Chennai: Indian software giant Zoho Corporation has taken another major step in its fintech journey with the launch of its new Point-of-Sale (POS) devices under the Zoho Payments division. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the company’s founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu, signalling Zoho’s growing ambitions beyond enterprise software and into the digital payments and consumer technology landscape.
Vembu revealed the news in a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Last year Zoho became an RBI-authorized payment aggregator in India and launched our online payment solutions. We are now deepening our fintech footprint by unveiling our all-new Zoho Payments Point-of-Sale (POS) devices.”
Expanding India’s fintech infrastructure
The new POS devices are designed to enable businesses to accept in-person payments, generate bills, print receipts, and sync financial records across their existing Zoho ecosystem in real time. The integration ensures that users can manage sales, accounting, and customer data seamlessly through Zoho’s suite of applications.
Vembu added that the company has partnered with NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL), a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), to strengthen India’s digital payments infrastructure and tackle business challenges in the sector.
He stated, “With our new devices, businesses can accept in-person payments while staying seamlessly connected to their broader ecosystem.”
The move aligns with the government’s Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat missions, reflecting Zoho’s commitment to building indigenous technology for Indian businesses.
Integration with Arattai and Zoho Pay
Vembu also announced that Arattai, Zoho’s homegrown messaging platform, will soon integrate with Zoho Pay, enhancing its fintech and communications ecosystem. This integration aims to enable users to send and receive payments within chats, similar to UPI-based features seen on other platforms like WhatsApp Pay.
Launched in 2021, Arattai has witnessed rapid growth, crossing 7.5 million downloads as of last week. The app is being positioned as a secure, privacy-first Indian alternative to WhatsApp, and has gained support from several government officials and industrial leaders.
Recently, Union Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed that he had switched to Zoho’s suite of productivity tools for official use. Similarly, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced that his team had migrated to Arattai, praising it as a “Made in India product that embodies the swadeshi spirit.”
Industrialist Anand Mahindra also joined in, posting on X that he had downloaded Arattai “with pride” and wished Zoho success in its mission to build globally competitive Indian technology.
A growing fintech and tech ecosystem
The launch of Zoho Payments’ POS devices comes at a time when India’s digital payments market continues to expand rapidly, driven by UPI adoption and increasing demand for secure, interoperable financial systems.
Zoho’s entry into hardware-backed fintech solutions represents a significant diversification from its traditional enterprise SaaS (Software as a Service) business. The company’s POS devices will compete with existing players like Pine Labs, Paytm, and PhonePe, offering integrated solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This development follows the launch of ‘Vani’, Zoho’s sub-brand introduced earlier this year. The Vani platform focuses on visual workplace collaboration, featuring tools such as whiteboarding, mind mapping, flowcharting, and video conferencing.
Commitment to open, interoperable technology
Vembu has long been a vocal advocate for open digital ecosystems. He previously revealed that Zoho is collaborating with think tank iSpirt, the group behind Unified Payments Interface (UPI), to develop interoperable messaging protocols for Arattai.
He emphasised the need for platforms to be interconnected and open, stating, “These systems need to be interoperable like UPI and email, and not closed like WhatsApp today. We do not want to be a monopoly ever.”
This philosophy extends to Zoho’s payment initiatives as well, where the company aims to build open and inclusive financial infrastructure that supports India’s thriving SME sector.
Conclusion
Zoho’s foray into POS devices under Zoho Payments marks a milestone in the company’s evolution from a business software provider to a full-fledged technology ecosystem player. With deepening roots in fintech, communications, and enterprise solutions, Zoho continues to reinforce its vision of creating globally competitive, Made-in-India technology.
As Sridhar Vembu aptly summed up, the company’s goal is clear — “to build technology that empowers businesses while keeping India at the heart of innovation.”