UOB and Grab in regional alliance to accelerate use of digital services

• Complement UOB’s efforts to scale up its regional customer franchise
• Under the alliance, UOB will become Grab’s preferred banking partner in Singapore

UNITED Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) and Grab on Nov 12 announced they have entered into a strategic alliance to accelerate the use of digital services among Asean’s growing base of digital consumers.

The alliance will enable UOB to deliver financial services to Grab’s Asean-wide user base and to accelerate the Bank’s efforts to meet the needs of the region’s fast-growing ‘mobile-first’ and ‘mobile-only’ consumers. It will also pave the way for Grab to offer directly from its app a number of payment solutions from the Bank’s holistic suite.

UOB deputy chairman and chief executive officer Wee Ee Cheong, said, “Innovation created by enterprising minds has helped transform the lives of consumers, opened up opportunities for sustainable business and connected communities in ways not seen before.

“Our alliance with Grab represents two like-minded companies harnessing our respective strengths to create value for consumers and to drive greater access to financial services in the region. The alliance will also complement our efforts to scale up our customer franchise across Asean.”

Under the alliance, UOB will become Grab’s preferred banking partner in Singapore. UOB will also be a strategic credit card partner for Grab in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Consumers will enjoy special privileges when paying for Grab services with their UOB cards . Both companies will also explore launching co-branded credit cards in Asean.

Grab will also tap the Bank’s cash management services to provide consumers the convenience of topping up their GrabPay wallet directly from their bank account.

The new top-up method will increase the number of ways that consumers can add money to their GrabPay wallet, which include topping up through credit and debit card or Grab’s network of drivers, agents and merchants.

Grab co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan, said, “We are thrilled to welcome UOB as our strategic partner in Singapore and across the region. To have one of the largest banking groups in Southeast Asia join hands with us underlines the potential of Grab’s user base and platform to drive business success for our partners.

“By combining our strengths, we will offer consumers more convenient payments services regionally and help more people move from cash to cashless.”

The Bank is also working with Grab to embed features of its upcoming Digital Bank within Grab’s mobile app, enabling users to access banking services quickly and conveniently.

Through these initiatives, consumers will be able to enjoy a fully digital and seamless banking and payments experience, from the moment they apply to open an account through to managing their everyday lifestyle needs when using the app.

As part of the alliance, UOB will also explore support for Grab in a number of other areas, from fleet financing, regional and centralised treasury management solutions, to workplace banking services.