Grab Financial Gets In SME Lending, Insurance

Grab Financial Group, the Southeast Asia FinTech company, announced Tuesday (March 19) the rollout of SME lending and micro-insurance for drivers in Singapore as part of its “Grow with Grab” roadmap.

In a press release, the company said its “Grow with Grab” roadmap is aimed at providing financial services to micro entrepreneurs and small businesses in Southeast Asia. It includes new services such as micro-insurance products, postpaid and installment payment services and “Pay with GrabPay,” which is an eCommerce checkout payment method for online sellers that allows them to accept GrabPay as a mobile wallet on their website or platform.

The company said in the press release it had a strong 2018 in which the FinTech platform was rolled out and quickly became a leading player in mobile payments. “Grow with Grab” is its full push into lending and insurance, the company said in the press release. Grab Financial said the goal is to become the region’s largest payments and financial services platform in 2019. It is also aiming to operate one of the largest merchant networks and become the largest insurtech policy provider within one platform.

“We are doubling down on our financial services offerings for micro-entrepreneurs with “Grow with Grab.” This is a huge untapped opportunity for Grab Financial to support the region’s entrepreneurs who are less able to access traditional financial institutions. While SMEs contribute more than 50% of ASEAN’s GDP, two-thirds of SMEs cite business funding and financing as their biggest problem. The Grab app has served more than 9 million micro-entrepreneurs over the last 6 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 of Grab Financial Group, in the press release. The company said that during the coming weeks it will launch new services under the road map that help micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses grow earnings and their businesses.