Samsung strikes partnership deal with Grab in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asian on-demand transportation and mobile payments platform Grab and Samsung Electronics have signed a multi-year agreement to boost digital inclusion in Southeast Asia. Grab and Samsung plan to jointly develop customised services for the ride-hailing industry, including micro-financing schemes for Grab’s over 2.3 million driver-partners, customer booking and in-car services, and new mobility tools. The two companies will also work together to provide a mobile payments service for customers across Southeast Asia.

The collaboration will be rolled out in phases across all countries in Southeast Asia that Grab operates in. In phase 1, Grab and Samsung are offering micro-financing of mobile devices for drivers. Around 2.3 million Grab driver-partners across Southeast Asia will have access to a micro-financing programme focused on giving them access to mobile services designed to reduce the cost of purchasing a smartphone and also lower ongoing maintenance costs with software and security features. 

This initiative was piloted in Myanmar in the fourth quarter of 2017, and will soon be rolled out across the region. Currently, drivers in Myanmar who sign up with Grab can purchase and own Samsung devices and get a micro-loan from Myanmar financial services provider CB Bank to finance the device. In less than three months of the pilot, more than 1,400 drivers in Myanmar have benefitted from this programme.

To make Grab’s services more accessible to commuters and customers in Southeast Asia, Grab plans to launch more GrabKiosks and GrabBooths in busy consumer hubs such as shopping malls, hotels and airports. These feature Samsung devices with the Grab enterprise app pre-installed, allowing individuals and concierge services to book a Grab ride for themselves or others, even when they do not have data connectivity.

The devices at GrabKiosks and GrabBooths in Indonesia and Myanmar have been installed with Samsung’s Knox enterprise mobile security software. This will be rolled out in Vietnam and Singapore in this year's first quarter, and other countries in Southeast Asia later in the year.

Grab and its content partners will pilot in-car multimedia services in Singapore, installing Samsung tablets inside cars for customers to view infotainment content, if they choose to, during their ride. This will be piloted throughout Southeast Asia this year.