Grab and Indonesia’s Lippo prep new digital wallet

Grab CEO Anthony Tan (left) and Lippo director John Riady. Photo credit: Grab

Ride-hailing app Grab today announced plans to collaborate with Indonesia’s massive Lippo Group on a digital payments feature.

Lippo Group, run by one of the country’s richest families, owns retail chains including department stores, supermarkets, cinemas, coffee shops, and ecommerce site Matahari Mall. Grab, originally from Malaysia, has taxis, cars, and motorcycles across major Southeast Asian cities.

A statement sent out by Grab today describes how it works.

“Lippo Group will develop a universal payments platform that enables Indonesians to top up an emoney account and use it to pay digitally at Lippo companies. Grab will integrate the payments platform into the Grab app as a mobile wallet option within GrabPay, enabling any mobile user to use the Grab app to pay for not only their daily transport needs, but also other lifestyle services.”

The two companies sealed the terms of the joint venture in March. Lippo invested in Grab as part of the deal.

Mobile money

The key word in today’s announcement is “will.” Lippo’s payments platform has yet to be developed.

A Grab spokesperson said that the first stage of the rollout will begin in the fourth quarter.

“The payments platform will initially be available for use at Lippo Group companies and to pay for Grab rides in Indonesia. This means that over 50 million existing customers from the two companies will be able to pay via their mobile phones for a full suite of services from Lippo’s retail companies,” the Grab spokesperson said.

Indonesia’s digital payments landscape is notoriously fragmented. Each major bank is working on its own virtual wallet, roping in its network of vendors, but leaving consumers overwhelmed with options.

Grab’s main rival in Indonesia is Go-Jek, another ride-hailing app that’s also recently been expanding its digital payments platform, Go-Pay. Uber is another contender.