Zip adds Column as a bank partner for U.S. installment lending

Zip announced a new banking partnership with Column N.A. on October 19, 2026, expanding the group of institutions supporting its unsecured U.S. installment-lending products. Column is a nationally chartered bank, according to the announcement.

Bank partnerships are an important part of the buy-now-pay-later model because the consumer-facing fintech and the regulated institution divide funding, underwriting, servicing and compliance responsibilities. Adding Column gives Zip another relationship through which it can structure and fund loans, while also reducing dependence on any single banking channel.

Zip described the deal as a way to diversify its funding platform and increase operational resilience. That does not by itself change the economics of a customer’s installment plan. Borrowers will still need to understand the repayment schedule, late-fee policy, credit reporting, dispute process and which entity is responsible for servicing an account.

The partnership also illustrates the regulatory complexity of embedded consumer credit. A bank partner may provide the legal lending structure, but the fintech remains closely associated with the customer experience and must maintain controls around marketing, affordability, disclosures and complaints. The quality of the arrangement will be judged by how those responsibilities work in practice.

Zip did not disclose financial terms, expected loan volume or a new product launch date with the announcement. The defensible significance is narrower: it has added Column as a bank partner for U.S. unsecured installment lending and is using the relationship to build a more diversified funding base.