In brief: Grab to launch P2P lending and remittance services

As part of its plans of becoming a “superapp,” Singapore-based Grab – that offers ride-hailing transport services, food delivery, and payment solutions – is looking to add peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and remittance services in Southeast Asia.

At DealStreetAsia’s Asia PE VC Summit 2018 on Tuesday, Grab president Ming Maa said that e-payments such as P2P lending and remittances are one of the highest friction points in the region.

Source: DealStreetAsia (paywalled)

Maa said that Grab plans to offer these services once its payments platform “strengthens.”

Earlier this year, Grab established its financial services unit Grab Financial to expand beyond its GrabPay payments platform into microlending and micro-insurance.

Yesterday, the ride-hailing firm announced a partnership with Vietnamese payments company Moca, which will see the two collaborate on digital payments in the country.

Grab’s archrival Go-Jek, which also offers a suite of financial services, recently unveiled partnerships with three P2P lending startups in Indonesia.