Grab will be discontinuing their GrabPay digital and physical cards from June 1, 2024 onwards.
In an announcement on its website, the mobility and tech giant stated that users will no longer be able to make online and offline transactions with their digital or physical GrabPay cards from June this year. The company will also not be accepting new card applications starting in April.
Grab stated that the decision came after evaluating its existing financial services, where they saw higher adoption of other Grab offerings, including PayLater by Grab and GrabPay e-wallets. They have also expressed their ambition to refine their fintech offerings to provide better user experiences.
We thank our customers for their support of GrabPay Card over the last few years, and remain committed to serving our customers and partners through other financial offerings on the platform.
Grab via their announcement on their website
As the discontinuation will only be effective from June this year, Grab has stated that users can continue to use their GrabPay Card to earn GrabRewards points on all eligible online and in-store transactions in Singapore and overseas until May 31. The number of points earned from transactions after the discontinuation will not change.
Card replacement requests can still be made until the end of April, and users who have yet to activate their physical cards may continue to do so until May 31.
Grab will also continue with ongoing transaction disputes until September 30.
The news of the GrabPay card discontinuation comes after the company’s largest round of layoffs in June last year and the winding-down of its investment arm, GrabInvest.
A look back to “Asia’s first numberless card”
GrabPay cards were launched in Singapore in 2019, with Grab touting it to be “Asia’s first numberless card”.
This came following their partnership with Mastercard, which allows users, including those without bank accounts, to pay at 53 million merchants that accept Mastercard cards.
GrabPay cards were an extension of the GrabPay e-wallets, which it was designed to “address major security concerns users associate with transacting both online and offline”.
Many Singaporean fintech players have since launched their own digital cards, notably Trust Bank with their Trust Supplementary card and GXS Bank with their line of debit cards.
It is worth noting that these two digital banks have been refining and expanding their digital finance products and services in recent months, which has increased the competition for Grab and their GrabPay cards.
Featured Image Credit: Grab