Singapore – This Christmas season, Grab celebrates its food merchants across Southeast Asia by featuring their signature meals as the focus of the company’s latest billboard commercial at the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square. 

In this case, Grab has set aside the area to provide 53 domestic retailers visibility on the international scene. The program seeks to show the wide variety of culinary options that visitors can choose from when visiting Southeast Asia using the Grab app. 

The advertisement features a variety of regional favourites, such as Crispy Sisig from the Philippines, Prata from Singapore, Nasi Campur from Indonesia, Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng from Malaysia, and Bánh mì from Vietnam.

Grab has used the billboard space since its launching in 2021 to thank and recognize Grabbers, its community of driver, delivery, and merchant partners that assiduously service millions of customers every day throughout the area.

Although Grab is known for its ride-hailing service, international passengers are also becoming more aware of its food choices. For travellers from North America coming to Southeast Asia, a significant inbound travel market for the area, this peak travel season offers an opportunity to solidify Grab’s lead in the food sector.

In line with this, Grab has created the Traveller Homepage to help travellers plan their trips, particularly in unfamiliar areas. This feature allows users to navigate a city within the Grab app. Travellers can browse for points of interest, peruse the region’s cuisines and restaurants, and save their discoveries to a personalised list, which is available for 33 of the biggest cities often visited by visitors in Southeast Asia.

Singapore –  Ant International, Grab, and StraitsX announced a collaboration to explore the viability of utilising Purpose Bound Money (PBM) in cross-border payments. 

Purpose Bound Money (PBM) is a system that defines the conditions for using an underlying digital currency. PBM, which was first launched by MAS as a component of Project Orchid1, has the potential of lowering payment processing costs and enabling the guided allocation of funds for a specified purpose. 

The goal of this collaborative initiative is to make it easier for GrabPay businesses to integrate with Ant International’s Alipay+ solutions, allowing them to accept payments from a diverse tourist audience. If successful, the expansion of cross-border payment capabilities is expected to increase the use of Purpose Bound Money (PBM), with the goal of launching it in Singapore by 2024.

This cross-border payment project aims to expand local merchants’ customer reach while providing benefits to small and micro-scale businesses. Smaller retailers in Singapore have traditionally experienced restrictions in providing a varied range of payment alternatives to international travellers. This constraint is typically linked to the lengthy process and high expenses associated with incorporating new digital payment methods, which can take months or even years.

By leveraging a distributed ledger infrastructure and Purpose Bound Money (PBM), tiny to micro-scale retailers can more easily serve global consumers. This reduces the complexity involved in integrating cross-border payments by doing away with the need for new system upgrades and manual end-of-day reconciliation between accounting systems.

Singapore – Grab and Heckler Singapore has recently launched their latest sustainability campaign via BLKJ Havas, which brings a trio of finger characters to life and showcases how a mere tap of the digits can empower eco-friendly choices. 

Aimed at raising awareness among consumers about the significant impact their choices can make, Grab’s ‘Wonder Fingers’ campaign with Heckler Singapore showed that scrolling through our phones could be used for better things like tapping for good.

For this campaign, Heckler got to work using Maya and Cinema4D on three short animated films and assets for a personalised digital report, termed the Grab Personal Impact Story, to showcase the positive outcomes of using Grab.

For the environment, Heckler chose to build backgrounds in 3D that looked like they were made of paper. This aesthetic gave the films a playful base to set the action in, along with some intriguing textures. By modelling and rigging photorealistic human fingers to represent different ethnicities and backgrounds, Heckler also gave them human-like characteristics, including playful eyes that used expressions to communicate the impact the fingers were having.

Cody Amos, creative director at Heckler Singapore, admitted that dressing the fingers up was a challenge as the animation team had to re-imagine them as a full human body in order to know where the cut of a tank top would end or where the hem of a skirt would begin.

“The finger characters themselves were modelled in Maya to look realistic, but with googly eyes and stuck on mouths that we animated to bring their emotions to life. All this detail made it feel halfway between a fun animated film and a puppet show,” Amos said. 

“Because the characters are fingers, we wanted to build the world around them in a way that felt like a miniature set that finger puppets could live in. To give it realism, and add some humour, we made it all look like it was made of paper and cardboard, and even put in flying elements on popsicle sticks, held together with sticky tape,” he added. 

Notably, these simple taps on screens using Grab have contributed to diverting over 8,100 tonnes of waste from landfills and the planting of 200,000 trees, bolstering forest conservation efforts across Southeast Asia.

Singapore – Grab has recently announced the opening of its first physical merchant centre in Singapore in order to support local SMEs in their digital growth, as well as offering them a physical space for networking.

The Grab Merchant Centre, located in Grab’s one-north headquarters, is a one-stop shop for small and medium businesses (SMBs) looking to accelerate their growth in the digital economy through Grab’s services. 

This is the first-of-its-kind merchant centre among industry players in Singapore, and the first for Grab in Southeast Asia. 

Said centre first started as a merchant registration counter in April 2020 to help SMBs sign up and activate their Grab accounts during the pandemic. Today, it has evolved into a one-stop shop providing advisory services and solutions for SMBs.

Wee Tang Yee, country head of Grab Singapore, said, “Based on our latest Food and Grocery Trend Report released today, we know that consumers are increasingly reliant on platforms like Grab. This means that there are more opportunities for businesses to engage with them on our app.”

He added, “The Grab Merchant Centre is meant to help SMBs quickly and effectively tap into this growing opportunity through our tailored solutions. Having a permanent space for the SMB community enables us to serve them more efficiently, and gives them the confidence that Grab is there to support them whenever they need.”

Yee also explained, “The Grab Merchant Centre is also a place for SMBs to keep pace with the latest digital tools and practices. That way, they can confidently navigate and grow their businesses using our suite of self-serve digital tools in the GrabMerchant app. These include reading sales performance trends and insights to improve operations, advertising solutions to reach more customers and boost sales, digital lending products to support their business expansion, and more. We will continue to develop new products to provide more comprehensive support for businesses, and help them capture a bigger slice of the market.”

Singapore – The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore has stated that the proposed Grab and Trans-cab raises competition mergers following its Phase 1 review. The competition initially opened public feedback on the merger around August this year.

According to the commission, they need to review the competition effects of the proposed acquisition in greater detail.

They added that the greater amount of feedback they received from notes on concerns on the effect of Grab’s ownership of the Trans-cab fleet on Trans-cab drivers’ usage of rival ride-hail platforms, and may raise barriers to expansion and entry for Grab’s rival ride-hail platforms, given the importance of scale in the ride-hail platform industry.

“At this stage, the parties may offer commitments to address the potential competition concerns of the proposed Acquisition raised by CCCS. Otherwise, CCCS will proceed to a more in-depth phase 2 review of the proposed acquisition upon CCCS’s receipt of the relevant documents from the parties. commitments may also be offered at any time during a phase 2 review,” they stated.

Grab announced that it is acquiring Trans-cab back in July this year, stating back then that the acquisition will cover Trans-cab’s taxi and car rental business, maintenance workshop, and fuel pump operations.

Singapore – Mobile technology company Grab has partnered with payments technology company Circle Internet Financial (Circle) to bring the first-ever Web3 customer experience in the country via the launch of ‘Grab Web3 Wallet’ in the Grab app. 

Through this partnership, Circle’s new Web3 Services platform is integrated into Grab’s mobile app. With this, Singapore-based users can now set up a blockchain-enabled wallet, earn rewards and collectibles, and use non-fungible token (NFT) vouchers.

Circle Web3 Services aim to help both existing Web 2.0 internet companies and new pure-play Web3 start-ups safely and easily bring the power of stablecoins, digital assets, and smart contracts to consumer and enterprise applications.

Launched as a pilot for the SG Pitstop Pack, the ‘Grab Web3 Wallet’ supports the use of these NFT vouchers at popular stores and adventures in Singapore during the F1 Singapore Grand Prix. Furthermore, the collaboration between Circle and Grab supports the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Orchid initiative as a real-world demonstration of purpose-bound money.

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO at Circle, said, “Circle is focused on partnering with global-scale consumer internet brands to bring everyday utility to users. Piloting our technology with Grab’s customers brings us closer to realising the full potential of responsible digital asset innovation.” 

Meanwhile, Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle, shared, “Circle is thrilled to partner with Grab to accelerate adoption of blockchain-powered innovation and support Singapore’s forward-thinking vision as a leading global hub for responsible digital asset innovation.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – GXBank, a digital bank bank by Grab and Singtel, has been approved by the Minister of Finance and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to commence its operations in Malaysia.

GXBank will leverage technology and innovation to serve the needs of the unserved and underserved individuals, and micro and small medium enterprises (MSMEs). Moreover, the digital-only bank will support customers’ needs through various channels including a bank app and 24/7 customer support via multiple platforms.

The digital bank is led by Pei Si Lai as its chief executive officer, who brings with her over 25 years of extensive experience in consumer and commercial banking. The more than 200-strong team share the same conviction that combining today’s technology and finance expertise will provide the platform to empower local communities and businesses to be financially resilient.

Supporting GXBank is the newly appointed board of directors, spearheaded by Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan. She brings with her more than 30 years of experience in banking, audit, risk management and focus on governance and financial inclusion. Her previous roles in a variety of non-profit organisations and local banks reflects her deep passion to build and promote sustainable growth for the financially underserved.

“At GXBank, we are driven by our shared purpose and passion to bring positive transformation to the financial industry, starting with solutions to address the financial struggles of Malaysians and businesses. We are thankful for BNM’s guidance, support and trust in us to offer financial solutions and help the unserved and underserved communities achieve their dreams and better quality of life,” Lai stated.

She added, “Standing on Grab’s legacy of innovative tech and economic inclusion, we hope to redefine banking and reshape Malaysia’s financial landscape. Our collaboration with consortium partners such as Kuok Group and other industry players will enable us to work hand in hand, leveraging our respective ecosystems to nurture a resilient and financially inclusive Malaysia, where no one is left behind.”

Meanwhile, Zaiton commented, “We are at the forefront of the region’s fast evolving fintech landscape. With the collective strength of all our partners and digital banks in Singapore and Indonesia, GXBank is poised to offer equitable access to an innovative and transformational banking experience. We hope this will enable more Malaysians to be financially independent, creating a better future for themselves, their families and the country.”

Singapore – Tin Pei Ling, an elected member of the Singaporean parliament, has announced her exit from Grab as its director of corporate development, seven months after she took said role.

In a LinkedIn post, she said that she looks forward to embarking on a new journey in her career, and take on a more external-facing and commercial role in the tech sector.

“In the time that I have been with Grab, I am privileged to meet many talented Grabbers with great personalities and get involved in several projects. These are meaningful experiences and memories that I will continue to hold dear and be thankful for,” she said.

While she didn’t mention where she will be moving next, Pei Ling hinted that she will be joining a fintech company, where she will take on a leadership role in strategic partnerships and business development.

“I am excited that this new role will give me the opportunity to support the company’s product innovation efforts and expansion into key Asia-Pacific markets,”

She also mentioned that she has been thankful for her time at Grab, noting she admired the company’s social mission in the Southeast Asian region.

“It has been an invaluable experience for me at Grab, as it was an opportunity for me to return to the private sector, to broaden my horizons, hone new skills and allow me to make a contribution in a different way. I admire Grab’s social mission – ‘to drive Southeast Asia forward by creating economic empowerment for everyone’,” she concluded.

She was first elected as an MP for the Marine Parade GRC back in 2011, and was re-elected in 2015 and 2020 for the MacPherson SMC. She has been also appointed as Chair of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Communications and Information in the 14th Parliament.

Singapore – GrabAds, the advertising arm of Southeast Asian superapp, Grab, has released its latest travel-centric report, showing that around 72% of respondents plan to travel abroad in the next 12 months, jumping from just 39% when borders reopened in 2022, indicating the travel intent has climbed by 84% in just a year.

According to the data provided by GrabAds, brands should take this as an opportunity to switch gears from short-term “revenge travel” campaigns to planning long-term repeat-customer strategies.

The report reveals main factors that justify why this is the case with Southeast Asians, such as families prioritizing ‘stress-free’ options in accommodation, business travelers seeking booking convenience, and travelers wanting certainty upon reaching their destination. 

Moreover, the survey states that 78% of respondents are not subscribed to any hotel loyalty programme. Considering that 73% of them plan an average of three leisure trips in the next 12 months, there’s undoubtedly room for repeat business, which the report acknowledges as an opportunity to educate would-be travelers on hotel loyalty programs and associated benefits. 

Talking about the report, Jennie Johnson, head of marketing at GrabAds, said, “GrabAds data revealed a massive increase of 84% in international travel intent compared to just one year ago. Last year, brands may have focused on short-term impulse campaigns based on pent-up lockdown FOMO (fear of missing out) – but they now need to shift towards developing long-term relationships with savvy Southeast Asian travelers as they dream, plan, book and experience travel.”

“It could be as simple as maintaining year-round communication with consumers or utilizing online to offline channels to promote the latest offers. For example, the campaign we’ve built with Media Bank Inc. for the Japan Tourism Agency utilizes our Grab fleet and app to creatively target users of our platform. At GrabAds, we look forward to working closely with travel and tourism brands to innovate and provide an exciting, dynamic travel experience for Southeast Asian jetsetters,” she added.