Grab enters micro lending and insurance businesses
SINGAPORE (March 19): Grab, which is known for its ride-hailing app, has introduced a range of financial services, following the launch of its Grow with Grab roadmap today.
Under its fintech arm, Grab Financial Group, the company will provide lending services for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), micro-insurance products, and post-paid and instalment payment services.
It will also provide “Pay with GrabPay”, an online check-out payment method for online sellers.
These financial services will be made available in the next few weeks, according to Grab.
Reuben Lai (main image), senior managing director at Grab Financial Group, says Grow with Grab is a “comprehensive set of financial services” made available for SMEs in the region.
“I feel strongly and giving a leg-up to all these small businesses in Southeast Asia, which incidentally contribute to more than 50% of [Asean’s] GDP,” he says at the launch of Grow with Grab at the Money Asia 20/20 conference today.
Under a joint venture with Japan’s Credit Saison, Grab will offer working capital loans for SMEs.
This comes as the company says it is now pursuing lending licences across Southeast Asia.
The JV will also provide post-paid and instalment payment services called Pay Later.
The post-paid payment facility allows customers to pay for Grab services at the end of each month, without additional costs.
On the other hand, the instalment payment facility allows consumers to buy goods right away and spread instalment payments at a 0% interest rate over multiple months.
For merchants, Grab will offer the Pay with GrabPay online check-out and point-of-sale (POS) device integration.
The online check-out allows online sellers to accept GrabPay as a mobile wallet on their website. Customers can buy their goods online and pay for them using GrabPay.
This will be launched on e-commerce platforms such as Qoo10 and 11Street.
On POS device integration, merchants can simply add GrabPay as a payment method on their existing POS device.
This is without having to change their hardware or sales and accounting systems.
It will be launched at coffee chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and bakery chain Paris Baguette in Singapore, before extending to other merchants.
Meanwhile, under the JV with China’s ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance, Grab will offer micro-insurance products for its drivers directly from its app.
This includes the prolonged medical leave insurance and personal accident insurance.
Grab will also unveil a pay-as-you-drive automotive insurance with fractionalised premiums.
This allows its drivers to only pay for insurance when they are driving as well as micro-life insurance and critical illness insurance policies.
Tan Hooi Ling, co-founder of Grab, says the offering of all these financial services is part of the company’s strategy to transform itself from a mere ride hailing app to a super-app.
Tan says that SMEs and the unbanked have limited accessibility to financial services and products, among other things.
“To bring all of that into a seamless super-app as Southeast Asia leading everyday super-app today – that is our current vision going forward,” she says at a session at Money Asia 20/20, prior to the launch of Grow with Grab.
