Zoho and Stripe partnership enables greater expansion capabilities

“Stripe is a global company. Zoho is a global company. We do business in about 160 countries. This is going to be a highly rewarding win-win partnership,” says Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, Global Head, Zoho Finance and Operations.

When Zoho launched its CRM two decades ago, little did the software vendor expect to reach the success it has today. With customers all around the world, Zoho CRM is designed to help organizations streamline sales operations and help their team focus more on selling and less on administrative tasks.

But apart from its flagship CRM, there is also Zoho Connect and Zoho Financial and Operations Suite. The Zoho Finance suite is known for being an ecosystem enabler, with tight integration between multiple solutions on one platform catering to businesses of all sizes and sectors. It has about 10 to 14 products in a bundle, powers customers in all their billing, accounting and commerce needs. This includes the need to collect payments from customers and such.

Zoho recently announced the availability of a few of its Zoho financial suite products in Singapore. The Zoho Finance Suite Singapore Edition includes Zoho Books, a solution that helps businesses simplify GST and e-invoicing compliance. The solution which is part of the Zoho Finance and Operations Suite for Singapore, ensures a truly integrated experience for businesses that goes hand-in-hand with Singapore's digital vision.

“This is where Stripe’s payment gateway comes in. We have had a long-standing relationship with Stripe, which started in 2012. We integrated Stripe with our invoicing, accounting and e-commerce solutions. These help merchants accept payments from their customers. And since Zoho has launched its own payment gateway, which is country specific, we needed to adopt to different strategies,” said Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, Global Head, Zoho Finance and Operations in an interview CRN Asia during the Stripe Tour Singapore.

Iswaran mentioned that while Zoho has done the end-to-end stack themselves in India, countries like Singapore would require them to piggyback on what Stripe does. Iswaran said that the relationship with Stripe is not just about the products but a whole scope of other products as well.

“One good product that I see scope for is Stripe Capital. We can open up access to our merchants for the capital. These are the things that we look for and this is what we do with Stripe. One thing that really I appreciate about Stripe is the modular architecture. It's not just about ease of integration; it's about being able to pick and choose what we want. For example, I can always go and tell Stripe I don't want this piece but there is another piece I definitely need. If I’m expanding into a country where I don’t know how to underwrite the merchants because I don’t know the risk involved, I can tell Stripe to take the risk cos they have better exposure as they’re exclusively focusing on payments,” Iswaran added.

For Iswaran, Stripe is capable of doing all the heavy lifting, making it easier for Zoho to see how they can leverage to be more beneficial and end up with a win-win situation.

“We expose them to our customers, and we also get the benefit of the hard work that Stripe has done. So, it's a win-win situation. We look for such things to continue because the scope is not limited to one country. Stripe is a global company. Zoho is a global company. We do business in about 160 countries. This is going to be a highly rewarding win-win partnership,” concluded Iswaran.