Grab expects transport as vital as mobile payments

PHNOM PENH: Singapore-headquartered Grab is open to further acquisitions after buying an Indonesian online payments startup, said one of the co-founders of the Southeast Asia-focused ride hailing service.

Grab, which competes aggressively with United States-based Uber Technologies Inc in the region, sees its future in mobile payments as much as in transport, and acquired Indonesia’s Kudo last month.

The company did not say how much it paid, but it was earlier reported that it had expected to pay US$100 million (RM434.39 million).

“We’re always on the lookout, whether it’s for public partners, private partners, inorganic partnership and growth or organic growth,” said Tan Hoo Ling, here, on Thursday.

The number of users of its GrabPay service had doubled over the past eight weeks, said Tan, without giving actual numbers.

She expects the market size for payments in Southeast Asia at US$500 billion a year, compared to US$25 billion for transport.

That made it just as important for Grab as transport, said Tan, who co-founded Grab with fellow Harvard Business School graduate Anthony Tan five years ago. Reuters