Southeast Asian decacorn Grab has received over USD 850 million in investment from Japanese investors, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MUFG) and TIS Inc. The funds will be utilized to develop accessible and financial services in order to boost financial inclusion in the region.
The sum includes USD 706 million from MUFG, the largest bank in Japan, and USD 150 million from TIS, a system integration service provider. In its Series-H funding round last March, other Japanese companies such as SoftBank Group Corp. and Toyota also invested in Grab.
“We are excited to work with our partners MUFG and TIS to co-develop financial products and solutions for the region,” said Grab president Ming Maa in a statement.
MUFG will utilise Grab’s user data insights to develop financial products and services that cater to Southeast Asia’s needs. TIS will collaborate with Grab on enhancing the digital payment infrastructure in the region and in Japan to expand the adoption of cashless payment options, such as GrabPay.
Other than GrabPay, Grab currently offers various financial services such as lending through GrabFinance, insurance through GrabInsure, and retail wealth management through GrabInvest. GrabInvest is still exclusively for Singapore users with plans for a rollout to other countries in Southeast Asia. Grab has also partnered with Singtel to apply for a digital bank license in Singapore.
The investment rumor was reported early last week, citing MUFG’s intention to market a range of financial services spanning insurance and loans to Grab’s user base.