Zoho’s fintech play with PoS devices, soundboxes

Chennai: SaaS major Zoho has deepened its focus on fintech with new payment solutions and point-of-sale devices targeting collections and disbursements.Zoho launched POS and QR devices, soundboxes, and a range of payment solutions, including payout capabilities, virtual accounts for collections, and marketplace settlements.Zoho aims to leverage its existing strengths in ERP, accounting, and payroll software. Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, CEO of Zoho Payment Technologies and global head of finance and operations, said the company can upsell these payment solutions to its existing customers at a lower cost of customer acquisition. Noting that the company is serious about fintech, he brushed aside concerns about gaining market share in a crowded field. Zoho competes with the likes of Razorpay and PayTM."For most businesses, payments such as collecting customer dues, paying vendors, or disbursing salaries run through a patchwork of banking portals and gateways. We aim to make this seamless with finance applications, and there are ample avenues to make money," he said. Further, Iswaran mentioned that the number of transactions on its payments platform was 3.5 million but declined to share estimates on PoS device sales.In 2024, Zoho received a Payment Aggregator and Payment Gateway (PAPG) license from the RBI in February. Zoho has also been registered as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) and works with NBBL (NPCI Bharat BillPay).