GEC NEWS WIREZoho launched Zoho One for Startups program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As part of this initiative, Zoho offered local startups complimentary access to Zoho One. The company also announced alliance with PayTabs, a Saudi-based company that will help businesses with payment processing.
“MEA is the fastest growing region for us, and we are committed to investing in the region,” said Ali Shabdar, Business Development Director MEA, Zoho Corp. “The aim of Zoho One for Startups program is to help startups focus on building a profitable business from the ground up using industry standard and world-class tools while putting their hard-earned money into their products. The partnership with PayTabs, on the other hand, is a first-of-its-kind integration in the GCC region, where an accounting software and a payment gateway software have come together to streamline payment acceptance and accounting.”
With Zoho One, a company has all the applications it needs to acquire and serve its customers (marketing, sales, and support apps); run its operations (finance, recruiting, and related HR apps); and provide all the tools for its employees to work collaboratively and get their work done (office suite, mail, personal productivity, and collaboration apps). They can even build custom apps for unique business needs and put them under the same umbrella—the single operating system for the entire business.
Zoho has earlier launched VAT-compliant local versions of its accounting software, Zoho Books in KSA which has been accredited by General Authority of Zakat and Tax (GAZT). Zoho Books helps businesses stay on top of their finances and keeps them VAT compliant. Available in mobile and web versions, it takes the hassle out of accounting with bank feeds, receipt scanning, and workflow automation.
With this integration, businesses will have the following benefits:
- Businesses will be able to accept online payments from its customers effortlessly.
- Customer payments and transaction fees are captured separately in a clearing account in Zoho Books improving record keeping and the reconciliation process.
- With multi-currency support, businesses can accept payments in 168 currencies.
- Businesses can provide multiple payment methods to their customers. In addition to the traditional options like Visa and MasterCard, businesses can offer regional payment methods like SADAD and MADA in KSA, OmanNet in Oman, and KNet in Kuwait.
“From the perspective of PayTabs, we are always looking out for ways to simplify our entrepreneurs and business owner’s lives, said PayTabs founder & CEO, Abdulaziz Al Jouf. “Integrating with Zoho Books, the regions premier software company, will now offer multiple payment options for our mutual customer base, while streamlining and automating the accounting of their businesses. This will enable businesses to expand their network as it will facilitate online payments and we are extremely proud of this collaboration”
As Zoho is making inroads into the GCC region, it has also invested in making its software accessible to local businesses by providing Arabic language support. It is now taking it a step further by evolving Arabic UI in its apps, starting with Zoho CRM. Moreover, thousands of pages of content have been translated and made available in Arabic at the company’s recently-launched Arabic website zoho.com/ar, and more pages are being added.
Businesses in the region can also avail Arabic customer support for any query or complaint. They are also assisted by regional partners in leveraging Zoho’s software to improve their business.
