The metaverse isn’t some distant future. It’s here. It’s been here since we transitioned from wads of cash in wallets to glossy cards in sleek cardholders, to paying online and finally digital currencies. The world of payments is already virtual. So why not make it fun?

With technology woven into the fabric of our day-to-day life, Ziina is taking the awkwardness out of digital payments by making them simple, fast, and interactive. A progressive digital wallet that makessending cash as easy as sending a text message, The Dubai-based, YC-backed start-up is on a mission to revolutionize online money transfers for consumers in the Middle East and is designed with today’s digital economy and consumers in mind.

Launched in February 2022, Ziina allows consumers to easily send and receive payments in just a few taps. Not content with eliminating the tedious process of entering IBANs and swift codes, Ziina took it one step further and abstained from collecting user’s emails. As anyone with a spam folder knows, we could all receive less promo emails.  Users also have the option to punctuate their payments with GIFs, photos, texts and emojis. Requesting money from someone using a winking Zach Galafinakis GIF feels a lot more like a text than a payment request.

With the formation of its innovative Cashless Dubai Working Group, Ziina is at the forefront of shifting transactions, and the numbers support this. Euromonitor International reports that in 2019, 60% of all consumer payment transactions in the UAE were non-cash payments, a rate that is set to reach 73% by 2025. This is where Ziina’s two-click payment system is leading the way.

On its quest to help enable a cashless economy and make it a reality in the UAE, Ziina is focused on developing state-of-the-art tools that are fun to use, empowering individuals to gain more control of their financial future. And they’re doing it in less taps than any other platform. 

But it’s not just money transfers among friends and family that Ziina serves. Business owners can expect to replace PDF invoices with QR codes and payment links — keeping both vendors and consumers at ease.

For a pain-free financial experience in the UAE, download Ziina. No IBANs, Swift Codes, or e-mails needed. Available on the App Store and Google Play.

Total Experience is seen as the interconnection between Customer, Employee, User and Multiexperience.

A Global study conducted by IDG Communications found that over half of MENA enterprises believe they offer a ‘good’ Total Experience.  However, many businesses struggle to deliver on the individual facets that make up Total Experience: Customer, Employee, User and Multiexperience.

Avaya (NYSE:AVYA), a global leader in solutions to enhance and simplify communications and collaboration, announced results of an online market research survey conducted by IDG Communications, indicating that just over half of businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) believe they offer a “good” Total Experience.

Total Experience is the interconnection between Customer, Employee, User, and Multiexperience. While companies often develop the right strategies, the best customer outcomes occur where tools and strategy intersect and focus on this interconnection to deliver a superior Total Experience. Total Experience has been described by Gartner as one of the top strategic technology trends for 2022.

The global research polled business and technology leaders from a range of industries across the globe, including 80 from the MENA region, to explore the journey of enterprises as they evolve customer and employee experience from individual channels or applications towards a more interconnected experience.​ Respondents worked at firms with a minimum of 500 employees, and were manager-level and above.   

It found that, despite rating themselves ‘good’ when offering a Total Experience, many MENA firms are struggling to deliver on the individual facets that enable them to become truly customer-centric. Exactly half believe that they deliver a good Employee Experience, and just 33% say they offer a good Multiexperience. Just over half of MENA companies (54%) agree that they deliver a good User Experience, but only 43% say they offer a good Customer Experience.

“Regional businesses rightly place a high premium on customer experience, so it comes as no surprise that the majority are expanding their strategies to uplift the experiences that they deliver to their customers. To be truly customer-centric, organizations need a cohesive CX strategy that gives employees the tools to wow every customer on any device. The good news is that MENA firms realize this, and are already working towards it – 74% say they have a cohesive customer interaction strategy,” said Nidal Abou-Ltaif, President, Avaya International.

The vast majority of MENA firms (93%) say that customer experience is an intrinsic part of their brand value. However, those who scored higher in Total Experience empower employees with newer tools and platforms only used by some MENA firms – messenger platforms (44%), video chat (33%), chatbots (43%), and AI-based virtual assistants (31%). The organizations that support these newer tools have found that they simplify support, transform customer experiences, and benefit from more complete analytic tools.

Avaya OneCloud™ CCaaS makes it easy to connect everything—voice, video, chat, messaging, and more—to deliver effortless experiences for customers and employees at every touchpoint, enabling businesses to provide a Total Experience.

“A monolithic, one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t meet the wide range of needs that businesses have as they look to compete in the experience economy,” said Abou-Ltaif. “When companies combine customer, employee, user and multi experience thinking, they elevate everything these approaches can achieve on their own. This enables them to deliver exactly what’s needed at every interaction. Avaya OneCloud is a Total Experience platform that lets you compose the experiences that each moment demands—for both customers and employees.”

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