Fashion
Together with MUFG’s $726 million investment, the super-app has raised $876 million for its financial services push.
TIS, a Japanese provider of network solutions and system integration services, is investing $150 million in super-app Grab in a strategic partnership that aims at supporting Grab’s regional expansion plans, the firm said in a press release.
According to the statement, both companies will collaborate on developing emerging payment technologies and enhancing the digital payment infrastructure in the region and in Japan to enable greater adoption of cashless payment options, such as GrabPay.
Digital payments are taking off in Southeast Asia, as it caters to a largely mobile yet underbanked population. We need to create better experiences to pay for daily transactions, Ming Maa, president, Grab, said about the partnership.
On Friday, Grab announced that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) was making a strategic investment of 80 trillion yen ($726 million) in the company. Grab said MUFG will offer a range of financial services and loans to its user base across Southeast Asia.
The bank will also tap on Grab’s artificial intelligence systems and data analysis capabilities, as it competes more with online banks and IT startups in its home market.
Grab, already a leading food delivery and ride-hailing provider in Southeast Asia, has long had ambitions in the financial services space, saying it wants to be the region’s largest merchant network, insurtech policy provider and fintech lender. In the last two years, Grab has built solutions in payments, rewards, lending, and insurance under its GrabPay wallet and Grab Financial.
Earlier in February, Grab announced the acquisition of Bento Invest, a Singapore-based robo-advisory start-up, through which it will offer retail wealth management solutions.
The company is also one of the contenders for digital bank licenses in Singapore, to be introduced later this year, as part of a joint bid with Singtel.
The news of the investments came on the heels of rumors on Tuesday that Grab was in talks with regional rival Gojek over a possible merger. According to a report by U.S. tech media «The Information,» the two sides are split over control of the combined firm
