Ride-hailing firm Grab is in talks with both PayPal and Alibaba’s Ant Financial to spin off its financial services arm.
The $16bn valued firm is seeking to become a more frequently utilised app in Southeast Asia by putting increased focus on financial services.
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Grab Financial Group, which covers insurance and loans, would spin out of the core Grab business.
According to reports, a deal between Grab, PayPal and Ant Financial could be finalised as early as this year.
Grab has already been making heavy moves in Southeast Asia as it acquired Uber’s business in that region, including arms in eight countries. In addition, Uber gained a 27.5% stake in Singapore-based Grab.
Already this year, Grab gained a $1.48bn investment from SoftBank.
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By GlobalDataZhongAn Technologies International Group has partnered with Grab Holdings to form a joint venture (JV) aimed at creating a digital platform to distribute insurance products in Southeast Asia.
The JV will create a digital insurance marketplace that will provide a number of insurance products at reduced premiums to users through the Grab mobile app.
ZhongAn Technologies, which operates as a subsidiary of China-based ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance, will provide the required backend technological assets to build the platform.
Additionally, the JV will team up with insurers to develop products which can be customised to meet the lifestyle needs of the Southeast Asians customers.
As part of the collaboration, Grab will roll out the digital insurance platform through its mobile app initially in Singapore in the first half of 2019. Subsequently, it will be launched in other markets.
At the time of the partnership, Grab president Ming Maa said: “The launch of our insurance platform is part of our commitment to becoming the leading everyday superapp in the region.
“With over 130 million downloads in Southeast Asia and a presence across 336 cities, our deep understanding of consumer behaviour and needs uniquely allows us to deliver innovative insurance products that create value for our customers.”
Grab has also partnered with Chubb to provide a drivers’ insurance product to its driver-partners in Singapore to protect them from loss of income owing to illness or accident.
