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GrabTaxi is now Grab, with a brand new app that is easier to use than ever

By Koh Wanzi - 28 Jan 2016

GrabTaxi is now Grab, with a brand new app that is easier to use than ever

Grab rebranding

Since its launch in 2012, GrabTaxi has expanded from a mere taxi-booking service to a diverse land transport company. In addition to taxi-bookings, the company now offers private car bookings (GrabCar), motorcycle taxis (GrabBike), carpooling (GrabHitch), and even on-demand pickup and delivery services (GrabExpress). That can be quite a handful to grapple with, but as of today, things are going to be a lot more streamlined. GrabTaxi has announced that it is now just Grab, bringing all its services under one umbrella brand.

"We’ve grown over the years - and we’re now much more than a taxi app. This new brand is an important evolution that represents our goal to serve our customers," said Anthony Tan, Group CEO and co-founder of Grab. The new brand reflects Grab’s burgeoning portfolio of on-demand service in the transport industry and the restyled logo is evocative of connected roadways and endless possibilities.

GrabTaxi

It’s not just a new name though, and Grab has also updated both its Android and iOS apps in line with its new direction. The new app features a renewed focus on design and the user interface, with new features intended to make using the app as easy and intuitive as possible. For instance, the app now offers a personalized booking experience, which allows it to predict pick-up and drop-off points to save you the hassle of keying them in yourself. It does this by ranking your preferred locations according to the day, time, and physical location.

Grab personalized booking

So if you’re in the habit of catching a ride back home from a certain friend’s house, the app will suggest your home address as the destination, which would allow you to make a booking in just two clicks.

To further simplify the process, Grab also introduced an automated retry feature, which automatically attempts to book a ride again if your first try fails and ensures you don’t have to keep checking the app to reattempt a booking.

Grab automated retry

Then there’s live driver tracking, which offers better estimates of pick-up times. In the old version of the app, driver statuses were updated less frequently, and the new implementation allows you to see where your driver is in real-time and get a more accurate gauge of when he will arrive.

Grab live driver tracking

Grab also made it much easier for new users to sign up – a smart move, given the number of times we’ve been put off from signing up for something because of the number of steps involved. Android users can now sign up using their Facebook account or mobile number with a single click, and the app will automatically confirm the user’s identity and phone number. iOS users can expect the feature in the near future.

Grab simplified registration

In addition, existing features like Flash and GrabPay have been ported over to the new app, with plans to offer them in other Southeast Asian markets where Grab operates. Flash is a nifty feature that lets you search the available pool of both taxi and GrabCar drivers to find the nearest available vehicle at just the tap of a button. This feature was only made available to Singapore users in the last app update, and it is a great help in cutting down wait times. Furthermore, GrabPay also now supports multiple credit cards, so you can choose to bill rides taken on the account of work to your corporate card.

To make the app even more business-friendly, Grab is rolling out GrabWork – an in-app feature that helps professionals track their rides and fill in information like expense codes and trip details for expense claims purposes.

Grab business tagging

All work-related rides are consolidated, and passengers can simply log on to the Grab Passenger Hub to download their ride statements before making their claims submission. A dropdown menu lets you view all your bookings in a single page, or separate them according to personal and work bookings.

Grab Passenger Hub

Grab Passenger Hub expense claims

With the rebranding and new features, Grab is signaling its continued determination to dominate the market in Southeast Asia, where it currently operates in 28 cities across six countries. Its app has been downloaded onto more than 11 million devices so far. Moving forward, Grab intends to double down on the local and regional markets, because it strongly believes that its focus on tailoring its services to suit individual markets is the best way to help all stakeholders thrive. Rather than set its sights on the global stage, Grab wants to hone in on Southeast Asia and continue to improve accessibility and provide safe transportation for all in the region. 

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