Grab’s app usage in Singapore increased last year despite rising competition

2018 was an eventful year for the ride-hailing industry in Singapore. Uber’s exited the country in March 2018 and competitors big and small entered to challenge Grab’s dominance.

However, Grab’s app saw increased usage in the country in 2018. “Our usage, whether daily or monthly, has grown since the acquisition and continues to trend up. In fact, our rides in Singapore has grown more than 30 percent in the past year,” a Grab spokesperson tells Tech in Asia.

A Grab-branded electric Hyundai Ioniq car / Photo credit: Grab

Apps analytics platform App Annie is backing Grab’s claim. “Grab’s daily and monthly active usage on both iOS and Android has grown in 2018,” says a spokesperson for App Annie.

Neither Grab nor App Annie disclosed exact figures.

App Annie collects mobile usage data from a large sample of real-world users, combined with proprietary data sets. It’s used by Apple, Softbank, Tencent, and more as the source of truth in supporting their quarter earnings updates and IPO filings.

Judging by the number of rides, Grab’s ride-hailing business in Southeast Asia has been growing.

Between July 2018 and January 2019, it averaged about 5 million rides a day across the region, up from about 4 million rides a day between October 2017 and July 2018, Grab revealed on its blog.

Grab is also rapidly expanding its non-transportation services. Grab will offer payments tech, microloans, and micro-insurance to small businesses as a single package called Grow With Grab.

GrabPay, its payments service, will be integrated into brick-and-mortar point-of-sale systems and will also be available as a payment option with online merchants.