Firm makes a push into lending and insurance, and aims to become Southeast Asia’s largest merchant network, insurtech policy provider and fintech lender.
Grab Financial Group, the financial division of Singapore-based technology company Grab, announced its ambition to become the region’s largest payments and financial services platform in 2019, and to support this bid has launched its «Grow with Grab» roadmap, along with a suite of financial services, the firm said at the Money 20/20 Asia conference in Singapore.
«We are doubling down on our financial services offering for micro-entrepreneurs with Grow with Grab. The Grab app has served more than 9 million micro-entrepreneurs over the last six years. As a result, we can leverage our scale and data insights to bring financial services products to market at a more competitive price point than anyone else,» said Reuben Lai, Senior Managing Director, Grab Financial Group.
Micro-Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
According to the firm, while SMEs contribute more than 50 percent of the region's GDP, two-thirds of SMEs cite business funding and financing as their biggest problem. As such, it will roll out a range of new services over the next few weeks that aim to support Southeast Asian entrepreneurs and business that are less able to access traditional financial institutions.
These services include including micro-insurance products, post-paid and installment payment services as well as «Pay with GrabPay», an online check-out payment method for online sellers. It will also launch a digital insurance marketplace in April.
