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
JLL to invest in PIF-backed FMTECH to boost Saudi facilities management sector
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced on Monday that US-based real estate services firm JLL will acquire a significant stake in Saudi Facility Management Co., known as FMTECH, a subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund.
In a press release, PIF said it will retain a majority ownership in FMTECH following the transaction.
Saad Alkroud, head of local real estate investment at PIF, said facilities management plays a central role in the Kingdom’s real estate and infrastructure ecosystem and is a key pillar of the fund’s local real estate strategy.
He noted that the strategy supports economic transformation and diversification, promotes urban innovation, and enhances quality of life.
“JLL’s investment will further accelerate FMTECH’s development and unlock new growth opportunities that will benefit the wider facilities management sector,” Alkroud said.
FMTECH was launched by PIF in 2023 as a national integrated facilities management company, providing services to PIF portfolio firms as well as public- and private-sector clients across Saudi Arabia.
The investment enables JLL to broaden its service offering in the Kingdom while deepening its existing partnership with PIF.
Neil Murray, CEO of real estate management services at JLL, said the investment brings together JLL’s global operational expertise and technology-driven facilities management capabilities with FMTECH’s deep understanding of the local market.
“By combining our strengths, we aim to deliver high-quality, efficient services to clients in Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding facilities management market,” Murray said.
FMTECH is expected to leverage JLL’s international network and operational experience to develop new commercial opportunities while supporting the localization of expertise and advanced technologies.
According to the press release, the company will integrate JLL’s digital facilities management platforms and global operating systems, significantly enhancing service quality, efficiency, and transparency across its operations.
The transaction aligns with PIF’s broader strategy to attract domestic and international private-sector investment into its portfolio companies, helping unlock their full potential while advancing the Kingdom’s economic transformation agenda and generating sustainable long-term returns.
