Zeal, a London-based payments technology company that connects loyalty programs and merchant intelligence with payment terminals, has raised $10 million in new funding, bringing its total capital raised to $14 million. The company did not disclose the investors participating in the latest round.
Zeal plans to use the funding to support a major expansion of its technology across physical payment infrastructure. The company has signed agreements with payment acquirers globally that cover the planned activation of its technology on more than four million card machines over the next 24 months.
The four million terminals represent a contracted rollout footprint rather than machines that are already live. Zeal said implementation will occur over the next two years as it works with payment providers across different terminal environments.
The company’s technology is designed to address a longstanding difference between online and physical commerce.
E-commerce companies can typically connect individual transactions with customer accounts, loyalty programs and customer data systems. In physical retail, transactions often pass through a payment terminal without giving merchants the same level of information about the customer or creating a direct connection with a loyalty system.
Zeal embeds loyalty functionality into supported payment-terminal workflows.
Merchants can configure programs based on stamps or points, capture customer phone numbers when appropriate or connect an existing loyalty program to the payment experience.
The platform also includes Merchant Health, which gives payment acquirers, payment service providers and independent sales organizations greater visibility into the merchants using their platforms.
Merchant Health can identify changes in transaction volume, terminal activity, payment declines and periods of trading inactivity, helping providers determine when an account may need additional attention.
Zeal’s opportunity is growing as payment terminals increasingly become software platforms rather than simply devices for accepting cards.
Android-based terminal systems can support applications alongside payment processing, creating an opportunity to bring services such as loyalty, customer engagement and business intelligence directly into the checkout environment.
Zeal distributes its technology primarily through payment acquirers and other payments partners rather than relying entirely on direct sales to individual merchants.
That model gives the company access to existing terminal estates while allowing deployments to be configured for each provider’s technology platform and merchant base.
The new funding will also support deeper integrations across payment environments and additional tools for merchants and payments companies.
Zeal’s previous investors include Saudi Arabia-based Raed Ventures, Pinnacle Capital and CUR8 Capital. The company was also named Team of the Year at the UK FinTech Awards 2026, while co-founder and CTO Belal Mohamed was named Innovator of the Year.
KEY QUOTES:
“A card payment should be the start of a more useful customer relationship. The hard part is connecting the fragmented infrastructure behind the counter. We have spent years working across that ecosystem. With signed acquirer contracts covering more than four million card machines, this funding supports the next 24 months of activation and the next stage of Zeal’s growth.”
Omar Ebeid, Co-Founder and CEO of Zeal
“A useful product at checkout depends on the infrastructure underneath it. Our work is to connect terminal journeys, loyalty and merchant insight across different payment environments, so partners can bring a consistent proposition to their merchants.”
Belal Mohamed, Co-Founder and CTO of Zeal
