This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 20, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Financial technology (fintech) player Grab Financial Group has unveiled its “Grow with Grab” road map, comprising new features for GrabPay mobile wallet users and micro-insurance for drivers in Singapore.

“The road map aims to provide the most comprehensive financial services in Southeast Asia for micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses,” the company said in a statement yesterday.

It includes other new services such as micro-insurance products, post-paid and instalment payment services, as well as “Pay with GrabPay”, an online checkout payment for online sellers.

Grab Financial Group added that the road map puts it in a strong position in financial services, as it seeks to offer micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses with more possibilities.

“Grab Financial Group sets a clear ambition to become the region’s largest payments and financial services platform in 2019. We aim to become one of the region’s largest merchant networks with the largest insurtech policy provider and the biggest fintech lender, all within one platform.

“Grab Financial Group aims to leverage this scale to negotiate the best deals for its entrepreneur partners and pass the savings to them,” it added.

“The Grab app has served more than nine million micro-entrepreneurs over the last six years. As a result, we can leverage our scale and data insights to bring financial service products to market at a more competitive price than anyone else,” said Grab Financial Group senior managing director Reuben Lai.

In the next few weeks, the company will be launching new services from the “Grow with Grab” road map, enabling micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses to grow their earnings and businesses, as well as protect their livelihoods.

As the first fintech platform with access to e-money licences in the six major economies in Asean, Grab Financial Group has built the largest merchant network of more than 600,000.

Meanwhile, Grab Financial Group is betting on its “Pay with GrabPay” online checkout and point-of-sale (POS) device integration to further differentiate itself in speed, affordability and versatility — crucial needs for small entrepreneurs.

“The ‘Pay with GrabPay’ online checkout launches today (yesterday) with micro and small businesses on local e-commerce platforms such as Qoo10 and 11street, two of the largest e-commerce platforms in Singapore and Malaysia respectively,” it said.

“In Malaysia, the online checkout method was recently introduced with merchants such as 11street and BusOnlineTicket.com. Caring Pharmacy, MBO Cinemas, Doublewoot and KLIA Ekspres will be coming soon.

“The ‘Pay with GrabPay’ agreements have also been signed with some of the region’s biggest merchant gateways, including Adyen, Boku, iPay88, Dragonpay as well as key brands including Cathay Cineplexes in Singapore and SM Cinema in the Philippines.

“For more convenience in online payments, we will be partnering with BillPay in Malaysia, enabling users to pay utility bills such as Astro, Celcom, Telekom Malaysia and Syabas,” Grab Financial Group added.

Since its launch, GrabPay managing director for Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines Ooi Huey Tyng said one in five GrabPay users in Malaysia now use the app daily for their daily needs from transportation to food and parcel delivery.

On the POS device integration, business owners with POS devices can tap into Grab’s user base throughout Asean without changing their hardware or sales and accounting systems. Merchants can simply add GrabPay as a payment method on their existing POS device.