Mastercard Rounds Out SMB Services In India With Zoho

Small business (SMB) cloud solutions provider Zoho is reportedly teaming up with Mastercard in India to provide holistic accounts receivable solutions.

A press release from Mastercard, issued Monday (Oct. 15), said the companies will promote acceptance of digital payments for India’s 73 million SMBs through their “SME in a box” solution. Their partnership will enable small businesses to collect payments via QR code or cards, while Zoho will link business customers to its ERP software to support Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance.

In a statement, Mastercard Senior Vice President of Market Development for South Asia Rajeev Kumar said the collaboration is part of the company’s efforts “to create a financially inclusive society” and promote India’s movement away from cash.

“This partnership is yet another way for Mastercard to empower Indian [SMBs] with the best-in-class technological solutions,” he said. “Mastercard is confident that it will enhance digital payment acceptance in the country and contribute to the government’s mission of 30 billion transactions in FY 2019.”

Zoho Director Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran said the partnership with Mastercard supports its focus on enabling small businesses to be more competitive in a global market.

“In this spirit, we are happy to join hands with Mastercard to equalize access to world-class accounting, payments, tax filing and business decision-making solutions for Indian [SMBs],” he said. “For the first time ever, Indian [SMBs] have better solutions than their counterparts anywhere else around the globe.”

Earlier this year, Zoho announced a partnership with Uber that sees Zoho Expense integrate with Uber for Business, providing streamlined expense management for joint business customers.

Mastercard, meanwhile, has recently focused on enhancing its B2B payments and small business financial services. Last month, the company rolled out a B2B trade platform designed for SMBs, using Mastercard Track to connect buyers and suppliers with banks to facilitate global trade and payments down the supply chain.