Zoho to launch Zoho Pay, a consumer payments app integrated with Arattai. [Photo: X/Sridhar Vembu]
Zoho Corporation is ready to enter India’s competitive consumer payments market with its new app, Zoho Pay. The company will offer it both as a standalone app and as an integrated feature inside its chat platform, Arattai. This move will put Zoho in direct competition with popular payment apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm.
According to Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, CEO of Zoho Payments Tech, the new app will allow users to send and receive money, make secure payments, and handle smooth digital transactions.
“Zoho Pay is designed to offer a smooth, secure, and integrated payment experience. It will be available both as a standalone app and within Arattai, enabling users to make transactions without leaving their chat interface,” he told Moneycontrol.
Zoho Pay is a new digital payment platform developed by Zoho to provide users with a fast, secure, and private payment experience. The company is testing the app internally and plans to roll it out in stages over the next few months.
Users will be able to link their bank accounts, transfer money, and make payments directly through the app or within the Arattai chat interface. This integration will enable users to conduct financial transactions while chatting, similar to WhatsApp Pay, but with Zoho’s privacy-first approach.
Zoho has not announced a fixed launch date yet, but the product is currently under internal testing. The rollout will happen in phases over the coming months, starting with select users and expanding nationwide later.
While apps like Google Pay and PhonePe focus mainly on payments, Zoho Pay aims to become part of a larger financial ecosystem. The company plans to connect it with other Zoho products such as Zoho Billing, Zoho Payroll, and future fintech offerings.
Iswaran said the company’s fintech journey is designed to grow step by step. “Our approach to fintech is incremental; we’re starting with payments and gradually expanding into other financial services, while staying true to Zoho’s focus on organic, profitable growth,” he said.
Arattai, Zoho’s homegrown chat and collaboration app launched in 2021, will play a key role in this expansion. The app already offers messaging, voice, and video calling features. Now, with Zoho Pay integrated, users can send or receive money within their conversations.
“Arattai is our consumer-facing platform that connects people and small businesses. Integrating Zoho Pay into it would be a natural progression to enable meaningful transactions within those conversations,” Iswaran added.
Zoho already operates in the financial technology space through business payments and point-of-sale (POS) solutions. With Zoho Pay, the company is deepening its presence in fintech. The long-term plan includes entering lending, insurance, broking, and wealth management.
Iswaran revealed that the company’s roadmap also includes Zoho Billing for invoicing and subscription management, and Zoho Payroll integration with banks. “Our intent is to build an interconnected financial stack, from collecting payments to managing cash flow and automating payouts,” he said.
Zoho Pay not only marks a major step in Zoho’s fintech journey but also strengthens India’s homegrown tech ecosystem. With Arattai and Zoho Pay, the company aims to offer a Made-in-India, privacy-focused alternative to foreign apps dominating the digital payments market.
As Zoho expands its fintech offerings, it is clear the company wants to redefine how Indians manage money — seamlessly, securely, and within a single ecosystem.
