JAKARTA, Indonesia: Southeast Asian ride hailing app Grab is expanding into financial services in partnership with a Japanese credit card company, hoping to offer credit to millions of people without bank accounts.
Grab, founded by Malaysian businessman Anthony Tan, said Tuesday it will use its “huge cache” of customer data from the app to provide ways to measure creditworthiness of people outside the formal banking system.
The ride-hailing app says it has over a billion transactions a year including food deliveries and other services.
It said the joint venture with Japan’s Credit Saison will initially focus on providing loans to Grab drivers and merchants for purchasing smartphones or working capital.
The World Bank estimates that more than 260 million people in Southeast Asia lack bank accounts, which restricts their access to credit.
“Many in our region have no access to loans that they can use to purchase a new home or grow their small business,” Grab said in a statement. It said its lending business would “accelerate financial inclusion.”
Grab dominates car and motorbike-hailing in much of Southeast Asia. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported last week that Uber has agreed in principle to sell its Southeast Asian operations to Grab, which would end the US company’s costly fight for market share in the region.
In Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and most populous nation, Grab is in a fierce battle for customers with local operator Go-Jek.
Southeast Asian ride-hailing app Grab expands into lending
Southeast Asian ride-hailing app Grab expands into lending
Education spending surges 251% as students return from autumn break: SAMA
RIYADH: Education spending in Saudi Arabia surged 251.3 percent in the week ending Dec. 6, reflecting the sharp uptick in purchases as students returned from the autumn break.
According to the latest data from the Saudi Central Bank, expenditure in the sector reached SR218.73 million ($58.2 million), with the number of transactions increasing by 61 percent to 233,000.
Despite this surge, overall point-of-sale spending fell 4.3 percent to SR14.45 billion, while the number of transactions dipped 1.7 percent to 236.18 million week on week.
The week saw mixed changes between the sectors. Spending on freight transport, postal and courier services saw the second-biggest uptick at 33.3 percent to SR60.93 million, followed by medical services, which saw an 8.1 percent increase to SR505.35 million.
Expenditure on apparel and clothing saw a decrease of 16.3 percent, followed by a 2 percent reduction in spending on telecommunication.
Jewelry outlays witnessed an 8.1 percent decline to reach SR325.90 million. Data revealed decreases across many other sectors, led by hotels, which saw the largest dip at 24.5 percent to reach SR335.98 million.
Spending on car rentals in the Kingdom fell by 12.6 percent, while airlines saw a 3.7 percent increase to SR46.28 million.
Expenditure on food and beverages saw a 1.7 percent increase to SR2.35 billion, claiming the largest share of the POS. Restaurants and cafes retained the second position despite a 12.6 percent dip to SR1.66 billion.
Saudi Arabia’s key urban centers mirrored the national decline. Riyadh, which accounted for the largest share of total POS spending, saw a 3.9 percent dip to SR4.89 billion, down from SR5.08 billion the previous week.
The number of transactions in the capital settled at 74.16 million, down 1.4 percent week on week.
In Jeddah, transaction values decreased by 5.9 percent to SR1.91 billion, while Dammam reported a 0.8 percent surge to SR713.71 million.
POS data, tracked weekly by SAMA, provides an indicator of consumer spending trends and the ongoing growth of digital payments in Saudi Arabia.
The data also highlights the expanding reach of POS infrastructure, extending beyond major retail hubs to smaller cities and service sectors, supporting broader digital inclusion initiatives.
The growth of digital payment technologies aligns with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives, promoting electronic transactions and contributing to the nation’s broader digital economy.
