Dubai-based fintech Ziina has announced the launch of Tap to Pay on iPhone in the UAE, enabling businesses to accept contactless (in-person) payments directly on their iPhones without additional hardware, the company announced on Tuesday.
The feature allows businesses of all sizes to accept in-person contactless payments using just an iPhone and the Ziina app. The solution accepts payments from all major contactless cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets.
Ziina’s founder and CEO Faisal Toukan said in the announcement, “The future of payments is contactless, mobile, and incredibly simple. And we’re making it accessible to everyone because we believe every business in our region deserves powerful tools without complexity.”
With this launch, Ziina continues to expand its payment solutions portfolio, which already includes Tap to Pay on Android, payment links, a payment gateway with integrations for Shopify and WooCommerce, and POS and QR codes for in-store payments.
It charges a fee of 2.9% plus 1 AED per transaction for the new service. To set up, users only need an Emirates ID to create an account. New users can process the first 5,000 AED received without any fees.”
The YC-backed startup raised $22 million in a Series A round led by US-based Altos Ventures in September 2024, bringing its total funding to over $30 million. At the time of the funding announcement in September 2024, the company reported a tenfold increase in annual revenue over the previous twelve months and a 34% month-over-month increase in customer base.
According to Faisal, Ziina was then processing an annualized payments volume of over $300 million across business and personal segments, up from $150 million the year before.
The company plans to expand its offerings in the UAE and explore expansion into other markets in the region, including Saudi Arabia and
Jordan. The fintech is also planning to focus on outbound payments with its upcoming ZiiCard, which will enable businesses and individual customers to access and manage their funds, simplify supplier payments, and enhance expense management.
Founded in 2020 by Faisal Toukan, Sarah Toukan, and Andrew Gold, Ziina started as a social peer-to-peer payments app for consumers before expanding to offer various products for businesses, particularly SMEs.
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