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Indian tech company Zoho is making headlines again. After the success of its instant messaging app Arattai which has even caught the government’s attention the company is now preparing to make a big move into the hardware market. Zoho has started selling Point of Sale (POS) machines which include integrated QR devices and sound boxes. Currently Paytm and PhonePe dominate India’s POS device market and their machines are commonly seen in retail stores. Under the brand Zoho Payments the company has launched a new smart POS device that could give tough competition to Paytm PhonePe and Google Pay. This smart POS terminal comes with a touchscreen display and an inbuilt printer that can instantly print receipts. The Zoho payment terminal supports 4G Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Merchants can accept payments via chip cards UPI and QR codes using this device. According to the CEO of Zoho Payments this step is a “natural expansion” of their payment business which began in 2024 as a software-based payment solution. At that time Zoho offered payment support for any online device. Now with the introduction of hardware the company has taken a major step forward. Since Zoho already provides tools for small business management these features are integrated into the payment terminal as well. This means merchants can manage real-time payment tracking billing and accounting—all in one place. Zoho also offers a unified dashboard for businesses allowing retailers and merchants to easily view all payment and billing information. For added protection the devices are PCI DSS certified ensuring high standards of security and data privacy. Arattai gaining popularity in India WhatsApp is currently the most widely used instant messaging app in India but now a new Indian alternative Zoho’s Arattai app is quickly catching people’s attention. The app offers chatting calling and video meeting features all developed locally. So far Arattai does not yet offer end-to-end encryption but the company has confirmed that this important security feature will be added soon. End-to-end encryption is considered the gold standard for chat privacy and security as it ensures that no one not even the company itself can access users’ chat data. Without encryption there’s always a risk that personal information could be accessed by hackers or other parties. WhatsApp on the other hand has had end-to-end encryption for years which has also been independently audited by security researchers. It will be interesting to see how India’s homegrown Arattai app competes with the global giant WhatsApp in the coming months.