Former Microsoft chief Barclay joins British fintech unicorn Zilch

One of Britain's leading fintech unicorns will this week name Microsoft's former UK boss to its board as it continues to seek acquisition targets ahead of an eventual public listing.

Sky News understands that Zilch, which has been valued at about $2bn, will this week announce that Dame Clare Barclay has been appointed as a non-executive director.

Dame Clare, who recently left Microsoft after 27 years which included stints as UK country manager and president of enterprise and industry in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, also serves as chair of the government's Industrial Strategy Advisory Council.

Her appointment by Zilch follows its acquisition of Fjord Bank, a deal which provides a springboard for its expansion into Europe.

The company recently also secured a payments services licence from UK regulators, part of an expansion ultimately expected to lead to a stock market listing.

Zilch has more than five million customers, and has an extensive payments partnership with Visa, the industry giant.

It says it has saved customers more than £750m in fees and interest since it was founded in 2019.

Last year, the company, which has a commercial partnership with Arsenal Football Club, secured $175m of new debt and equity funding.

Philip Belamant, Zilch's founder and chief executive, has been an active participant in talks with regulators and policymakers about reforms to London's listings regime aimed at making the City more attractive.

He has warned that Zilch could float outside the UK without meaningful efforts to incentivise retail investors to buy and hold British stocks.

Sources said that Dame Clare's experience of scaling technology across regulated European markets, building enterprise partnerships and embedding AI into commercial operations were among the reasons for her recruitment by Zilch.

"Clare has spent over two decades scaling technology across numerous markets at the highest level - building partnerships with some of the world's most complex organisations, embedding AI into industries that were resistant to change, and doing so across markets with very different regulatory and commercial environments," Mr Belamant said.

"That is exactly the experience we need on our board as we extend Zilch's model beyond the UK."

Zilch's investors include eBay, Goldman Sachs and Ventura Capital.

It secured authorisation from the City watchdog in 2020, and offers customers a digital debit Visa card earning up to 5% of spending in rewards.

In the same app, customers can switch to a credit card, allowing them to spread repayments with zero interest over six weeks or three months, enabling them to build their credit record.

Dame Clare said Zilch had "built one of the UK's fastest-growing fintech businesses by harnessing technology and AI to tackle a challenge that affects millions every day".

(c) Sky News 2026: Former Microsoft chief Barclay joins British fintech unicorn Zilch