Grab launches micro-investment product as it expands financial services

Grab Financial, the fintech arm of Southeast Asian ride-hailing major Grab, has announced its first micro-investment solution, AutoInvest.

From left: Grab Financial senior managing director Reuben Lai, head of GrabInvest Chandrima Das, and head of investments and new businesses Philip Chew / Photo credit: Reuben Lai

With the new service, Singapore users will be able to “invest as they spend” with their everyday Grab transactions. They may invest as low as S$1 per transaction made with Grab services to earn returns of about 1.8% per year, which can then be cashed out directly to their GrabPay wallets.

The users’ investments are then put into high-quality, liquid fixed income funds offered by Fullerton Fund Management and UOB Asset Management. AutoInvest charges a low all-inclusive fee, and will be available to eligible users in Singapore through GrabInvest by early September.

Grab has also announced other products, including consumer loans through a third-party platform. In addition, it has expanded its buy-now-pay-later service for select ecommerce websites so users can either split their payments into monthly instalments via PayLater Instalments or defer payment to the following month via PayLater Postpaid.

Grab plans to have a handful of online merchants offering its PayLater services at launch, then add over 100 more in Singapore and Malaysia by the end of the year.

The new products were launched under Grab Financial’s “Thrive with Grab” strategy and builds upon the company’s “Grow with Grab” initiative, where its merchant financial services ecosystem was started.

“Our ‘Thrive with Grab’ strategy will enable users to build their wealth, manage their finances, and protect what they value during this uncertain period,” said Grab Financial senior managing director Reuben Lai, adding that the products launched today are “evergreen.”

Since launching its consumer insurance business in 2019, Grab Financial claims to have seen robust growth across Southeast Asia, having over 13 million insurance policies issued since April 2019. It has also since expanded small and medium-sized enterprise lending to four countries to support its food and payments merchants.

“What’s really exciting is that if we execute well, there’s a full revenue potential opportunity of US$60 billion by 2025 for digital financial services,” Lai said.