UK-based consumer payments unicorn Zilch has secured a new payments services licence from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
In a statement, Zilch says the licensing will end its reliance on third-parties and enable the business to “build more payments methods in-house, develop and bring new products to market even faster”.
New payment methods being developed by the company include Zilch Pay, a one-click checkout feature set to go live in H1 2026, and Intelligent Commerce, a deep AI data intelligence platform launched for retailers in October.
Zilch adds that the FCA approval will benefit future developments with “direct access to roadmap discussions, early testing of new products and deeper commercial partnerships”.
Alongside the licence announcement, Zilch has also now secured principal membership of Visa, and says it intends to work with the payments giant to “explore new opportunities to collaborate together on payments, leveraging technologies such as agentic commerce”.
Founded in 2018 by CEO Philip Belamant, non-executive chairman Serge Belamant and Sean O’Connor, Zilch has accrued around 5.3 million users since launching out of beta five years ago.
Sky News reported in July that Zilch is gearing up for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in 2026, with the company raising over $175 million in combined debt and equity funding during its most recent funding round in November.
Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/
