Grab to discontinue physical and digital GrabPay card

SINGAPORE: Singapore-based ride-hailing and fintech giant Grab announced on Monday (April 1) that it will discontinue its physical and digital GrabPay card from June 1 after evaluating its financial services business.

According to Grab, the decision to discontinue the GrabPay card stems from the observation of higher adoption rates and usage of other Grab offerings, such as PayLater by Grab and GrabPay Wallet, which better cater to users’ needs.

The company aims to concentrate on refining these products to enhance user experience.

The GrabPay card, launched in December 2019 in partnership with Mastercard, was promoted as Asia’s first numberless physical card, offering enhanced security features.

The card details were stored within the Grab app, secured with biometric safety measures, and functioned like a prepaid card linked to users’ GrabPay Wallets.

Despite reporting its first quarterly profit in February, Grab had forecasted weaker-than-expected 2024 revenue. However, discontinuing the GrabPay card is not expected to impact users’ GrabPay Wallet balances.

According to Grab, users can continue using their GrabPay Wallets for transactions on the Grab platform and for online and in-store purchases at partner merchants.

Users can also continue earning GrabRewards points on eligible transactions both locally and overseas with their GrabPay Card until May 31.

Grab assured users that ongoing disputes or investigations involving the GrabPay Card will continue to be addressed until Sept 30.

In a statement, Grab said: “We thank our customers for their support of GrabPay Card over the last few years and remain committed to serving our customers and partners through other financial offerings on the platform.”