Step into Ace of Fades on Saadiyat Island and you'll find more than just a barbershop. It's where artisanal coffee meets expert grooming, where clients browse the reading nook between services, and where Syrian and Filipino barbers bring 17 years of Kyle's international experience to every cut.
Kyle launched Ace of Fades in September 2023, filling a clear gap in Abu Dhabi's grooming scene. They didn't just want to cut hair - they wanted to create a community hub. From university students to busy professionals booking home appointments, they built something special. But their payment setup was threatening everything they'd worked for.
CHALLENGE
Premium service, problematic payments
Kyle knew the numbers by heart, and they stung every time. Five card machines at AED 1,500 each meant AED 7,500 upfront. Then 3% on every transaction. Forever.
But the real frustration went deeper than money. Card machines needed constant charging, regular updates, and someone always grabbed the wrong one for home visits.
"Picture this," Kyle explains. "A barber arrives at a client's villa, delivers an incredible service, then spends five minutes trying to get the card machine to connect. Or worse, realizes they forgot it entirely. That's not the experience we promised."
The math was painful, but the customer experience was worse. In a business built on making people look and feel their best, their payment process was doing the opposite.
SOLUTION
Tap to Pay on iPhone
Everything shifted at a pop-up market in November 2024. Kyle watched a vendor accept a card payment with just their phone—no bulky machine in sight.
"I had to know how they did it," Kyle recalls. "When they showed me Ziina, I downloaded it immediately."
Setting up took 30 minutes. Scan Emirates ID, upload trade license, and Kyle was accepting payments. But the game-changer came in April 2025 with Tap to Pay.
When I first tried Tap to Pay, I couldn't believe it worked. My iPhone - the same one I use for everything else - could now accept card payments. No hardware to buy. No devices to manage. It felt too good to be true.
Kyle, Managing Partner
Within days, every barber had Ziina on their phone. Kyle set up team access from the main account, giving each barber exactly the permissions they needed. Suddenly, accepting payments anywhere - salon, home visits, coffee deliveries - became effortless.
RESULTS
Better payments, bigger possibilities
The numbers speak for themselves. AED 7,500 saved on hardware went straight back into growing the business. Transaction fees dropped. Daily settlements actually arrived daily. New team members could start accepting payments the day they joined.
But Kyle measures success differently.
When customers tap their card on our phone, they're genuinely impressed. They tell us we're always ahead of the curve. For a premium brand like ours, that perception matters.
Kyle, Managing Partner
The transformation went beyond payments. Inspired by the simplicity of Ziina, Kyle overhauled their entire operation. Out went the expensive booking platform. In came systems that put control back in their hands.
After a year of daily use and thousands of transactions, Kyle has never needed customer support. "It just works," he says. "That reliability lets us focus on what we do best."
Now, as Ace of Fades prepares to open in Dubai, expansion feels simple. No ordering new machines. No installation delays. Just add team members to their Ziina account and they're ready.
I tell other salon owners all the time! We ditched our card machines and never looked back. Ziina changed how we think about payments. If I'd known about it when we opened, we would have saved so much time and money.
Kyle, Managing Partner
