Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

Grab: How an Uber killer became a powerful Asian super-app

Grab: How an Uber killer became a powerful Asian super-app

When Microsoft's Bill Gates said in 1994 that "banking is necessary, banks are not", financiers and analysts alike dismissed the claims as the wild musings of an over-imaginative techie.

Fast forward a few decades and that vision is fast becoming reality.

Grab is one of the most dominant super apps in Asia, offering rides, food delivery and now, financial services.

That includes loans, insurance, payments and investments - all accessed through a mobile phone app.

Launched in 2012 as a ride-hailing app like Uber, Grab has since expanded broadly. In 2018, it pushed Uber out of South East Asia.

Grab's goal is to eventually transform into a virtual bank for South East Asia's 600 million strong population.

But increased competition and governments seeking to curb the influence of powerful super apps could get in the way of those ambitions.

Humble beginnings


Grab started life in Malaysia in 2012, as an online taxi booking service initially called MyTeksi.

Co-founder Anthony Tan had the idea when he was studying at Harvard Business School.

The pitch was to make taxi rides safer and more convenient for Malaysians.

But first they needed investors.

Kee Lock Chua is a Managing Partner at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and one of the first institutional investors in Grab.

The other investor? Anthony Tan's mum.

"We saw how he spent time with his mum, how he talked to her, and how much respect he gave her," Mr Chua explained.

"That told us he had strong character and conviction."

"Besides the solid idea, that helped us to make the decision to invest in the business."

Mr Chua's firm invested $11.2m (£8.1m) in Grab, giving Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India a 22% stake in the company.

He exited the investment seven years later, making more than 10 times that amount.

Banker to the masses?


As Grab's popularity grew, the company realised many of its drivers didn't have bank accounts.

The head of Grab Financial Group Reuben Lai had to help drivers sign up for accounts so they could get paid and also arrange loans for their cars.


"After doing that for a number of years, we started asking ourselves, 'why are we doing [this]?" he said.

"That was when we realised that six out of 10 people across South East Asia are underserved by banks."

"It could be a lack of data [or] it could be the high costs of serving them."

"We want to be...the platform that enables financial institutions to serve this emerging consumer.

South East Asia's informal economy


That includes Natthakan Khingpat in Bangkok, who opened his restaurant during the first wave of Covid-19 last year.

He gets the bulk of his orders from the Grab app and has been lucky: business is brisk.

He needed to borrow money to expand but going to a traditional bank was never an option.

"If I were to pay for the high monthly interest rates, I [don't] think I could survive," he told the BBC.

Grab has loaned Mr Natthakan almost $4,000 and the repayments are deducted from his daily earnings.

"I could go in [to the app] and look at how much per day I had to pay back.

"I thought I would be able to pull it off….it felt almost like I wasn't taking out a loan."

Many of the firm's first customers for its financial services were drivers.

Boon Kok has driven a Grab car for three years and now takes out health insurance through the app.

Grab driver Boon Kok uses the app's insurance services.

"Every single drive I take, [the app] will deduct 10 cent(s) so I think it's very affordable," he says.

He's now got coverage worth $113,000.

The company is now looking to target digitally savvy millennials.

Jixun Foo, a Managing Partner of GGV Capital and another early investor in the company, said his advice to Grab's leadership was to get into financial services from the start.

"Once you have your [digital] wallet you start to use it," he told me.

"Then it is natural that you use it to buy things, you want to access better credit [and] when you are travelling you may want to buy travel insurance along with it."

"It's just the natural next step."

Lessons from China


Grab has followed the Chinese model, leveraging on its customer base and offering financial services to them.

Chinese investors in Grab - including hailing app Didi Chuxing and tech giant Tencent - provided both expertise and financing.

But regulators in China have recently cracked down on the powerful tech industry, in an attempt to rein them in.


"In China, the government was less aware of how the concentration of power could happen," says Professor Nitin Pangarkar from the National University of Singapore's Business School.

"Other governments are seeing that this happened in China and if they don't want to let it happen in their own countries they have to step in and regulate," he adds.

Bumpy road ahead


The risks to Grab are also mounting.

It won a digital bank license in Singapore and is hoping to launch in 2022, but analysts say regulation will be a key concern going forward.

"I think digital banking in south east Asia is going to be tough, because regulators will definitely be protective of their turf," Robson Lee, partner at Gibson Dunn tells me.

It also has plans to list in the US later this year, with a valuation of $40bn.

"They have forecasted very good numbers but I think the devil is in the details," Mr Lee said.

"I think investors have got to continue to be vigilant and watch this very carefully."


"We're not sellers, we're buyers"


Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×