Zilch has launched what it describes as its most significant product expansion since the company was founded in 2019, introducing two paid membership tiers alongside a longer-term instalment option and an open banking salary advance feature.

The London-based payments platform is rolling out Zilch Extra, priced at £2.99 a month, and Zilch Plus at £3.99 a month. Extra members gain access to open banking income verification, sharper personalised offers and spending insights. Plus members receive all of that alongside higher rewards rates on debit purchases (up to 6% back), rewards on credit purchases, a free physical card, and free foreign exchange, the last of these due in August. Both tiers are available at flat all-inclusive pricing with no hidden charges, according to the company.

The new credit products

Pay Monthly allows eligible customers to spread purchases of £75 or more over six or 12 months. The representative APR is 14.9%, with fees disclosed at checkout before confirmation. Zilch says the product operates within a customer’s existing regulated credit agreement rather than requiring a separate application, a design choice intended to reduce friction. The feature addresses demand from customers who want instalment flexibility on larger purchases without resorting to high-interest credit cards or unsecured personal loans.

Zilch Advance uses AI-enabled open banking and income verification to give eligible members access to up to £100 of their salary up to seven days before payday. The advance is repaid automatically when the member’s income lands and is likewise housed within the existing regulated credit agreement. Access to the income verification process that gates eligibility for Advance is itself a feature of the Zilch Extra tier, which creates a commercial incentive toward paid membership.

Chief executive and co-founder Philip Belamant said the expansion was a continuation of the company’s founding mission: “We started Zilch to eliminate the high cost of consumer credit. Six years on, we are continuing to deliver on that mission, giving customers one smart place to manage their spending, with flexible ways to pay, real-time rewards and smart tools that keep them in control.”

Zilch cited its Credit Confidence Study, conducted by YouGov in April 2026 across 10,940 UK adults, as the basis for the new products. The research found that 45% of credit users want rewards from their credit products and 47% want those products to help them manage spending. The company drives more than £2.5 billion annually to partner merchants, according to its own figures.

Market context

The launch reflects a broader strategic pivot that several buy now, pay later operators have been navigating since the UK government announced plans to bring BNPL products within the scope of FCA regulation. The regulatory transition has pushed providers toward structured credit agreements, transparent pricing and affordability checks, all features Zilch emphasises in this release. The company’s decision to anchor new products within existing regulated credit agreements rather than create standalone facilities suggests it is positioning ahead of compliance requirements rather than adapting to them retrospectively.

The earned wage access segment, which Zilch Advance enters, is itself under regulatory scrutiny in the UK. The FCA has been developing its approach to salary advance products, and firms operating in this space face questions about whether such products constitute regulated credit and what disclosures are required. Zilch’s choice to route Advance through the existing credit agreement framework rather than as a standalone earned wage access tool is a notable structural decision.

Competitors across the instalment and BNPL space, including Klarna, Clearpay and newer credit-building entrants, have also been extending product depth with loyalty mechanics and longer repayment terms. The membership model is a less common format in this segment and, if it achieves meaningful uptake, would give Zilch a recurring revenue stream that is more predictable than transaction-based income alone. The rollout is being phased progressively across the customer base over the coming months, so headline adoption figures are unlikely to be available for several quarters.

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