Philip Belamant, Zilch and the BNPL Revolution

As the first BNPL option that lets customers shop at any place that accepts Mastercard, Zilch is an option for people who want to buy something and pay for it later without overspending.

Instead of partnering with the retailer to give a service to the customer, Zilch partners with its customers, which is pretty different, because other companies partner with the retailer – this can be great for the retailers who use the service, but may not be the best option for the customers!

While geared to millennials to some degree, we think Zilch is also a good option for Generation Z and others who want to make sure they are using money responsibly and keeping their finances on track. Mastercard is the most widely accepted system for merchants throughout the UK and is used by millions of other people around the globe so it was the logical choice for Zilch’s partnership. Zilch also use AI to make sure customers do not over-borrow which is pretty cool. 

We did some research on Philip Belamant, the Founder and found that he graduated from University of Johannesburg  in South Africa, where he completed both is BscIT and BscIT Honors degrees. At age 21, he started up his first company through winning a Microsoft Project Firefly competition and Belamant has also founded a number of fin-tech ventures, many of which have won awards. 

He also launched mobile payment services in 15 different countries across India, Africa, and Europe and was the founder of a Top 40 fin-tech company in Africa. The services he launched in India, Africa, and Europe reached more than 20 million users and his Top 40 fin-tech company in Africa had more than one million users in the first six months. Belamant also created and launched the first of its kind Cash-to-Mastercard solution in South Africa for Uber which was way before Uber became as large as it is today!

We look forward to seeing what comes next for Zilch and Philip Belamant. The company is definitely one to watch, seeing rapid growth with an investment round that raised $10 million and it has become such a popular option in the UK that there is a new-customer waiting list! Check back for more on Zilch in 2021.