Grab users can now book a ride with Lyft when they’re in the US

Photo credit: Grab

Southeast Asian ride-hailing app Grab has completed its app’s integration with that of its US-based counterpart Lyft, it announced today.

The two companies are part of a cross-border alliance that also includes India’s Ola and China’s Didi Chuxing, forged to stem the tide of erm, uber-competitor Uber.

The transition is supposed to be seamless for users.

The integration means that Grab users will be able to book rides with Lyft drivers when they travel to the US, without having to use the Lyft app. As long as their phones are connected to the internet, they can just fire up the Grab app – which will display available Lyft and Lyft Plus cars – and book their ride as usual.

For those who use Grab’s cashless payment system, the transition is supposed to be seamless – the app will display the charge in US dollars, but other than that, payment will be made normally. Information on the exchange rate will be provided within the app.

However, users who are accustomed to paying with cash will need to add a cashless payment option if they want to use their app in the US.

Lyft users will have the same ability when they travel to Southeast Asia, although integration from Lyft’s side is expected to be complete in the following weeks. American users will initially only have access to the GrabTaxi and GrabCar services – so no crazy bike rides in Jakarta for them, at least in the beginning.

In both cases, drivers will receive the bookings without knowing they came from a different app. They will be paid normally, while Grab and Lyft will settle the payment between themselves on the back end. Revenue generated by Grab users in the US goes to Lyft, and vice versa.

“The aim is a consistent experience no matter where you are,” says Grab head of product Joel Yarbrough.

Similar integrations will take place with Ola’s and Didi’s apps, although no clear time frame is given on that. Grab VP of engineering Arul Kumaravel says that through partnering with these three companies, Grab has access to almost 50 percent of the world’s population.

The integration was a multi-faceted challenge, Arul says, as things like different APIs, user interfaces, and latency had to be tackled. The lessons learned, however, will be applied into the Ola and Didi app collaboration.