In brief: Grab said to consider spinning out financial services unit with Ant, PayPal

• Grab is in talks with PayPal and Alibaba’s Ant Financial as it considers spinning out its financial services unit to double down on its non-transportation business, according to sources.
• Grab Financial includes the ride-hailing company’s payments platform GrabPay, as well as lending and insurance services for micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses.
• The Singapore-based firm has been heavily linked with an investment from Alibaba, but backing Grab Financial might make more sense for the Chinese giant since it aligns with Ant Financial’s push into Southeast Asia, which has seen it make investments in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia.
• Ant Financial, PayPal, and Grab all declined to comment on the claim.

Source: TechCrunch