Grab, once again showing its not just a ride-hailing company, announced Monday to join hands with Maybank, Southeast Asia’s fourth largest bank by asset, to pave the way for a cashless society in Malaysia by launching its mobile wallet app GrabPay soon in the country.
According to a Grab spokesperson, the launch of GrabPay mobile wallet in Singapore last November was widely welcomed by both merchants and customers. Taking a further step in its shared vision to accelerate Malaysia’s adoption of cashless transactions, it has partnered with Maybank to eliminate costs for using cash for consumers, merchants and the wider economy and also plays a unique role in Bank Negara’s Financial Blueprint to deepen financial inclusion. Grab is also on the look out for other partnerships with Malaysia’s institutions to realise the fuller benefits of mobile payment, thereby cementing its position as the go-to platform to serve the people in Malaysia.
Grab first received an e-money license from Bank Negara Malaysia in December last year, and looks to launch a beta version of its GrabPay app in Malaysia in the coming weeks.
With the initiative, Malaysia GrabPay users could expect to first use the wallet app to pay at GrabPay merchants and then eventually to use it at Maybank’s key merchants, according to the joint release.
Ooi Huey Tyng, managing director of GrabPay Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines said that the collaboration between the two would turn cashless economy into a reality in Malaysia.
This latest innovation is said to potentially result in savings amounting to 1% of a country’s economy, even as consumers benefit from a seamless experience as the mobile wallet becomes a one-stop shop for a wide range of daily activities ranging from transport, shopping, purchase of meals to making money transfers. Making payments via GrabPay will have exclusive benefits with substantial savings for the consumer.
Maybank customers can truly go ‘cashless’ as payment can be easily made to Maybank’s key merchants and a mobile wallet top-up can be done directly from their bank accounts.
This idea of building a cashless economy – is what Grab is hoping to replicate across Southeast Asia.
Update: This article has been updated to add quotes from a Grab spokesperson.