Grab expands services, turns into a super app

MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asia’s online-to-offline platform Grab is further expanding its offering in the Philippines this year as it looks to venture into new transport, lifestyle, and payments services.

Grab is introducing several new services and innovations within the year to enable Filipinos to enjoy new solutions from the Grab app.

“As an everyday super app, Grab strives to provide the best solutions to the everyday needs of Filipino consumers, bringing them closer to things that matter to them. Through constant innovation and evolution, we are turning our super app vision into a more concrete reality. Soon, Grab users can use the Grab platform for more services that help them meet their daily needs,” Grab Philippines president Brian Cu said.

Within the year, Grab will pilot tests Bus Marketplace, a service that will see Grab partnering with bus operators and shipping lines in Metro Manila to provide an on-demand ticket booking system for bus rides and ferry rides.

Through Bus Marketplace, users will be able to discover and book bus and ferry services that best fit their journey with timely updates on routes, time, and date.

To enable intercity parcel delivery, Grab has also entered into a regional partnership with tech-enabled express logistics company Ninja Van to bring the latter’s logistics services into the Grab app via GrabExpress, Grab’s on-demand parcel and courier delivery service.

“We started out as a transport app the only wanted to provide a solution to the growing problem of mobility in the region. Seven years later, we are now the region’s leading super app offering different services to our consumers. But being loyal to our roots, we will continue to develop new ways to improve transportation and logistics in the Philippines,” Cu said.

Grab users will be able to stream on-demand video content through its partnership with HOOQ, a leading Southeast Asian video-streaming provider that has over 10,000 hours of content on its portfolio.

Users will also be able to use the app to book for their movie tickets in advance through the soon-to-be-launched Tickets service tile powered by its partnership with SM Cinemas

A few weeks ago, Grab introduced the new Hotel tile, which allows Grab users to book their accommodations for their holidays from Agoda and Booking.com through the Grab app.

Grab said users would soon have access to GrabBillsPay, a solution that allows GrabPay account holders to use their digital wallets to pay for utility bills for greater convenience.

The platform is also foraying into more digital financial services through GrabFinancial, where it will soon offer services that are tailor-fit to the needs of Filipinos who are previously without access to formal financial tools.

Grab said it is securing necessary documents to introduce Grab Insurance, a digital insurance platform allows drivers to purchase insurance, view their policies and make claims online without being physically present in insurance offices.

It is also in the process of creating Grab Remittance, a cross-border money remittance service that will allow Grab users to share money through their GrabPay wallets even if they are in different countries in the region, and a multi-currency wallet that will allow GrabPay to accommodate different currencies in the ASEAN region.

“We are building our super app vision through partnerships, and this was a decision that we made right at the very beginning. We recognize that Grab would only be limited on what we do best, but there are that could provide best in class services, making partnerships necessary for us to realize our vision of becoming the region’s largest super app,” Cu said.