The partnership comes with a strategic investment from KBank in Grab, and is part of Grab’s ongoing fundraising round, which includes Toyota Motor Corporation, Microsoft Corp., Booking Holdings, Hyundai Motor Group, Oppenheimer Funds, and other global investors. The investment is a first for KBank in an international company with a core business outside of Thailand.
According to Bank of Thailand, 68% of all transactions in Thailand are carried out in cash, thus the strategic partnership will make it easier for consumers and entrepreneurs across Thailand to adopt cashless transactions in a number of ways.
KBank and Grab will jointly launch the ‘GrabPay by KBank’ mobile wallet in the Grab app which is targeted to launch as soon as early 2019. This will allow Grab customers to pay for transport and delivery services, transfer funds to friends and family, purchase products and services online, and make QR-code payments in restaurants and shops across Thailand. Thanks to PromptPay, Thailand’s national electronic payments scheme, all QR-enabled merchants in Thailand will be able to immediately accept ‘GrabPay by KBank’ upon activation.
Moreover, features from KBank’s K PLUS app and the Grab app will be integrated across both apps starting in 2019. In addition, KBank and Grab will also work together to jointly offer products to their customer base, including loans to help merchants grow their business and access to Grab for Business to streamline corporate transport expense management as well as increase brand awareness and engagement through Grab’s advertising solution.
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