Growing internationally with Grab

Singapore has become a regional hub for emerging technology firms buoyed by its established legal and regulatory frameworks, start-up ecosystem and proximity to Southeast Asia. As they scale quickly, including across customer reach, employees and data capabilities, these fast-developing businesses often require specialized financing to support accelerated expansion.

Grab, a leading Southeast Asian superapp, has been on a journey of expansion over the last decade. Starting as a ride-hailing app, the company has since expanded to become an everyday platform for millions of consumers, drivers- and delivery-partners and small businesses. Powered by its vast volumes of high-frequency, real-time data, technology and regional ecosystem, Grab is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of the six in 10 merchants who are unbanked and underserved across Southeast Asia, through its financial arm, Grab Financial Group (GFG).

Along the journey, HSBC Singapore has supported Grab with bespoke banking solutions to finance the growth of Grab’s Singapore vehicle fleet.¹

Fast-forward four years, HSBC Singapore supported GFG with financing solutions that will see the company extend working-capital loans to its financially underserved merchant-partners. The solution marks a first-of-its-kind deal for PayLater by Grab, which has also secured key partnerships with Adyen and Stripe to expand its merchant network.

Peter Oey, Chief Financial Officer at Grab, said: “Securing this funding has been the first step in evolving our capital strategy as we continue to scale our lending business across Southeast Asia to tap on this significant growth opportunity. HSBC has been a strong supporter and valued partner of Grab. We look forward to deepening our partnership with them as our overall business continues to grow.”

Regina Lee, Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Singapore: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Grab, bringing innovative financing solutions to support its continued growth across Southeast Asia. By bringing together our expertise across the region and products we have been able to provide Grab with the vital finance needed to support their growth journey.”

The financing underscores GrabFin’s move towards being more merchant-centric in its offerings and to support its merchant-partners’ business growth by providing a suite of tools and services including flexible payment options such as GrabPay and PayLater, working capital loans, GrabRewards, and GrabAds. Grab’s merchant-partners will also have access to the Grab ecosystem of over 30 million monthly transacting users (as of Q1 2022) across Southeast Asia.

Shaun Sakhrani, Head of Structured Banking Southeast Asia, HSBC Singapore: “To scale quickly and meet consumer demand, tech companies often require creative solutions to unlock access to finance, beyond traditional facilities with corporate-level covenants.”