South-East Asian ride-hailing firm Grab is teaming up with Malaysia's biggest bank, Maybank, to drive adoption of its new mobile wallet.
Having received an e-money license from Malaysia's central bank late last year, Grab is set to roll out its GrabPay mobile wallet in beta in the next few weeks.
To drive adoption, the firm has struck a deal with Maybank that will see GrabPay accepted at Maybank merchants. In return, Maybank customers will also eventually have the option of paying via the bank's QRPay at GrabPay merchants.
In addition, Malaysians will be able to directly top up cash to their mobile wallet via Maybank2U, Maybank’s internet banking portal. Maybank customers who use GrabPay as a payment method for rides and other services on Grab will also get exclusive benefits and rewards.
Ooi Huey Tyng, MD, GrabPay Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines, says: "The whole industry needs to come together to make the cashless economy a reality in Malaysia. We are honoured to partner with Maybank which not only shares our vision of a cashless payments future, but also recognises Grab as ideally poised to help make this a reality.
"With GrabPay mobile wallet as the leading payment method on our Grab app, it will build an interconnected ecosystem of our services, thus making Grab an everyday app to complement consumers’ everyday lifestyle."
Grab has been progressively developing its capabilities in financial services, acquiring Indonesian e-commerce company Kudo in April 2017 and launching a P2P mobile wallet in November. In March the firm set up a dedicated financial services unit and outlined plans to start offering micro-loans and insurance products.