Grab Allegedly Eyeing to be a Bank in S’pore in the Future

By
Wayne Loh
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Transportation, food delivery, and payment.

The expansion of Grab knows no bounds.

Originally a simply ride-hailing phone app known as “My Teksi” in Malaysia and “GrabTaxi” in other countries, it was first seen as a competitor to the Uber app which had launched in Southeast Asia a year prior.

Grabbing Southeast Asia By Storm

Since then, it has grown by leaps and bounds, broadening its ride-hailing services to include personal cars (GrabCar), motorcycle taxis (GrabBike, but not in Singapore), carpooling (GrabHitch), buses and minivans (GrabCoach), and more.

Eventually, in March of 2018, Grab absorbed its rival Uber’s operations in Southeast Asia, declaring itself the King of Ride-hailing in the region.

With the launch of GrabPay, GrabFood, and even GrabPet (a function that allows passengers with pets to be matched with drivers with pet-handling training and are welcoming of pets in their vehicles, ensuring your adorable doggo doesn’t end up like this one), it seems that the reaches of their grabbing hand is unstoppable.

It appears we were right. Grab may yet be readying to invade yet another industry.

GrabBank?!

According to Straits Times, it appears that Grab is looking to enter the Singapore banking industry. Not just any type of banking, in fact.

It’s virtual banking.

As regulators in our Little Red Dot are considering to allow purely digital banks (cuz Smart Nation, yo), Grab is on its way to hiring consultants to advise on its potential in the industry, and is preparing to apply for a license in digital banking if the regulators decide to open up said sector.

While Grab has declined to comment on this reveal, their potential entry is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp.

This would cause a probable unsettling of the market that has been dominated by DBS, OCBC, and UOB for many years.

Digital Banking in Asia

A possible motivation to open up such a sector in Singapore is our financial centre rival in Asia – Hong Kong.

The East Asian city has recently opened up its banking industry to financial technology and started granting virtual bank licenses. It has been reported that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has granted 3 licenses and is processing 5 more, as of March 2019.

Virtual Banking would focus its services on accepting of deposits and issuing of loans, all without any physical branches. Because who else still goes to the bank, eh?

However, as opposed to what many believe, Arthur Yuen of the HKMA expects that the banking market can “comfortably absorb” the impact of the entry of digital banking, and that “virtual banks have a different business model”, so they are merely “creating new business opportunities in the market”.

Other Possible Players in Singapore

Other than Grab, there are other players with hands in financial technology expected to seek licenses, should the sector is approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Consultants suggest that a license would catch the eye of local telecommunications company Singtel. The company’s spokesperson stated that “it is too premature to comment”, but they are “open to exploring the feasibility of such an opportunity should it arise”.

With this piece of news revealed after the announcement of Sim Lim Square’s online platform, it appears that truly nothing in this world is immune to the age of digitisation.

Year 2030:

BuffLord95: Hey, what bank account do you have?

XiaoBeach73: I’ve got SingBank, GrabBank and GoodyBank.

BuffLord95: GoodyBank!?

Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:

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Wayne Loh
Email: [email protected]