Ziina And Virtuzone Partner To Provide Payments Infrastructure And Instant Settlement For SMEs In The UAE

UAE-headquartered payments platform Ziina has partnered with fellow UAE-based corporate services provider Virtuzone to provide an integrated payments infrastructure and instant settlement capabilities to SMEs across the UAE. 

Founded by Faisal and Sarah Toukan in Dubai in 2020, Ziina was launched as a peer-to-peer payments app and later expanded to develop regulated financial products for businesses operating in the UAE, offering payment infrastructure and tools focused on settlement speed, liquidity management, operational simplicity, and local customer support, alongside multiple payment acceptance options including payment links, quick response (QR) code payments, tap to pay, card acceptance, and bank transfers. 

Virtuzone, meanwhile, was established in Dubai in 2009 by Neil Petch and Geoff Rapp, and supports businesses with setup and corporate services in the UAE. Since its founding, the company has helped more than 80,000 entrepreneurs through services including company formation, accounting, tax advisory, compliance, and business support. 

The collaboration allows businesses established through Virtuzone to access Ziina’s payment gateway and transaction management tools, enabling merchants to accept and manage payments across both online and in-person channels from a single platform. The partnership also provides businesses with Ziina’s instant settlement feature, enabling merchants to access received funds immediately. Companies can then transact or spend through the Ziina Card directly within the platform’s mobile application, providing greater control over liquidity and day-to-day financial operations.  

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Faisal, who is also the CEO of Ziina, said that the partnership with Virtuzone aims to solve a challenge founders often face immediately after setting up their companies, when operational demands begin to take shape. “The UAE has become exceptionally efficient at helping entrepreneurs start companies," he explained. "Formation can happen quickly and with very little friction. But registering a company is only the first step. A business becomes real when it can transact. What founders need immediately after incorporation is the ability to collect revenue, access liquidity, and understand their financial position with confidence." 

Ziina's partnership with Virtuzone thus connects company formation directly to payments infrastructure. "Founders can move from setting up a company, to operating a business without losing momentum between those stages," Faisal explained. "That continuity matters. The earliest phase of any company is when operational pressure is highest and resources are most limited. If a business can accept payments and access funds from its first day in market, it changes how decisively that founder can move. For SMEs, speed at the beginning is not a convenience. It is often the difference between cautious growth and confident growth.” 

In the UAE, SMEs account for more than 94 percent of registered companies, and they employ 86 percent of the country’s private sector workforce, highlighting their central role in the economy. Government-led non-oil economic reforms and SME initiatives have also contributed to enterprise expansion, with the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism reporting that the total number of companies operating in the country exceeded 1.4 million by the end of 2025. Expanding payment options is also shaping how these businesses generate revenue, with research from global payments leader Visa showing that more than 70 percent of UAE merchants reported higher revenues after adopting digital payments, while 68 percent associated business growth with accepting multiple payment methods. 

Indeed, Faisal noted that, as early-stage companies begin generating revenue, the ability to track inflows and manage available capital becomes central to how founders plan and execute their next steps. “Financial readiness is ultimately about control," he said. "Founders need to understand what is coming into the business, when funds become available, and how quickly they can deploy that capital. For many entrepreneurs, the first real operational milestone after incorporation is simply getting paid. If that process is fragmented or slow, it introduces unnecessary friction at a moment when clarity matters most. Embedding payments infrastructure into the company formation journey removes that friction. Founders can accept payments across channels, monitor transaction activity, and access revenue through one system from the outset. Early-stage companies need visibility and liquidity. When those two conditions are present, founders can make faster decisions and build momentum much earlier in the lifecycle of the business.” 

The partnership between Ziina and Virtuzone comes at a particularly challenging moment for early-stage businesses, which must build their enterprises against a backdrop of ongoing regional geopolitical tensions, disruptions to trade and energy markets, and broader global economic uncertainty. According to Faisal, integrated payments and instant settlement can play an important role in supporting business stability for such enterprises. 

“In early-stage businesses, liquidity and timing are closely linked," Faisal said. "Founders are often making operational decisions within days of receiving revenue. When access to funds is delayed, it slows the entire rhythm of the business. Integrated payments and instant settlement change that dynamic. When a founder can see transactions in real time and access revenue immediately, they operate with far greater control. They can manage suppliers, reinvest in growth, and respond to changes in the market without waiting for funds to clear. Access to funds in real time fundamentally changes how small businesses operate. It reduces uncertainty around working capital and gives founders a clearer command of the business as it evolves. In unpredictable environments, that kind of financial clarity becomes even more valuable.” 

But even in challenging conditions, Faisal pointed to the UAE’s institutional strength as a key factor supporting business continuity and long-term stability. “One of the reasons the UAE attracts entrepreneurs is that the country has spent years building durable institutional foundations," he said. "Regulatory frameworks, financial infrastructure, and digital public services have been developed deliberately and consistently. Those foundations matter most during moments of uncertainty. The UAE has demonstrated across multiple regional and global cycles that it continues building through volatility. The country modernizes its frameworks, invests in infrastructure, and supports private sector growth regardless of the external environment. That is why we remain deeply confident in this market."

And it is precisely that structure, Faisal added, that lies at the foundation of the partnership between Ziina and Virtuzone. “Entrepreneurs choose the UAE because ambition here is supported by structure," he pointed out. "Our partnership with Virtuzone reflects that same mindset. Small businesses sit at the center of the UAE economy. Strengthening the financial infrastructure supporting those businesses strengthens the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem.” 

Against this backdrop, Faisal noted that Ziina's collaboration with Virtuzone reflects a broader effort to ensure founders are equipped with the financial tools needed to operate and scale in a changing business environment. “Entrepreneurs are drawn to the UAE, because the country offers something rare: ambition supported by strong frameworks and modern infrastructure," he said. "Our role at Ziina is to ensure the financial systems founders rely on are just as capable as the businesses they are building. Through our partnership with Virtuzone, we are helping entrepreneurs move from setting up a company to running one with greater speed, clarity, and control." 

Pictured in the lead image is Ziina co-founder and CEO Faisal Toukan. Image courtesy Ziina.