Zoho Ventures Into POS Hardware — A Swadeshi Gambit, and Integration Moves With Arattai on the Horizon
In a bold push that marries “Make in India” spirit with fintech ambition, Zoho has unveiled its own line of POS (Point-of-Sale) devices — QR devices, terminals, and even sound boxes — further entwining its growing payments stack. Indian Startup News Simultaneously, the company is positioning for synergy: Arattai, the social product from Vemby, is reportedly slated to integrate with Zoho Pay soon. Indian Startup News
With the introduction of Zoho POS Hardware, the company aims to enhance its offerings in the payments landscape.
A Leap into In-Person Payments
Previously, Zoho’s payments efforts centered largely on digital/online—gateways, reconciliation, API layers. But now, they’re entering the physical realm: the POS terminals support tap, swipe, and chip transactions, and the QR devices (static and dynamic) come with audio cues for confirmation. Indian Startup News They also include built-in billing, barcode scanning, and receipt printing — essentially bringing the front-end of the payment counter under Zoho’s roof. Indian Startup News
Launched at the Global Fintech Fest 2025 (hosted by NPCI, PCI, and the Fintech Convergence Council), this hardware announcement marks a major expansion of Zoho’s payments ambitions. Indian Startup News
What Zoho’s Betting On — And What It Connects
Zoho’s vision: unify the myriad facets of business finance — banking, payments, accounting, reconciliation — into one tightly integrated ecosystem. Indian Startup News The new POS hardware is not just a new product line; it’s another vector through which Zoho can own more of the transaction stack.
With its payments stack, Zoho is enabling:
- Payouts (for payroll or vendor disbursement) — directly integrated with Zoho Payroll. Indian Startup News
- Split settlements (useful for marketplaces) — automatically dividing customer payments between platform and sellers. Indian Startup News
- Virtual accounts + reconciliation — unique accounts per invoice or customer for cleaner bookkeeping. Indian Startup News
- Faster settlement cycles (T+1) — giving small and medium enterprises quicker access to funds. Indian Startup News
- Recurring payments / UPI Autopay mandates — useful for subscription businesses. Indian Startup News
Already, Zoho integrates with eight Indian banks — SBI, ICICI, Kotak, Axis, etc. — under its “connected banking” push. Indian Startup News From within Zoho’s software suite, customers can initiate payouts, monitor balances, and reconcile statements. Indian Startup News Zoho is also putting resources into risk management, KYC automation, and AI-based fraud detection to harden the backbone of this payments infrastructure. Indian Startup News
On Manufacturing, Local Ambitions & Strategy
Despite the “Swadeshi” framing, Zoho’s new hardware devices are not (yet) locally manufactured — they’re currently imports. Indian Startup News However, the roadmap includes possible indigenous manufacturing within 3–5 years. Indian Startup News The company argues that being privately held gives it the flexibility to make such long-horizon bets without external investor pressure. Indian Startup News
This move signals that Zoho isn’t merely content being a software player; it wants to own more layers of the financial stack — hardware, payments, banking — in a compliant, unified, end-to-end setup. Indian Startup News Zoho Payment Technologies functions as both an RBI-licensed payment aggregator and a Bharat Bill Payments Operating Unit. Indian Startup News
Arattai + Zoho Pay: What Could That Mean?
Vemby (the company behind Arattai) has hinted that Arattai will integrate with Zoho Pay. Indian Startup News If that happens, you might see social & messaging features dovetail with payments: transfers, peer payments, embedded commerce. It’s a move toward converging communication and transactions, closing more loops inside Zoho’s ecosystem.
