Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing app Grab has obtained regulatory approval from Bank Negara Malaysia to launch its mobile payment service in Malaysia following it’s earlier approval from the Singaporean authorities. This move is mirrored by it’s Indonesian counterpart Go-Jek who is also making a foray into the payments market.

GrabPay will be rolled out in stages to Malaysian consumers and SMEs from the beginning of 2018.

Jason Thompson, managing director of GrabPay says: “Cash is still the most important payment method for many Malaysian SMEs and middle-class consumers, despite most adults having a deposit account. As one of the region’s most frequently used consumer apps with 72 million downloads, we are happy to work with Bank Negara to drive mass adoption of mobile payments in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia.”

Grab’s ambitions to be a serious payments contender was no secret with its recent move to hire Paytm’s former Senior Vice President for Engineering and it’s recent partnership with TransferTo

This article was first published on fintechnews.sg, Featured Image: Modified from GrabPH Facebook