News
Zoho Launches Zoho Payroll Solution For UAE Businesses
The cloud-based software allows UAE companies to process wages in a single click while staying fully compliant with local labor laws.
Zoho, a leading software provider with over 55 productivity and business apps, has launched its payroll management software — Zoho Payroll — for UAE-based companies. The solution allows businesses to streamline payroll management, automate monthly tasks, and ensure compliance.
“Businesses often face key challenges in payroll management like pulling in employee records from multiple sources while staying compliant with the local labor laws. Payroll is a modern alternative for UAE businesses, providing built-in compliance, automating monthly payroll tasks, and seamlessly connecting with the relevant data sources,” said Prashant Ganti, Head of Product Management, Zoho Finance and Operations Suite.
Zoho Payroll allows simple employee onboarding and offboarding, benefits handling, single-click payroll processing, and real-time reports. The app automatically ensures gratuity and pension scheme compliance and provides advanced customizations for salary components, email notifications, reminders, and alerts.
The platform also features a self-service portal that can be accessed through a dedicated iOS and Android app. Employees can view salary information, download payslips, track borrowed loans, and communicate with payroll teams.
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Zoho Payroll comes pre-integrated with Zoho Books, allowing for automated accounting entries, plus Zoho Expense for employee expense reimbursements, and Zoho People for employee data and annual leave tracking. The software also integrates with the recently launched Zoho Practice, a practice management software solution for accountants, where client’s pending pay runs, unapproved revisions, and payments can be viewed.
Pricing & Availability
Zoho’s new payroll software is available now, with prices starting at AED7 per employee per month, billed annually.
News
Syria Just Got Its First Super App Featuring Built-In Digital Payments
Built by UAE-based Syrian founders with the Ministry of Tourism’s backing, My Syria lands as visitor numbers more than double.
For most of the past decade, paying for anything in Syria with an international card was effectively impossible. Sanctions, a collapsed banking sector, and years of isolation left the country running on cash. That is what makes the launch of My Syria — the country’s first super app — more than a routine product announcement.
Developed by 121 Living, a company founded by four UAE-based Syrian entrepreneurs — Rami Kaiem, Feras Kaiem, Waseem Qudmani, and Kinan Madi — the app launched in Damascus on July 30 under the patronage of Minister of Tourism Mazen Al-Salhani. It bundles hotels, restaurants, transport, attractions, food delivery, and other lifestyle services into a single platform, currently offering eight services with plans to expand to more than 40 verified tourism and hospitality providers across the country.
Although the app already sounds enticing, the headline feature is its built-in payments. My Syria is the first platform in Syria to support cross-border digital payments through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express — familiar tools for international visitors, and a route into the digital economy for local businesses that have long operated outside it.

The launch rides on a sharp rebound for the troubled country. Syria’s tourism sector recorded 3.52 million visitor arrivals in the first half of 2026, a 111 percent increase over the 1.67 million during the same period in 2025 — a mix of returning expatriates, regional visitors, and international tourists.
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The Ministry of Tourism, which supported and supervised the app’s development, frames the launch as proof of concept for a wider strategy. “Digital transformation is one of the Ministry’s strategic priorities because it enables us to build a more competitive, connected and investment-ready tourism sector,” Al-Salhani said, inviting technology companies “globally, regionally and locally” to explore opportunities across the wider economy.
For 121 Living, this is phase one, with additional services and expanded geographic coverage planned. Whether a super app can flourish in a market still rebuilding its infrastructure is an open question, but for the first time in years, a visitor to Damascus can pay for dinner with their phone.
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