Singapore-based ride-hailing company Grab is set to discontinue its GrabPay Card, the affiliate card programme of its mobile payments platform, from 1 June 2024.
The programme had been operating in conjunction with the company’s e-wallet offering, GrabPay Wallet, and enabled users to earn GrabRewards when transacting with either their physical or virtual card at select merchant partners.
However, in a statement issued on its website, the company confirmed its plans to discontinue the programme, saying it is observing “much higher adoption and use of other Grab offerings”, namely its PayLater offering launched in 2020, leading to its decision to “concentrate our efforts on refining these products”.
As of 1 April, the company says it is no longer accepting new card applications, and that requests for replacement cards can be filed until 30 April.
After this, the card’s associated rewards programme will be accessible until 31 May. From 1 June, users will no longer be able to transact both online or offline with either their physical or digital GrabPay Card.
The move comes after Grab announced last September that it had decided to axe its retail investment products after deeming them “not commercially viable”, with a similar commitment to direct its attention instead towards more lucrative product avenues.
The company has generated 162% year-on-year growth in revenues from its provision of financial services – a figure that sat at $184 million as per its latest full-year results.
Its discontinuation of the GrabPay Card could be attributed to the rise of GXBank, a Malaysian digital bank born from a joint venture between Grab and Singapore’s Singtel, which began operating in September.
Featuring its own card programme, the digital bank claims to have accumulated 100,000 depositors in its first two weeks, with 79% of users coming direct from Grab.
Source: fintechfutures.com
