Southeast Asian ride-hailing superapp Grab has declared that its GrabPay Card service will be phased out, effective 1 June 2024. The decision affects both digital and physical versions of the card.
Starting from 1 April 2024, Grab will cease accepting new applications for the GrabPay Card. Cardholders can request a replacement for their physical cards until 30 April 2024, beyond which no replacement requests will be entertained.
The card will continue to function normally, allowing users to earn GrabRewards points on qualifying purchases, both locally and internationally, until the end of May 2024. However, a 2% processing fee for overseas transactions will still apply.
For those holding an inactive physical card, activation is possible up until 31 May 2024. Post this deadline, both the physical and digital card will no longer support any online or offline transactions.
Grab said in a statement,
“After careful consideration, we have decided to discontinue the GrabPay Card effective 1 June 2024. This decision comes after an evaluation of our existing financial services business.
We have observed much higher adoption and use of other Grab offerings (such as PayLater by Grab, GrabPay Wallet) that better cater to the needs of our users. We aim to thus concentrate our efforts on refining these products to provide an even better user experience for you.”
Despite the phase-out of the GrabPay Card, Grab said that it will continue supporting its users in the event of fraudulent transactions or disputes, offering assistance up until 30 September 2024. Additionally, the card can still be utilised for international payments at Mastercard merchants until its discontinuation date.
The termination of the GrabPay Card service will not affect the GrabRewards points system, with points remaining valid as long as users engage in at least one points-earning transaction per month.
Likewise, the balance in users’ GrabPay Wallets will remain unaffected, with the wallet continuing to be accepted for transactions within the Grab ecosystem and at partner merchants.
As for the physical cards, once discontinued, users are advised to destroy and dispose of them to ensure security.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik