Buy cryptography through GrabPay? Grab goes to the crypto before launching digibank – Wired PR Lifestyle Story

We are seeing more activity from Grab’s financial sector as it gets closer and closer to launching its digibank operations in 2022.

Over the course of the year, Grab Financial has signed up with more payment gateways – like AsiaPay, Fomopay and Revenue Group – to promote the acceptance and acceptance of the GrabPay portfolio among regional merchants. In October, it expanded its trading services, including offering more “buy now pay later” (BNPL) options.

Grab’s financial services segment is also slowly and securely entering the crypto space.

Buy digital assets through Coinhakon GrabPay

In September, the local crypto exchange was announced by Coinhako a Collaboration with GrabPay, allows users to purchase digital assets instantly through the platform’s payment service.

In a media statement, Coinhako said GrabPay as a payment service “exceeds the queue of deposits” and allows users to “buy crypto immediately”.

Payments are processed immediately and users must enter a six-digit OTP sent directly to their mobile number to complete the transaction.

Cryptographic offerings that use GrabPay require a flat service fee of 2.5 percent, which covers payment processing and merchant fees. However, GrabReward points are not issued for such purchases.

Pay for crypto exchanges through TripleA and GrabPay

In another announcement in October, Grab teamed up with crypto payment provider TripleA to enable crypto investment for TransCrypt users.

The collaboration allows users to purchase cryptography via GrabPay through TransCrypt, a TripleA brand.

In a TripleA announcement, GrabPay head of Grab Financial Group Wong Wenbin commented that Grab recognizes the growing interest in cryptocurrencies, and that his collaboration shows “openness to thoughtful collaborations in this space”.

“Working with players like the TripleA recognized by the regulator also confirms our commitment to expanding our offering to our users in a safe and measured way,” Wenbin added.

According to a TripleA study, one in 10 people in Singapore has a crypto. It’s a lot of people if you exclude minors and people who aren’t prone to technology. TripleA estimates that more than 550,000 people in the Republic have cryptocurrencies.

Grab’s “early start” in the crypto space follows its competitors

The move into crypto space is understandable, as these digital assets have garnered major interest this year. Participants have approached the nascent market to bet on tokens with growth potential or pure speculation tokens.

Bitcoin also peaked this year, reaching nearly $ 69,000 per token in the last month.

Singapore stands out as one of the few countries that clearly supports cryptocurrency and blockchain projects. Her regulations that are more helpful to cryptography they are paving the way for the industry to grow and the rapid pace of asset digitization is also a place of opportunity.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Grab also wants to “start early” in this space, as a physical bank like DBS has also been active and showing his support for digital assets through digital commerce and surveillance capabilities.

It is a traditional local bank that claims to support cryptography OCBC, which said he is taking the crypto space seriously.

Razer is also a gaming company exploring potential entry into the cryptographic space through its FinTech unit. The group’s CEO said there is a new opportunity for Razer in the cryptocurrency space, and has hired key staff to research the prospects.

So what will Grab Financial focus on?

It’s likely that Grab’s FinTech arm will move prudently into the crypto space. Here are some reasons why:

He is collaborating with a “secure” crypto company

So far, two well-known announcements reveal that Grab is working with companies recognized and approved by Singapore’s central bank.

Coinhako recently got it approval in principle The Singapore Monetary Authority (MAS) will provide digital payment token services, which means that it will be a government-authorized entity in the country that is authorized to conduct its crypto business.

TripleA is based in Singapore and was founded in 2017 and is a business established in the short scene of cryptography. Simply this week, Also received principle approval from MAS to provide digital payment token services.

He must comply with the financial regulations established for his service

Under the frequently asked questions area, The tech giant makes it clear that the GrabPay Card cannot be used on merchants who do not follow the regulatory guidelines on Anti-Money Laundering or Terrorist Financing in Singapore.

Traders involved in services such as cryptocurrency trading, lottery or sports betting are not allowed.

This reveals that Grab has a team that controls these activities and will block transactions from sites or stores that do not comply with regulatory guidelines.

To refresh the minds of some, GrabPay manages licensed payment services under the Payment Services Act.

It allows users to store prepaid email in the Grab app, but there are limits set by MAS to protect users and prevent misuse.

Basic users can have a maximum e-wallet of $ 1,000. Premium users who complete the user identification process in the Grab app are eligible to receive a maximum wallet of S $ 5,000.

In addition, there is an annual transaction limit for S $ 30,000 premium users and S $ 5,000 for basic users.

It focuses on other major businesses

FinTech’s arm may be a new growth segment, but it’s still important for Grab to focus primarily on its core capabilities with a market share.

Grab’s specialty is ride-hailing. It was created in 2012 to provide this service and has almost 10 years of experience. To add to that, GrabFood has been in the food distribution business for four years.

In the end e-Economy Report 2021 Google, Temas and Bain & Company, revealed that the food distribution industry in Southeast Asia had grown by 33 percent in gross commodity more than a year ago.

Food delivery will be a medium for SEA’s $ 200 trillion economy for the GMV Internet by 2030.

Although Grab has a vision to be a daily application for the daily needs of SEA consumers (transportation, food, delivery, and payments), it needs to fire all the cylinders for that vision to work.

The best method for this approach is to be slow and stable.

Taking a leaf out of conglomerates with their fingers dipped in a couple of horizontal industries, it takes time to build that trust with consumers and create a reliable home brand.

Grab is unlikely to dive Grab without thinking about the dangerous crypto-space and his movements will be calculated and prudent.

How will these affect his digibank in 2022

Grab seems to be taking a conservative stance for the time being in its crypto drive, and as the crypto market changes by 2022, it will move in line with the changes.

The Grab and Singtel consortium won the bid to exploit the entire digital bank according to the bid. license Granted by MAS in December 2020, Singtel retains a 60 percent stake in the Grabek consortium entity, while Singtel holds a 40 percent stake.

The operations will take place next year and Grab has hired a lot of digibank to build the business.

He sees himself as Singapore’s “next-generation” digital bank, and its mission is to open up access to “easy” and “important” financial services, according to a message delivered by Grab Group CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan. offer.

Tan said digital banking “empowers more people to better control their money and achieve better economic results for themselves, businesses and families.”

At the time, Reuben Laik, CEO of Grab Financial, also shared that a full bank digital license is a strong step towards empowering Singaporeans economically.

If the crypto trade continues to gain momentum this year, consumers will essentially need reliable services that can provide secure transfers to carry out these transactions.

Grab can see himself adapting to the schemes in this way to serve everyday customers.

For now, cryptographic activities seem to be limited to certain companies. Under Grab’s Terms of Service, there is a list of prohibited transactions for your GrabPay eWallet.

Under Section 7 (Acceptable Use Policy), users may not use the GrabPay Portfolio for Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, online currency, game currency, online gold and similar virtual assets.

Earlier this year, GrabPay users have been warned Malaysians do not buy cryptocurrencies and virtual assets with their eWallets. It looks like the announcement is that Binance, a cryptocurrency platform, could use eWallets to buy cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin after it was announced through its peer-to-peer platform.

For activities that are deemed inappropriate, Grab has shown that he will not hesitate to declare disconnection from them in order to protect his operations as a FinTech entity, even though he is earning money.

Featured Image Credit: TripleA, Coinhako