Philip Belamant, the South African entrepreneur behind buy-now-pay-later firm Zilch, shared how his move to the UK shaped the company’s creation. Despite co-founding a business now valued at $2 billion, Belamant revealed he struggled to obtain a credit card when he first arrived because he had no local credit history. What Belamant wasn’t prepared for was that, despite his wealth in South Africa, he couldn’t obtain a credit card in Britain. He later saw that many who could access credit were paying “egregious” interest rates, with average annual credit card borrowing costs exceeding 35%. These insights led to Zilch’s launch in London in 2020, co-founded with his father, Serge, and Sean O’Connor. The company has since raised more than $304 million in equity, employs 255 people, and serves five million registered users who have spent over $5.8 billion through the platform.
Zilch’s model reduces borrowing costs by charging merchants for sales leads and passing part of the benefit to customers. This enables users to avoid interest charges, paying small fees of $0.65 to $3.80 per transaction when merchant commissions do not cover loan costs. In 2024, revenues rose 93% to $142 million, with gross profit margins improving to 49%. The firm made its first monthly profit in July last year and reported its first profitable quarter soon after, reducing annual pre-tax losses to $13.6 million from $65 million. Belamant said the UK remains an attractive base for entrepreneurs, noting, “If you really want to build something at serious speed you need to go somewhere you can get the talent, you have government backing and support.”
