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GrabTaxi explores mobile wallet payment options by partnering up with Singtel

By Liu Hongzuo - on 9 Dec 2015, 5:23pm

GrabTaxi explores mobile wallet payment options by partnering up with Singtel

Signing Ceremony between GrabTaxi, Singtel Group, and the region's telcos who are partnering up for the mobile wallet initiative.

Very soon, you will be able to pay for GrabTaxi rides with a flash of your phone, without having to withdraw cash or risk credit card safety.

Regional private car taxi-booking service GrabTaxi is partnering up with various telco companies around the region, allowing users of the GrabTaxi app to pay for rides with a mobile wallet, instead of cash or credit card. The telcos – AIS (from Thailand), Globe (from The Philippines), and Telkomsel (from Indonesia) - and GrabTaxi will be working through an Open Platform where it is agreed that they will use Singtel Group’s mobile wallet for payment purposes on the GrabTaxi app.

“People in Southeast Asia are hyper-connected on mobile, and it’s our goal to provide another payment option for passengers via a channel they are familiar with,” said Anthony Tan, CEO and co-founder of GrabTaxi. This (MOU) is part of our ongoing long-term investment into our app and technology, to build more functionalities to improve the user experience for both our drivers and passengers.”

The Open Platform integration and the ability to pay for GrabTaxi rides using a mobile wallet are expected to be ready by mid-2016. In lieu of the partnership, GrabTaxi and Singtel Group will offer GrabTaxi drivers unique data-centric mobile plans to cope with the expected increase in mobile data usage during their course of work.

While Singapore is relatively efficient and secure when it comes to paying with cash or credit, the new mobile wallet option gives users a choice and preference when it comes to payment. It is especially practical in countries from the region where most users of the app do not have a credit card.

Mr Mark Chong, CEO International of Singtel, said, “Telco billing relationships are a key enabler in developing markets, where less than 10% of the population own credit cards or bank accounts. Through our Open Platform, online retailers and service providers such as GrabTaxi can easily connect to the payment platforms of all members of the Singtel Group. The collaboration will enable more mobile customers to enjoy cashless payments through their smart phones”.

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