{"id":966,"date":"2025-05-21T15:57:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T15:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/?p=966"},"modified":"2025-05-28T20:28:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T20:28:54","slug":"i-spotted-a-major-credit-problem-affecting-millions-heres-how-i-fixed-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/21\/i-spotted-a-major-credit-problem-affecting-millions-heres-how-i-fixed-it\/","title":{"rendered":"I spotted a major credit problem affecting millions \u2014 here\u2019s how I fixed it"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_251536619-8552.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23120016\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Zilch allows consumers to build a credit score while not paying any charges (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"metro-article-audio-player\" data-vars-type=\"article-audio-player\">\n<div class=\"metro-article-audio-player-play-row\">\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"metro-article-audio-player-play-button\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<title>Listen to article<\/title>\t\t\t\t\t<span>Listen to article<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-container\"><img class=\"sponsor-image\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/metro\/includes\/site-blocks\/article-audio\/assets\/powered-by.png\" alt=\"Powered by\" data-rewritten=\"false\" \/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"audio-controls hidden\">\n\t\t\t\t<audio class=\"audio-element\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ElevenLabs_2025-05-20T10_49_43_Axell-British-YouTube-Personality-_pvc_sp100_s50_sb75_se30_b_m2-59e9.mp3\" controls id=\"audio-683771f45e884\">\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tYour browser does not support the audio element.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/audio>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A Technologist? Really? When asked what they want to be when they grow up, most kids will answer: police officer, actor, astronaut, vet. But not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zilch.com\/uk\/\">Zilch<\/a> co-founder Philip Belamant. Even back then, he wanted to be a technologist and change the world.<\/p>\n<p>Impressive. I had to Google what one was. According to job site Indeed, a technologist is someone who \u2018uses their expertise to manage technology and solve technical problems\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>This is apt, because Philip is, above all else, a problem solver. <\/p>\n<p>Before we meet, I listen to a number of <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/podcasts\/\">podcasts<\/a> he\u2019s guested on recently, largely to talk about how he has managed to build the UK and \u2028<a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/europe-travel\/\">Europe<\/a>\u2019s fastest-ever growing \u2018tech unicorn\u2019, a company valued at $1billion or more. Even more impressively, he grew the firm from launch to $2billion in its first 14 months.<\/p>\n<p>Words that come up a lot with Philip include: problem, solution, action, discipline, build, focus and trust. When boiled down to those seven words, it\u2019s perhaps not hard to see how the 40-year-old South African has achieved what he has. <\/p>\n<p>But there is more to him than the simple desire to solve a Rubik\u2019s Cube. Philip is driven by the sense that in solving a problem, the solution is doing some \u2018good for society\u2019. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"969\" src=\"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_251536617-6a34.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23120107\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Philip Belamant grew his firm Zilch from launch to $2billion in its first 14 months. (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a nutshell, Zilch is an app you can buy stuff through just like a <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2022\/02\/10\/a-beginners-guide-to-credit-cards-16032490\/\">credit card<\/a>, debit card or <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/02\/12\/money-expert-need-know-buy-now-pay-later-schemes-20253673\/\">buy now, pay late<\/a>r, but you pay no interest on anything you borrow. None. Nada. Zilch.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-player\">\n<div class=\"metro-video-player \" data-track-module=\"video-player\">\n<div class=\"vjs-video-container vjs-fixed vjs-responsive\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@type&#8221;:&#8221;VideoObject&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Metro.co.uk&#8221;,&#8221;duration&#8221;:&#8221;T30S&#8221;,&#8221;thumbnailUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/05\/19\/16\/98535393-0-image-a-3_1747669105214.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;uploadDate&#8221;:&#8221;2025-05-19T16:09:35+0100&#8243;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;Deadlines move fast. 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class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(&#8216;metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded&#8217;, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === &#8216;undefined&#8217; || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === &#8216;undefined&#8217; || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === &#8216;undefined&#8217;) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(&#8216;.metro-video-player&#8217;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(&#8216;.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder&#8217;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(&#8216;metro-video-player&#8211;related-videos-loaded&#8217;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This is pretty wow in financial services. Companies that let you borrow money for free&#8230; said no one ever before. And yet this is Zilch\u2019s mission. In its own words, it wants to \u2018eliminate the high cost of consumer credit. For good.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Why, I ask? Yes, you\u2019re disrupting an industry that makes tens of billions of pounds out of British consumers each year. Yes, you\u2019re building a company worth billions. But are you doing that to solve a problem because it can be solved, or to help customers for their sake? He thinks. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018Look, no one grows up thinking, I want to disrupt financial services when I\u2019m older, do they?\u2019 he says. \u2018But I\u2019ve learned over my career that if I want to keep getting up in the morning to build a business, it has to be meaningful for me as well as solving a problem.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In 2006, still living in Africa, Philip started a mobile gaming company, PBel. It evolved into a business that had nothing to do with games, instead transforming the way that people bought mobile credit, or airtime, as it\u2019s known in Africa. <\/p>\n<p>It began in Namibia, a place where huge numbers of people lacked a bank account and relied on <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/01\/cash-king-uk-shoppers-fume-businesses-accept-card-payment-23006471\/\">cash to pay\u2028for everything<\/a>. This meant mobile phone users would have to travel physically to buy airtime from shops or other vendors.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_251536641-2d51.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23120118\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>&#8216;If I want to keep getting up in the morning to build a business, it has to be meaningful for me as well as solving a problem.&#8217; (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018They worked all week to earn money for their families and then spent all weekend away from them to buy airtime so they could speak to them during the week,\u2019 says Philip. <\/p>\n<p>PBel let them purchase airtime from their phones. Problem fixed. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018When we started, I answered the phones in customer service and some of the stories we would hear really made me think, wow, this is genuinely changing people\u2019s lives.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He built that business into an international success across the whole of Africa, in the process, partnering with global outreach organisations such as the World Food Programme to use some of his influence to further improve people\u2019s access to technology.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in 2015, Philip and his family moved to the UK. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was weird for me moving here,\u2019 he says. \u2018In South Africa, I\u2019d never had a problem getting credit. I was lucky.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"969\" src=\"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SEI_251536620-123b.jpg\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23120189\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t<\/div><figcaption>After moving to the UK, Philip found himself unable to open a bank account due to his lack of credit history<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018Then I get to the UK and I can\u2019t open a bank account because I don\u2019t have a credit history here and I can\u2019t get a credit card because I don\u2019t have a bank account. And I <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/13\/credit-score-bad-couldnt-get-a-phone-now-im-a-homeowner-22863789\/\">can\u2019t get a mobile phone contract<\/a> and so on. It was the first time ever I had personally experienced that financial exclusion we had helped to solve in Africa.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It got him thinking. \u2018What would\u2028I do if I needed to defer the cost of purchasing something big? I\u2019d be\u2026\u2019 \u2028he trails off. \u2018It\u2019s nuts, right? And this is in a developed country \u2013 exactly \u2028the thing our technology in Africa is solving.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Five years later, Zilch was born. Zilch allows consumers to <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/16\/unusual-way-can-build-credit-score-a-renter-make-money-work-harder-23087747\/\">build a credit score<\/a> while not paying any charges. Instead, the retailer pays for them. If the retailer is not on Zilch, the customer pays a small flat fee of one or two pounds. \u2018I think of it like buying on debit or deferred debit. It\u2019s just fairer,\u2019 says Philip.<\/p>\n<p>Again, it\u2019s the customer stories that keep him motivated. \u2018We had this one lady whose mother was ill, she lived in Leeds, and this lady couldn\u2019t pay the train fare in one go \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/05\/13\/passengers-swerving-train-fares-trick-save-50-per-ticket-23075435\/\">it was hundreds of pounds<\/a>. She used Zilch to spread the cost and she saw her mum.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018She was calling to thank us. She said without Zilch she wouldn\u2019t have been able to go and say goodbye to her mum, who sadly passed away the next week. These stories exist. It really, really matters to people that they have access to credit and it\u2019s not outrageously expensive. It\u2019s what makes it meaningful for me.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Get in touch by emailing <a href=\"mailto:MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk\">MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zilch allows consumers to build a credit score while not paying any charges (Picture: Supplied) Listen to article Listen to article Your browser does not support the audio element. A Technologist? Really? When asked what they want to be when they grow up, most kids will answer: police officer, actor, astronaut, vet. But not Zilch [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=966"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":973,"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/966\/revisions\/973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alaskanativeowned.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}