DNA Payments and Zeal Launch Real-Time Loyalty and Customer Insights for UK Merchants

DNA Payments has launched a pilot for a new loyalty programme in partnership with Zeal, targeting select UK merchants to bridge the data gap between online and physical retail. By turning card terminal transactions into identified customer interactions, the collaboration provides brick-and-mortar businesses with the granular analytics typically reserved for e-commerce platforms.

What was announced

The pilot programme integrates Zeal’s data and loyalty layer directly into DNA Payments’ card terminals. This functionality allows merchants to identify customers automatically with each card tap, awarding loyalty points without requiring separate applications or physical cards at the point of sale. The primary goal is to provide physical retailers with the same level of customer intelligence that online retailers possess, such as purchase frequency and spending drivers.

The setup is designed to be fast and simple for participating merchants, combining point-of-sale transaction data with Zeal’s reporting suite. This enables businesses to see detailed customer patterns and deploy branded loyalty programmes directly from their existing hardware. The partnership aims to help merchants understand their customers better to drive repeat sales through data-driven rewards.

In addition to the pilot launch, it was noted that Zeal raised $10 million in September 2026. These funds are intended to support the company’s rollout plans, deepen integrations across various payment environments, and expand the analytical tools available to merchants and payment providers. The service is currently being rolled out to a select group of UK-based merchants as part of the initial pilot phase, allowing DNA Payments to gather feedback on the integration before a wider release.

"Our merchants give us clear feedback: they want to know their customers better, so they can serve them better. That starts with the right foundation of payments hardware and software. By partnering with Zeal, we can go a step further, delivering branded loyalty programmes from their card machine, giving customers extra rewards and gathering invaluable purchasing trends."

Colin Neil, CEO of DNA Payments

The companies involved

DNA Payments is a UK-based payment provider that has established itself as a significant player in the merchant services market. The company focuses on providing a range of payment hardware and software solutions designed to streamline transactions for small and medium-sized enterprises. Its product suite often emphasizes the integration of payment processing with broader business management tools, positioning the firm as a comprehensive service provider rather than a simple processor.

Zeal operates as a specialized data and loyalty layer specifically for card machines. The company addresses the analytics gap in physical retail by capturing customer-level data at the point of transaction. By focusing on the card machine as the primary touchpoint for customer intelligence, Zeal enables merchants to build loyalty programmes that are embedded within the payment journey. The firm’s recent $10 million funding round underscores its growth trajectory within the fintech space, as it seeks to expand its footprint across different payment environments and enhance the tools available for merchant reporting and customer identification.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed DNA Payments' expansion into value-added services beyond core transaction processing. In September 2026, the provider moved into the lending space through a partnership with iwoca, as detailed in DNA Payments Partners with iwoca to Offer UK SMEs up to £1M Embedded Funding. This followed the launch of a marketing-focused tool covered in DNA Payments Launches DNA Engage to Transform Digital Receipts into Marketing Tools. The company has also been active in the hospitality sector, forming a strategic alliance with QEPOS to improve integrated POS solutions, a development reported in DNA Payments and QEPOS Partner to Streamline UK Hospitality and Retail ePOS Systems and DNA Payments and QEPOS Partner to Deliver Integrated POS Solutions for UK Hospitality.

What this means

This move highlights a critical shift in the merchant services sector where the "dumb" terminal is becoming obsolete. As payment processing becomes increasingly commoditized, providers are under pressure to offer sophisticated data layers to retain merchant loyalty. By integrating Zeal’s technology, DNA Payments is directly challenging the data dominance of e-commerce giants, offering physical retailers a way to combat the anonymity of the high street. The success of such pilots will likely determine whether integrated loyalty becomes a standard expectation for POS hardware. It raises questions for traditional banks and legacy processors about whether they can iterate fast enough to provide similar intelligence or risk losing merchants to data-first fintechs.