Go-Jek partners with DBS on payments before Singapore arrival; Grab in tie-up with UOB

Photo credit: Deyoadutrys

Go-Jek’s Singapore landing is getting ever closer, with the Indonesian ride-hailing giant today announcing a tie-up with banking behemoth DBS. Meanwhile, archrival Grab unveiled a deal with DBS competitor UOB, under which the bank will become its strategic credit card partner across five Southeast Asian countries.

Go-Jek’s “regional strategic partnership” with DBS will see the the two companies collaborate on payment services. Initially, they’ll be focusing on the city-state, but will extend the fruits of their cooperation to other Southeast Asian markets in the future.

Grab’s alliance with UOB will allow it to offer payments solutions from the Singaporean bank in-app. In addition to becoming Grab’s preferred banking and credit card partner in the city-state, UOB will also be its strategic credit card partner in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, with a view to potentially issuing co-branded cards in the region. This follows Grab’s debit card partnership with US issuer Mastercard announced last month.

Other plans include special privileges for UOB cardholders when paying for Grab’s services, as well as enabling direct-from-account wallet top-ups for GrabPay users who are UOB account holders.

UOB deputy chairman and CEO Wee Ee Cheong (L), and Grab co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan (R) / Photo credit: Grab

Further details about the Go-Jek’s partnership were thin on the ground at the time of the announcement. However, the companies said that DBS customers in Singapore will be granted privileges in relation to Go-Jek’s beta launch in the city, which will take place “within the coming weeks,” according to Go-Jek president Andre Soelistyo.

“We know that people are desperate for more choice in the sector and we believe we can satisfy this demand. The response from the driver community since we opened pre-registration has been overwhelming and we are confident that by working with DBS, we will see the same level of excitement from consumers too,” said Soelistyo.

Go-Jek started pre-registering drivers in Singapore at the end of last month.

See: Go-Jek’s taking a risk with its hands-off expansion strategy

The city-state is one of the countries that the Indonesian firm is targeting in its first overseas expansion, alongside the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. It has launched local brands Get and Go-Viet in the latter two.

DBS has also partnered with Singaporean ecommerce startup Carousell on payments, helping it to develop its CarouPay mobile wallet. DBS invested in Carousell’s US$85 million series C round earlier this year.

Go-Jek is reportedly in the midst of a US$2 billion funding round, with existing investors including Tencent and JD set to up their stakes.