GrabPay continues to grow services in East Malaysia
When we first launched, we started with more than 500 merchants across the eight cities – Penang, Ipoh, Klang Valley, Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching – we are currently present in.
KOTA KINABALU: As the ewallet stemming from a successful ride-sharing enterprise, GrabPay Malaysia continues to expand and enhance every one of its services nationwide, including GrabPay in East Malaysia.
“When we first launched, we started with more than 500 merchants across the eight cities – Penang, Ipoh, Klang Valley, Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching – we are currently present in.
“Today, we have doubled the list of merchants in just months,” said GrabPay Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines managing director, Ooi Huey Tyng, to The Borneo Post in an interview.
“Specifically in East Malaysia, the number of merchants for GrabPay have increased by 107 per cent – which is highly motivating. This demonstrates not only the growing acceptance of GrabPay by customers but also by merchants in the area too.
“We will continue to seek out more merchants who are local champions favourites by our customers in the respective areas.”
Since starting as a ride hailing app, GrabPay has diversified and expanded to be one of the most trusted and frequently used Online to Offline (O2O) mobile platforms in Southeast Asia – that can address the everyday needs of customers through its services - be it to commute, eat or shop. And all this via GrabPay.
Therefore, Ooi said customers who have built a habit and trust in Grab as a ride hailing service can pay for their everyday necessities without leaving the app.
“To help us address these everyday needs, we are forging partnerships with some of the most well-known and trusted local (to each market we are in) champions to help drive the adoption of being cashless,” she added.
“Some of these partnerships in Malaysia include Maybank as our strategic partner, key flagship merchants and integrating with different transport options.”
Adding to this, for every GrabPay transaction, customers can collect GrabRewards points and use to trade for vouchers, discounts and other services.
“Every market is unique in terms of customer habits, spending power and most importantly the economic climate. Just like when we introduced our ride options, we have always adopted a hyper-localised approach to help us address the unique and distinct problems in each market.
“We are open and looking to collaborate with as many like-minded partners to further drive the cashless culture within the country and we look forward to sharing more in due time.”
When asked on GrabPay’s biggest challenge in encouraging the cashless culture, Ooi enthused that it was cash.
“In Malaysia, cashless payment remains fragmented with credit cards, contactless and NFC service. According to statistics by the Bank Negara, more than 80% of transactions in Malaysia still happen in cash, and cash handling and services also cost
Ooi Huey Tyng, GrabPay Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines managing director
more than a billion a year to the banking industry.
“Therefore, our strategy to help overcome this challenge is by adopting the 3Ps: Payment habits, people, and partnerships.
“As consumers are familiarised with the habit of using Grab for their daily rides, therefore by introducing GrabPay, we are fortifying our position as the everyday app for their daily needs.
“People play a huge role in driving Grab forward. We are fortunate to amass amazing talents from various companies such as Amazon, Google, Uber, Microsoft and Paytm and local talents to help make Grab a part of our customers’ everyday lives. In the next 12 months, we are also looking to hiring 1,000 more engineers to help us drive our tech even further.
“We are also aligning ourselves with like-minded and visionary organizations like Maybank who are just as invested as us to help drive the cashless economy.”