Yahoo Finance 
Grab Financial to offer consumer credit, expand lending services
Grab has announced its “Grow with Grab” roadmap, which includes services such as consumer credit, and “Pay with GrabPay” check-out system that allows online sellers to accept GrabPay as a mobile wallet on their websites or platforms.
The moves come as part of its goal to become the region’s largest payment and financial services platform.
With “Pay with GrabPay”, consumers can log in to their GrabPay accounts to pay for their online purchases. Online marketplaces such Qoo10 and 11Street, as well as merchants such as Cathay Cineplexes in Singapore and SM Cinema in the Philippines, have agreed to use the new service.
With Grab’s Point-of-Sale (POS) device integration, merchants can add GrabPay as a payment method. It will first launch in Singapore with merchants such as coffee chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and bakery chain Paris Baguette before expanding across the region.
“This is a huge untapped opportunity for Grab Financial to support the region’s entrepreneurs who are less able to access traditional financial institutions,” said Grab Financial’s senior managing director Reuben Lai at the Money 20/20 Asia conference on Tuesday (19 March).
Grab has also launched “Pay Later”, which includes a post-paid service and an instalment payment service under its existing joint venture with Japanese credit card company Credit Saison.
Under this plan, customers can pay for Grab services at the end of the month, without additional costs. This will be launched in Singapore in the coming weeks, before it is rolled out in other countries.
The company also plans to offer an interest-free instalment product for consumer purchases.
Grab is also pursuing lending licences across South-east Asia after successful pilot schemes aimed at lending to Grab driver-partners and small businesses in Singapore.
The company also plans to launch its digital insurance marketplace in April. Micro-entrepreneurs will be able to access the insurance product directly from the Grab app.
