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GrabTaxi drivers will get customised data-centric mobile plans to cater to anticipated higher data usage needs

Senior executives from the Singtel Group and GrabTaxi, including (fifth from left, front row) Chua Sock Koong, Group CEO, Singtel and (sixth from left, front row) Tan Hooi Ling, Co-founder, GrabTaxi at the MOU signing ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Image Credit: Singtel)

GrabTaxi users in the region can soon use mobile wallet services offered by the Singtel Group to pay for their rides booked through the app.

This is after today’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) inked by GrabTaxi and the Singtel Group. This option will be available to mobile customers of AIS (Thailand), Globe Telecom (Philippines) and Telkomsel (Indonesia) — all three are regional associates of Singtel — who will be integrated onto an Open Platform that will be itself synced with the GrabTaxi app. The Open Platform integration with the GrabTaxi app is expected to be ready by mid-2016.

“People in Southeast Asia are hyperconnected on mobile, and it’s our goal to provide another payment option for passengers via a channel they are familiar with. GrabTaxi passengers will soon have the option to streamline their payments, including transport expenses, to one mobile wallet and reduce reliance on carrying cash,” said Anthony Tan, CEO and Co-founder of GrabTaxi.

Also Read: Call me a plumber, not COO: GrabTaxi Co-founder Hooi Ling Tan

As part of the MOU, GrabTaxi drivers will also have something to look forward to in the form of customised data-centric mobile plans tailored in anticipation of their higher data usage needs.

“Our partnership with the Singtel Group also enables us to reward our drivers with better value mobile plans and provide access to more customers. This 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,” said Tan.

This is a smart move by GrabTaxi as payment methods have been a key point in its differentiation of service to that of Uber’s.

Credit payment has for a long time been the dominant payment method for the latter while the Malaysia-based GrabTaxi, which prides itself on having a local understanding of the countries in the region, has made cash (on top of credit) payments available across the 26 cities in Southeast Asia it is operating in. Not without reason for GrabTaxi as credit payment has not quite taken off in the region.

“Telco billing relationships are a key enabler in developing markets, where less than 10 per cent 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 mobile phones,” said Mark Chong, CEO International of Singtel.

Also Read: Didi Kuaidi, Ola, Lyft and GrabTaxi form global ride-share partnership

The post GrabTaxi and Singtel partner to offer payments by mobile wallet appeared first on e27.

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