ZEAL’s Processing Bill Grew 26% as Customer Payments Rose Just 10%

The company puts much of that increase down to PayPal. Customer identification was another expensive area, with costs rising 59% as ZEAL brought in more users and tightened its checks.

PayPal Use Added to the Bill

Payment processing expenses were €1.56 million higher than a year earlier, according to ZEAL’s quarterly statement released on November 4. The company specifically mentioned increased PayPal use. It did not give a breakdown of processing costs by payment method, so the additional amount cannot be attributed entirely to PayPal.

Verification was getting more expensive, too. Customer identification expenses rose by €527,000, or 59%. ZEAL registered just over one million new customers in Germany during January-September, 15% more than in the corresponding 2025 period. The company also reported more rigorous verification measures. Both factors contributed to the increase, although ZEAL did not say how much each was responsible for.

Direct operating expenses were up €2.87 million overall. Payment processing and customer identification together accounted for roughly 73% of that increase, based on 15M’s calculation from the reported figures.

The 26% and 10% Figures Tell Another Story

ZEAL’s payment processing expenses rose considerably faster than customer payments. Comparing those growth rates gives an increase of approximately 14.5% in processing costs relative to customer payments. That figure is calculated by 15M, using the published percentages: 1.26 divided by 1.10, minus one.

It is not a measure of PayPal’s fees. Nor does it mean ZEAL paid 14.5% more for each transaction.

The report provides no transaction count or detailed split between payment methods. A change in how customers choose to pay could affect processing expenses without any change in a provider’s fee schedule.

What the figures do establish is that ZEAL’s overall processing bill grew faster than the customer payments it handled.

Revenue Rose Faster Than EBITDA

ZEAL’s nine-month revenue reached €198.8 million, up 22% from 2025. EBITDA grew 9% to €58.7 million. SevenCanyon, the UK prize-draw business acquired earlier this year, was included in the group’s accounts from the third quarter.

Marketing spending also rose, by 35%. ZEAL reported an EBITDA margin of 29.6%, compared with 33.3% a year earlier. The company cited higher marketing investment and consulting expenses related to the acquisition.