In November 2021, Zilch became the fastest company in Europe to reach unicorn status, just 14 months after launching its offering. The idea was the brainchild of father-son duo Serge and Philip Belamant. Serge is a veteran payments engineer who had spent decades building new payment technologies, while son Philip cut his teeth running a mobile games business.

When Philip moved from his native South Africa to the UK in 2014, he saw a gap in the market. He teamed up with co-founder Sean O’Connor to build a credit card that charged no interest and no fees, funded instead by the brands whose products it was used to buy. Launched to the public in September 2020 after a year inside the FCA’s regulatory sandbox, Zilch quickly gained traction, passing one million registered customers within its first year and five million by 2025.

What set Zilch apart from rivals such as Klarna and Clearpay was less the product than the plumbing behind it. The company runs an ad-subsidised model that allows it to offer interest-free, fee-free credit while retailers and brands pick up the cost through its network. In the year to March 2025, revenue rose 93 per cent to £110.3m, while gross merchandise volume hit £1.9bn.

All three of the company’s founders are still involved in the business. Serge sits as chairman while O’Connor has taken a public role in courting investors. Meanwhile, CEO Philip describes a potential London listing as “the right thing” for a business built and scaled in the UK. In 2026, it was also reported that Zilch had agreed to buy Lithuania's Fjord Bank for a reported $38m. If completed, the acquisition will give Zilch a full European banking licence.