UOB, Grab kick-start partnership with digital initiatives, customer benefits

RIDE-HAILING giant Grab will now offer UOB Cards privileges directly on its mobile app. This is the first in a series of digital initiatives that UOB and Grab will bring to market this year, as part of a strategic alliance between both entities first announced in November.

For a start, consumers can now apply for the UOB One Card from the Grab app, or by scanning QR codes found in Grab cars within Singapore.

UOB cardmembers will also enjoy certain privileges when they utilise Grab services. These include a cashback of up to 10 per cent on all Grab rides when they pay with the UOB One Card (with a minimum spending of S$500 a month), and a credit card sign-up offer of S$100 in Grab vouchers, limited to the first 400 qualifying new UOB principal credit cardmembers.

Jacquelyn Tan, head of personal financial services Singapore at UOB, said the new joint initiative is in line with the bank's approach to build partnership ecosystems, and to make banking more accessible by extending its touchpoints to areas that intersect with consumers' lifestyles.

"Our alliance with Grab enables us to create greater value for our customers who commute a lot. In the past year alone, UOB cardmembers took an average of close to a million Grab rides a month.

"This makes the Grab app an ideal platform on which customers can enjoy special privileges and make selected banking transactions, whether it is applying for a new UOB credit card or paying for their rides using their reward points," Ms Tan said.

Going forward, UOB and Grab will be integrating the bank's rewards and dining privileges programmes into the Grab app. For example, UOB cardmembers will be able to convert their credit card rewards points to GrabReward points and vice versa, the companies said.

In addition, UOB will embed Grab's booking function into the bank's mobile banking app UOB Mighty. Among other things, Grab's ride-hailing feature will be paired with UOB Mighty's restaurant reservation portal, which has more than 500 dining deals.

Under the alliance, Grab will also be able to tap UOB's network of more than 500 merchants in Singapore to connect with new business partners. This could help drive Grab's merchant network for other services including food delivery, e-payment and parcel delivery, the companies said.

Noted managing director of GrabPay Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines Ooi Huey Tyng: "With Grab's and UOB's strengths, we are confident that we can make paying for daily transactions with Grab easier, and ultimately move more consumers from cash to cashless."