There is a lot of consumer interest in Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) as lending has grown significantly in recent years. Various surveys suggest the majority of UK consumers aged 18-24 prefer BNPL options over credit cards. As a result, competition in the BNPL space is increasing too. The UK market already exists of global names like Klarna, ClearPay, and also homegrown fintech like Zilch.
Acquires US’ NepFin
Now to cement its leadership position in the market and finally expand its presence into the US, Zilch, London’s leading Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) fintech, has announced plans to acquire NepFin. The acquisition announcement comes after securing an additional $110M as a part of the Series B extension last month. This is just the first step in Zilch’s international growth, says the press release.
As a result, the company aims to scale the team considerably within the US market in targeting sales, marketing, compliance, customer service, and engineering. As a part of the agreement, Albert Periu joins as CEO of the US, and Thomas Meister joins as COO & General Counsel in the US.
“We’ve admired Zilch as a successful, fast-growing innovator in the BNPL landscape for some time,” said Periu. “This is the second time one of my companies has been acquired by a U.K.-based company and I’m thrilled at how their mission, values, and culture aligned with ours. Our team is looking forward to leveraging our prior experience, creating roots in Miami, and attracting talent to solidify Zilch as a FinTech leader in the U.S. as we head into the end of 2021 and beyond.”
Commercial lending fintech provider
Miami-based Neptune Financial Inc. (NepFin) which has a Californian-lending license – is a commercial lending fintech providing debt funding to help entrepreneurs and investors grow small and medium-sized businesses.
The company aims to empower entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, create new jobs and drive economic growth nationwide.
Zilch was founded last year by the company’s CEO Philip Belamant and has shown remarkable growth. The company allows its customers to shop freely and spread their payments for zero interest and zero fees over six weeks. BNPL fintech is currently adding more than 150,000 customers a month.
The UK company uses open banking technology combined with soft credit checks to gain a real-time view and understanding of the consumer’s affordability profile and make an accurate recommendation of what they can afford, preventing problem debt.
“We’ve been exploring growth options in the U.S. for some time, and following the additional funding, now was the perfect time to take another meaningful step towards our U.S. launch,” said Philip Belamant, CEO and Founder of Zilch. “Albert, Tom, and their team have done tremendous work, and adding them to our team enables us to hit the ground running with regulation top of mind. We’re highly confident that the team will mirror and build upon the success of Zilch as we bring the most scalable BNPL product to the US market.”
