In an industry-first integration of accounting and banking, Zoho, India's leading software products company, is partnering with ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, to deliver a streamlined digital banking experience to customers using Zoho's cloud accounting software, 'Zoho Books'.

ICICI Bank current account holders can now securely connect their bank account to Zoho Books which will help businesses eliminate data entry, automate reconciliation, provide multiple payment options to their customers, request working capital loans, and pay suppliers directly from their accounting platform.

This pioneering partnership will allow Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India to experience contextual banking, by connecting their banking and accounting, which was once available only for large companies and corporations with large IT and infrastructure budgets.

Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank said, ''ICICI Bank has always pioneered in bringing in digital innovations and provide world-class banking experience to its customers. Keeping this in view, we are delighted to partner with Zoho to bring forth an integrated solution that will offer MSMEs with unparalleled ease of doing business. This integration enables MSMEs to bring in the efficiency of automation by connecting seamless banking transactions and bookkeeping on a single platform. Additionally, it also enables them to keep a track on all their business expenses on a single platform without having to switch multiple applications. This partnership resonates our effort at bringing in path breaking solutions, thereby creating an ecosystem through connected banking. We will continue the model of co-creating to deliver innovative products and services to our customers.''

Shares of the bank declined Rs 0.75, or 0.23%, to trade at Rs 326.00. The total volume of shares traded was 470,821 at the BSE (3.41 p.m., Monday).