Zilch and StudentBeans form a partnership to offer students meaningful discounts and zero cost finance

Zilch, a London based start-up redefining the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) market, today announces its new Student Discount Deals product in partnership with StudentBeans.

Designed to seamlessly find and collate discounts for students to ensure they are always presented with the best deals in a quick and easy way – the new product is another big step forward in Zilch’s mission to put their consumers in full control of their money.

Due to the Corona virus pandemic, students must now more than ever be able to study from home; It is important that all students therefore are offered responsible options to acquire the products and equipment they need to succeed with their education regardless of their financial position.

Our new service enables students to seamlessly find deep discounts for their favourite products and stores and pay over time with no hidden costs.

Zilch believes responsibility must be at the heart of lending, with no exceptions. The company was born with regulation at its core and ensures it is lending responsibly to users and encouraging financial wellness practices. Unlike other players in the market, Zilch is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), having worked with the regulator over 12 months to secure a consumer credit authorisation – a testament to Zilch’s unique approach of placing consumer financial wellness at the heart of its operations.

Zilch’s mission is to support its Gen Z users to shop responsibly by adding transparency in the market. The company uniquely makes use of Open Banking data and AI to determine the affordability of each checkout, never lending more than a user can afford to pay back, which ensures students are spending responsibly.

With Zilch, students have clear insight and control over their payment plans, which they can easily access via the app at any time. To ensure no payments are missed, we already alert users when payments are due ahead of time to better help them plan their weekly and monthly cash flow. Users also benefit from Zilch’s Snooze feature, which grants users the power to delay repayment on an instalment, or an entire payment plan, by 4-7 days – for free. No interest, no hidden fees.

Philip Belamant, Zilch founder and CEO at Zilch, said “We’ve been asking our customers how they shop and it was clear to see that students are making use of BNPL options but have to find the best deals and use payment options offered by different retailers and stores. This process is not only complex and tedious but is in some cases misleading. We are offering our customers a consolidated and simple way to get the best price combined with the best way to pay overtime at their favourite stores.

“Our unique over the top platform means that they can shop wherever they like using Zilch and do not have to keep track of multiple repayment timelines. By combining our Open Banking affordability checks that ensures Zilch only lends what users can afford as well as the best possible discounts at any given time, we feel that this is the most responsible way to deliver this offering to younger customers.”

William Harris, Product Director from StudentBeans said, “Through this partnership, StudentBeans and Zilch are taking steps to deliver maximum value to our shared Gen Z customer base. A combination of deep discounts, as well as the ability to responsibly pay over time, will provide exactly that.”

Zilch is merchant agnostic and enables its customers to shop wherever Mastercard is accepted and spread their payment over 6 weeks for zero interest and zero hidden fees. Described by reviewers as ‘the next shopping revolution’ Zilch offers customers a virtual MasterCard token that can be used anywhere the customer chooses.