Grab, Southeast Asia’s largest ride-hailing and food delivery platform, is charging annual effective interest rates of more than 230% on short-term in-app loans it provides in the Philippines to its drivers and motorcycle operators, colloquially referred to as “riders,” a figure about 5.5 times the maximum that credit card companies can charge.
Singapore-headquartered Grab offers loans to riders and drivers, or “partners” as it calls them, across Southeast Asia, although no two countries’ systems are identical. In the Philippines, where the company and its subsidiary Move It host some 50,000 riders, access to loans is performance-based and often packaged as a reward after a certain period of regular work.
One motorcycle rider, who gave his name as John, told Nikkei Asia he became eligible for an in-app loan after delivering food and driving passengers around Rizal for Grab and its subsidiary Move It for three months.
He borrowed PHP 11,000 (USD 185.2) from Grab Finance, which he said he spent on repairs and a tune-up for his bike. He repaid it through automatic daily deductions of about PHP 95.3 (USD 1.6) from his app wallet for 150 days, or a total of PHP 14,294 (USD 240.6). The platform advertises a “simple interest monthly” rate of 5.99%. But daily repayments mean the loan’s effective interest rate (EIR) is 277% annually.
Already indebted to other lenders and out of options for his urgent repairs, John, not his real name, told Nikkei Asia that he took Grab’s offer because “I don’t really have a choice. It’s handy even if the interest is high.”
Lawyers contacted by Nikkei Asia said Grab Finance’s interest rates are legal and that it is registered with the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission. But in 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that a 36% per annum EIR charged by a lending company for a mortgage was “excessive and unconscionable.”
Grab did not dispute the 277% EIR but insisted that applying such an annual figure to a short-term microloan made for an “apples to oranges” comparison. It said “our loans do not compound” and added the EIR is included in the terms and conditions sent to borrowers.
“Traditional annual rates are designed for long-term debt (like mortgages),” Grab said. “For our partners—many of whom are underserved by traditional banks—the value is found in accessibility and cash flow management.”
For riders like John, the system is swift and convenient, with earnings and loan deductions handled in the same e-wallet. Automatic daily deductions are unique to these platforms. However, riders cannot settle balances in one payment. They must keep their in-app wallet funded.
The leader of one motorcycle taxi association who asked not to be named told Nikkei that if payments are missed, “you won’t get bookings. They won’t suspend you from the app, but you won’t get any bookings.” However, he added he was unsure when this takes effect.
John and another rider added that riders who miss payments over an unspecified period can be suspended from taking bookings until the outstanding balance is settled.
Grab said this was not true. It insisted riders are not suspended for missing payments and that it does not charge late payment fees, but added that missing payments affects eligibility for future loans.
The association leader said that the loan terms function like a de facto employment contract, ensuring the services of the rider indefinitely.
“It can be good and bad. The app won’t force you to take the loan and you could really need it,” said the leader. “But the king knows how to keep its slaves in chains.”
Grab and Move It are the Philippines’ leading transport and delivery app in terms of number of riders. Nikkei Asia spoke with seven riders and two associations who said that, on a good day, they take home around PHP 1,000 (USD 16.8) net after 12-hour shifts.
Over recent years, transport and delivery apps in the Philippines have been refining in-app loan offers to drivers, motorcycle couriers and motorcycle taxi operators. Apps like Angkas offer loans for motorcycle improvement, while Grab promotes a widely used cash loan. Typically from low-income backgrounds, many riders seek these loans as a quick financial lifeline.
Financial analyst Rod Barit, who confirmed the 277% EIR on John’s loan, explained to Nikkei Asia that in-app loans usually carry a higher credit risk and thus tend to have higher interest.
“In fairness, they provide access to credit that may be difficult to obtain from traditional financial institutions,” he said, while noting that such arrangements remain inequitable, with “people who have less paying greater interest.”
The advertised simple interest rate looks manageable at first glance but can quickly snowball because of the daily deductions, he added.
“Since you are paying it down every day, the ‘effective’ cost of the money you actually have on hand is much higher than the stated ‘simple’ rate,” Barit said.
The structure of the loan means less risk for the company because the repayments start right away, he added.
Grab said that many of its riders appreciate the easily repayable daily sums.
“It transforms a potentially overwhelming monthly or lump sum debt payment into smaller, more manageable micro-payments,” the platform said.
“We are a duly-licensed lender, and our objective is to provide a safe and secure credit access to our customers,” Grab said, adding that it sees the mechanism positively because it is “aligned with the cash-flow reality of our partners and the ‘earn-as-you-go’ nature of the work.”
However, analysts and research suggest they keep riders tied to the app and in perpetual debt.
The company would not share how many riders have active in-app loans, but all sources Nikkei spoke to claimed the scheme is popular.
Nasdaq-listed Grab Holding’s fourth-quarter financial report for 2025 showed total loan disbursements grew by 53% year-on-year in October-December to USD 979 million. Its gross loan portfolio grew by 118% year-on-year to USD 1.2 billion, more than double the amount recorded the previous year.
Financial services accounted for around 10% of total annual revenue. The report also stated that 90-day non-performing loans remain within its “risk appetite.”
A 2025 report by advocacy group Fairwork Philippines found that because platform workers assume “the costs of production that platforms do not shoulder,” take-home pay often falls below the average minimum wage of about PHP 650 (USD 10.9), pushing many into debt.
Rochelle Porras of the labor NGO Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education & Research criticized Grab for profiting off an already financially disadvantaged workforce.
“It knows that riders are cash-strapped and that the nature of work requires constant financial maintenance. It’s betting on the future labor of a rider, who bears the real risk and repeating crises of debt, stress, and dependency,” she told Nikkei Asia.
Cheryll Soriano, a professor at De La Salle University and principal investigator of Resilient Platform Work Philippines, added: “Platforms promote loans through push notifications based on tenure and driving data. We have evidence from workers who were pushed loan invitations while still completing a previous loan cycle,” she told Nikkei Asia.
She also said that it’s hard for riders to grasp the gravity of the interest when they mostly only see the daily deductions.
Lawyers approached by Nikkei Asia said a court could force Grab to lower its interest rates.
Soriano said that a platform like Grab can “incentivize workers to take the longest payment period with higher interest rates.”
Grab denied this, saying, “At no point are partners incentivized, nudged, or algorithmically steered toward higher-interest products or longer tenure options.”
Grab holds monthly raffles and offers rewards for its riders who take loans with certain terms. To enter Grab’s recent Christmas raffle, a rider had to have taken out a loan with the maximum repayment period.
One rider demonstrated that for a chance to win prizes, it was necessary to take out a PHP 13,000 (USD 218.8) loan that must be repaid through daily deductions of PHP 62.07 (USD 1) over 360 days, totaling PHP 22,343 (USD 376.1). The rider would pay almost double the principal amount with an effective annual interest rate of 234%.
Riders face a critical decision if they fall ill or if one of the on average 20 annual typhoons in the country hits their area: stay at home or risk the consequences of working just to keep deductions from piling up.
The motorcycle taxi association leader urges platforms to “have a heart. We can’t stop force majeure and the apps should understand and suspend deductions.”
Grab asserts it follows a “standard calamity response [which] can include offering loan payment holidays to driver-partners with existing loans.” Riders told Nikkei they have seldom experienced this. The Philippines experienced 23 tropical cyclones in 2025. Grab did not provide the number of loan repayment holidays it gave during the year.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.
Note: PHP figures are converted to USD at rates of PHP 59.4 = USD 1 based on estimates as of March 10, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.