Grab is adding Myanmar’s Wave Money to its mobile wallet

A taxi driver in Yangon. Photo credit: rolf52 / 123RF.

Ride-hailing and mobile payments startup Grab is partnering with Wave Money in Myanmar.

Drivers will be able to sign up for emoney accounts that let them cash out their daily earnings at one of Wave’s 9,000 shops across Myanmar, Grab said in a statement today.

Grab also plans to integrate Wave Money’s digital wallet with its own wallet, GrabPay, so that passengers in Myanmar can use Wave Money’s ecash to pay for Grab rides.

“This is in line with Grab’s approach of providing locally preferred payment options for our customers in each country,” the firm states.

Wave Money is a joint venture between Telenor (a telco), Yoma Bank, and First Myanmar Investment. It launched in 2014. Grab says Wave is the first licensed mobile financial service provider in Myanmar.

Digital growth in Myanmar. Image credit: We Are Social/

Myanmar’s population of close to 55 million people is coming online at a rapid pace since the country’s democratic reforms. Its internet population stood at 14 million in early 2017, almost doubling in size since early 2016. Globally, that growth rate was only 10 percent.

Myanmar is becoming increasingly interesting for tech companies. Grab entered Myanmar just a few months ago, in March – a move that was mirrored by rival Uber a few months later.