specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Ziina
providerId: ziina
created: '2026-07-17'
modified: '2026-07-17'
reconciled: true
tags:
- Payments
- Fintech
- UAE
- MENA
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Ziina spend. Unlike metered infrastructure APIs, Ziina charges
  no fee for API calls themselves - cost is a per-transaction acquiring fee on
  collected payments (percentage + fixed AED, plus a surcharge on international
  cards / non-AED currencies), with 5% UAE VAT applied to the fee. Transfers
  between Ziina Business accounts are free. Spend therefore scales with payment
  volume and payment mix (domestic vs international, AED vs FX), not with request
  count.
notes: >-
  Fee percentages change; verify against https://ziina.com/fees during
  reconciliation. Non-AED payments settle in AED at real-time FX, so FX movement
  is an additional cost/variance dimension.
sources:
- https://ziina.com/fees
- https://ziina.com/help-center/12781259-what-are-the-fees-to-use-ziina-business
- https://docs.ziina.com/supported-currencies
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Ziina
serviceCategory: Payments and Financial Services
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Transaction-Based
  billingFrequency: Per-Transaction
  billingCurrency: AED
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Tax
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Ziina Payments
  ServiceCategory: Payments and Financial Services
  ProviderName: Ziina
  PublisherName: Ziina
  InvoiceIssuerName: Ziina Payment LLC
  BillingCurrency: AED
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Transaction-Based
meters:
- name: payment_transaction_fee
  description: Percentage-plus-fixed acquiring fee on each collected payment intent.
  unit: transaction
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - payment_method
  - currency
- name: international_surcharge
  description: Additional 1.5% on international cards or non-AED currency payments.
  unit: transaction
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - currency
  - card_origin
- name: vat
  description: 5% UAE VAT applied to the Ziina fee (not to transaction volume).
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: fx_conversion
  description: Real-time conversion of non-AED payments to AED at settlement.
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - currency
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track fees per payment method and per currency; separate the 1.5% international surcharge and VAT lines.
- name: Allocation
  description: Tag payment intents (via success/cancel URLs and operation_id) to map revenue and fees to products/teams.
- name: Optimization
  description: Prefer domestic AED card and Apple/Google Pay flows to avoid the international surcharge; use free Ziina-to-Ziina transfers for payouts where possible.
- name: Accountability
  description: Reconcile Ziina fee + VAT against gross payment volume monthly; monitor FX variance on non-AED settlement.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com