Grab users can now buy insurance in-app following ZhongAn investment

Grab has partnered with Chinese online insurance giant ZhongAn to offer insurance products through its app, it announced today.

The two companies are forming a joint venture to create a digital insurance marketplace that will allow Grab users to browse and buy customized insurance products via the Grab app, without the need for an agent or a broker. The Lion City will get the new service during the first half of this year, before it gradually rolls out in other markets.

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ZhongAn – which is considered a pioneer in online-only insurance – will “provide technologies and [charge] technical service fees” and share “insurance premium income through strategic investment as a strategic partner,” it said in an email.

Further details of ZhongAn’s investment in Grab were not disclosed.

Grab said the joint venture “will address the usual pain points of insurance discovery, unaffordable premiums, and payment options by allowing for insurance premium payments to be adjusted and automatically deducted through GrabPay or its affiliate payment partners.”

In March last year, Grab launched Grab Financial, its financial services arm. This brought together its existing digital payments platform, GrabPay, as well as new drivers’ insurance and microlending offerings in partnership with Chubb and Credit Saison, respectively.

Grab has been bringing a multitude of non-transportation services onto its platform in its self-defined mission to become Southeast Asia’s “everyday super app.” For example, its users will soon be able to buy medicine and book doctors’ appointments through its platform, thanks to a tie-up with PingAn Good Doctor announced last August.

The ride-hailing company is reportedly raising US$5 billion from an ongoing Toyota-led funding round, which has also seen participation from Microsoft, SoftBank, and Hyundai, among others.