• Grab users can “invest as they spend” with a minimum investment of $1 
• Other initiatives include an interest-free instalment payment plan for online purchases 
• Grab is still waiting for updates from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on its digital bank licence application

SINGAPORE — Ride-hailing and food-delivery provider Grab is now offering financial services to users including investments and loans. 

Under a scheme called AutoInvest, users may set aside a small sum of money to be invested with every Grab transaction they make. 

The minimum amount they can invest is S$1, and users will be able to select higher amounts that the firm said will be disclosed later. 

Speaking at an online press conference on Tuesday (Aug 4), Ms Chandrima Das, head of wealth for Grab Financial Group, said: “As we enter the period of economic uncertainty in the region, we want to empower our users to maximise every dollar that they have earned. 

“So rather than waiting to start their wealth management journey by (investing) S$5,000 or S$10,000… we are enabling them to start with as low as S$1.” 

The money will be invested in "high-quality, liquid, fixed income funds" offered by Fullerton Fund Management and UOB Asset Management, Grab said in a statement. 

These management partners will allow Grab to receive a portion of the existing fund fees that will work out to less than 0.45 per cent per annum, it said. 

Users can expect earning returns of an estimated 1.8 per cent per annum, but these returns are not guaranteed or protected, Grab added. 

The investments can be withdrawn at any time with no penalties, but these funds can be cashed out only in the GrabPay wallet and used to pay for goods and services by Grab. 

Users will also have to wait two to four working days for the funds to be credited. 

Grab said that it is exploring a feature to enable a cash-out to bank accounts in the future.

The latest announcements are part of several initiatives that come months after Grab was named by sources to be among 14 shortlisted applicants for digital bank licences by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

When asked about their application status, the group’s senior managing director Reuben Lai said that there have been no updates so far.

“(The application) is sitting with MAS now and we are answering all the questions as it goes along,” he said. 

“We do sincerely hope to receive the licence and our plan for digibank has not changed at all.” 

OTHER FINANCIAL INITIATIVES FOR GRAB USERS

On Tuesday, Grab also announced a monthly instalment or deferment payment plan and a loan platform for users.  

Details of the monthly instalment or deferment payment service are as follows:

• Called “PayLater”, the service allows users to shop online and pay in interest-free instalments with e-commerce sites 

• Users may either split their purchase into monthly instalments or defer payments to the following month  

• It will be made available only to a select group of users in Singapore and Malaysia in October this year

• There are likely to be more than 100 merchants in Singapore and Malaysia working with Grab on this by the end of the year  

For the third-party consumer loan platform, the details are as follows: 

• The platform will help users find licensed loans from trusted bank partners 

• Users can access loans from bank partners on the Grab mobile application and save on paperwork and trips to the bank, Grab said

• Approvals and loan parameters will be handled by the banks while Grab will function as the distribution platform 

• This service will be launched later this year