Negative Impact

Has Grab bitten more than it can chew?

- Raymond Saw

Roughly, it's been barely a few weeks after Grab officially launched the all-new GrabPay platform. It’s supposedly a new e-wallet feature that will encompass just about everything in a user’s day-today life. In a utopia only Grab could think of, folks will wake up, pay for breakfast at the local kopitiam with GrabPay, take a Grab to work, and order lunch through Grab Food. Finally, they leave work for a mall with Grab with for a shopping trip and come across bargain deals thanks to their Grab Rewards points. In fact, don’t just take that vision as something that yours truly plucked from thin air; that’s pretty much what Grab aims to be according to Sean Goh, Grab Malaysia’s Country Head.

Once Grab has its way of doing things, it won’t be long until the ride-hailing service provider achieves the vision of being the ‘everyday app for consumers’.

Many have been stunned and surprised when Grab announced that it will be buying out Uber’s operations in the Southeast Asia region. However, some observers saw it coming a mile away. ‘Uber is Losing to Grab in Southeast Asia’ reads one headline a few months before it’s official.

The question now: has Grab bitten off more than it can chew with this massive acquisition? Head over to Twitter or Facebook and it’s easy to find all the complaints regarding Grab. From that simple search, it looks like these issues have become more and more common since the takeover.

Serious Issues