn ad spend into free or affordable credits, deals, and rewards? We launched Zilch with a mission to create a fair, transparent, and ubiquitous way to pay, with a vision to eliminate the high cost of consumer credit. Forever.
Launching during the pandemic was challenging and we had our share of ups and downs. However, we had a real purpose (it was written in our name) and stayed focused on product-market fit. Demand increased and we managed to grow our team to over 200 employees in just 18 months.
Fast forward to today and we’ve created a new, unique and permanently rewarding way to pay. Zilch offers millions of customers the freedom to go anywhere in the world – online or offline – and when they pay, they earn rewards on debit payments or spread interest-free credit card payments over six weeks or three months. All payments are protected and Zilch helps customers build their credit profiles with all major credit bureaus. This has enabled customers to save over $500 million in interest and fees through cash back rewards and interest savings.
We have accelerated our growth thanks to our customer focus. In May, we were proud to announce that we had reached more than 4 million customers and generated more than $3 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) for retailers.
How has your company successfully grown within the technology industry in recent years?
It may seem obvious, but the key is to create a product that solves a real-world problem. Our unique direct-to-consumer model achieves this, and the fact that we have worked with regulators and become one of the first BNPL providers to obtain an FCA Consumer Credit License before going public gives us became a very attractive investment proposition from the beginning. In recent times, many well-established consumer-focused companies have withdrawn from the space in which we operate. While we do not speak for others, as they cannot speak for us, there are three reasons why Zilch is growing: 1. we are regulated, which creates fundamental trust; 2. we have multiple streams of income and are not dependent on just one; and 3. we are direct to consumer. This means that in a cookieless world, you own the relationship, have first-party data, and can therefore always understand customer needs and learn.
Our investment in proprietary technology has been a large part of the remarkable growth we have seen. We are constantly innovating. With our advanced use of Gen AI and machine learning and with strategic partnerships, we are creating increasing value for customers.
2024 has been a banner year for our partnerships. In April, we selected Checkout.com, a leading global provider of digital payments solutions, as our primary acquiring partner. We also announced a major partnership with AWS, the world’s largest cloud provider, accelerating AI innovation across our proposition and keeping Zilch at the forefront of FinTech.
Additionally, we raised $125 million from Deutsche Bank in our first securitization, which will allow us to nearly triple sales and accelerate our product roadmap as we reach breakeven and beyond.
What key technologies or innovations have been instrumental in driving this growth?
Everything we do is supported by technology, specifically AI. We wouldn't be where we are today without him.
Using AWS technologies from the beginning, we are leveraging AI and machine learning services, including Amazon SageMaker and Bedrock, to improve fraud protection, credit assessment, customer service, and purchase intent prediction . In terms of growth, this partnership is projected to add more than $250 million in sales in the next 12 to 18 months.
Our GenAI engine, trained on nearly four years of loan data from our 4 million customers, provides us with 15-18x more data than our closest peers. This extensive data lake, combined with AWS technology, builds trust, immense speed, and gives Zilch unparalleled insights into our customers’ spending and credit landscapes. This enables us to better understand customer needs and drive greater value.
What key skills or attributes do you believe are essential for success in the technology sector?
It is essential to build a team of people who understand your values and vision. It is important that they understand how they can uniquely contribute to the company, recognize where it is going, and be committed to its success.
For us it has never been about putting butts in seats. We were lucky that early in our journey we attracted and retained phenomenal people who have helped build the business that exists today. Diversity and experience were crucial in building our team. Our leadership team includes people with a variety of backgrounds and professional experiences, including founders, managers at top banks, and advertising technology experts. People are the engine that drives growth and it is important to invest in them.
Looking ahead, what are your ambitions for future growth and innovation in the technology industry?
Our goal is to continue generating value for our customers and expand both our wallet and our market share. Right now, we're adding over 100,000 new customers every month and doubling our revenue year over year, with no plans to slow down.
Today, the United Kingdom is in the middle of a general election. The next government will inherit management of a world-leading, trillion-dollar British technology sector that is the third largest on the planet. Imagine the possibilities if we could provide businesses and investors with complete policy clarity.
The Unicorn Council for UK FinTech, which Zilch co-founded earlier this year with Innovate Finance, is collectively shepherding a £50bn wave of potential future IPOs in the UK. This unique assembly is made up of visionary leaders who run the UK's most valuable private FinTech companies and generate colossal economic value for the country. I am proud to co-chair this market-first board alongside CEOs Janine Hirt of Innovate Finance, Francesca Carlesi of Revolut and Charles McManus of ClearBank. They have a clear vision of the key policies needed right now to transform perceptions and accelerate economic growth in the UK. We created a five-point policy plan that sets out recommendations for policymakers to pioneer growth and change in capital markets, tax and regulation.
If a company is listed in the UK, liquidity is an issue. Let us remove any excuse for stakeholders here in the UK not to invest in the country's economic growth.
What does it mean for your organization to be included in the E2E Tech 100 for 2024 list?
As Zilch was born and raised in the UK during a pandemic (arguably the most challenging time in modern history), it’s important that we celebrate British businesses and their success stories. We’re delighted to be recognised on this list. This accolade is a testament to the hard work of our team and the journey we’ve taken over the past five years.
