Zilch, the world’s first ad-subsidized payments network (ASPN), today announced its latest milestone: surpassing 4 million registered customers within just 44 months of launch.

"In less than four years, we’ve transformed how millions experience, engage and - most importantly - are rewarded with their daily payments, generating our customers over $500 million in savings and counting," said Philip Belamant, CEO and co-founder of Zilch.

Zilch currently adds over 100,000 new customers each month and now around 12% of the UK’s 33 million adult working population has a Zilch account. Since its launch, the platform has created over $3 billion in commerce, or Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), for retailers, with over half of this GMV generated in just the last 12 months, reflecting an accelerating pace in its rapidly growing business activities.

Zilch customers today interact with the platform 10-15 times more frequently than users of peers. This high customer frequency not only drives Zilch’s continuous growth but also attracts an increasing number of retailers to the platform, who are eager to connect through data-led ad targeting with Zilch’s hyper-engaged and growing user base. Through Zilch’s ASPN services, any of the c.37 million retailers on Mastercard can offer attractive contextualised deals and discounts on everyday purchases the customer makes, online or in-store via tap-and-pay. This virtuous cycle of value draws more consumers to use Zilch’s array of features, all of which are subsidised by retailers’ advertising spend.

Years of high recurring transaction activity with Zilch’s now 4-million-strong customer base have given the company a uniquely rich data set to train and optimise its AI engine. Following the recent enhancement of its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Zilch continues to push the boundaries of innovation in Artificial Intelligence across its business operations. Leveraging AWS's powerful machine learning (SageMaker) and GenAI (Bedrock) services, Zilch has unlocked its deep lake of customer behavioural data. In April, AWS invited Zilch’s CEO to present the opening keynote at its annual AWS Summit, where he announced that, over the past year, these technologies have enabled the company to further develop and deploy sophisticated AI tools that have advanced credit underwriting, fraud prevention and customer servicing.

Belamant added: "Our advanced use of GenAI and machine learning, backed by AWS’s robust cloud capabilities we’ve been building with for years, allows us to continuously innovate our flywheel of value at the sustainable operational pace and scale necessary to lead the revolution in payments - such as live, personalised affordability limits and buyer intent prediction."

Zilch’s momentum in 2024 is highlighted by several strategic initiatives, including the introduction of a new ‘Pay over 3 Months’ zero-interest regulated credit option, the co-founding of the Unicorn Council for UK FinTech (UCFT) and the partnership with Checkout.com as its global acquiring partner. These developments, combined with the ongoing AWS collaboration, are expected to further accelerate the deployment of next-generation AI capabilities, ensuring Zilch remains at the forefront of technological advancements in fintech and cutting edge of consumer financial services.