Zoho Corporation is making a significant push into the consumer fintech space with the launch of Zoho Pay, a new payments app that will also be embedded within its chat platform, Arattai. This move signals Zoho’s intent to diversify beyond its traditional SaaS offerings and build a broader financial services ecosystem.
Zoho CEO Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran told Moneycontrol that Zoho Pay will allow users to send and receive money, make secure payments, and complete transactions directly within Arattai, eliminating the need to switch between apps. While it will operate as a standalone app, its seamless integration with Arattai, a messaging and collaboration platform launched in 2021, positions Zoho to tap into the growing trend of conversational commerce, where chat platforms become gateways for financial transactions.
Arattai, already supporting messaging, file sharing, and video calls, has gained traction as a “Made in India” alternative to WhatsApp, benefiting from government initiatives and increasing privacy concerns around global messaging platforms.
Embedding Zoho Pay into Arattai could give the app a compelling value proposition, combining communication and payments under one roof. But what we need to remember is WhatsApp Payments hasn’t really taken off as expected in India, so it will be interesting to see how this one performs.
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