British unicorn Zilch to name former Aviva CEO Wilson as director

Zilch, one of Britain’s fastest-growing financial technology companies, will this week underline its growing stature by naming the former boss of Aviva, the FTSE-100 insurer, to its board.

Sky News has learnt that Mark Wilson, who also ran the Asian insurance company AIA, will become a non-executive director of Zilch, a payments business now boasting 4m customers.

The appointment is a coup for Zilch, given that Mr Wilson's other current board seats include a directorship at BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager.

Founded in 2018, the company secured authorisation from the City watchdog two years later and now offers customers a digital debit Mastercard earning up to 5% of spending in rewards.

It also provides credit cards allowing customers to spread repayments over six weeks or three months.

The company differentiates itself from other Buy Now Pay Later companies because it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

It claims to have saved customers more than £500m in fees and interest since its launch.

Sources said on Monday that Zilch was likely to issue a trading update this week which would highlight its accelerating growth trajectory.

The company has indicated that it wants to pursue an initial public offering either next year or in 2026, with London and New York expected to compete for the listing.

Klarna, its larger peer, is expected to announce plans for a New York flotation early next year, Sky News revealed before the summer.

In total, Zilch has raised close to £400m in equity and debt since it was founded.

Investors include eBay, Goldman Sachs and Ventura Capital.

The company is now valued at about $2bn (£1.5bn).

Employing about 250 people and based in London, Zilch declined to comment on Monday.