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One of Britain’s most prominent fintech unicorns has secured a payments services licence from UK regulators as it hunts for acquisition targets ahead of an eventual move to list its shares publicly.
Sky News understands that Zilch, which has more than five million customers, will announce on Thursday that it has been awarded the licence by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
It is also expected to say that it has deepened its relationship with Visa, the global payments network, by becoming a direct, principal member, which will pave the way for new payment-related collaborations between the two companies.
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The licensing move will be hailed by Zilch as an important milestone for the company ahead of the full-scale launch of Zilch Pay next year which is aimed at capturing a greater chunk of consumers’ spending through a one-click checkout process.
“This is a major step change for Zilch, bringing us firmly into the payments tent and giving us a true seat at the table to shape the ecosystem”, said Philip Belamant, co-founder and chief executive of Zilch.
“It opens the door to new opportunities, setting us up to move even faster, more efficiently and cost-effectively.
“In just five years, we’ve amassed over 5.3 million users and thousands of retail partners based on the strength of our proposition and product.”
The announcement will come weeks after Zilch, which has a commercial partnership with Arsenal Football Club, confirmed that it had secured a further $175m of debt and equity funding.
Zilch is valued at about $2bn, making it one of the UK’s most valuable fintechs, and rendering its ultimate choice of listing venue of intense interest to investors, peers and ministers who have set the objective of improving London’s lure as an IPO destination.
Mr Belamant has been an active participant in talks…
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