Singaporean multinational technology company Grab Holdings released its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2024, revealing a significant increase in customer deposits in its digital bank business.
Deposits from customers in Grab’s digital bank business were US$479 million at the end of the first quarter 2024.
This is a substantial growth from US$36 million in the same period last year and US$374 million in the prior quarter.
Grab operates two digital banks: GXS Bank in Singapore, a joint venture with Singapore-listed telecom giant Singtel, launched to the public in August 2022, and GX Bank Berhad in Malaysia, the country’s first digital bank, operational since November 2023.
The growth was driven by a doubling of deposit customers for GXBank, Grab’s digital bank in Malaysia, which increased from 131,000 at the end of 2023 to 262,000 by March 2024. Notably, over 90% of GXBank’s deposit customers are also Grab users.
Grab has streamlined its cost base across GrabFin’s businesses, which offers a range of payment, lending, and insurance products, and its digital banks, with total operating expenses improving by 15% YoY and 14% QoQ.
The YoY improvement was driven by lower staff costs following mass layoffs last year and further optimisation of cost of funds and credit and compliance costs as a percentage of revenues.
Grab continued to focus on lending to its ecosystem partners through GrabFin with total loan disbursements growing by 64% year-over-year and 9% quarter-over-quarter.
The loan portfolio ended the quarter at US$363 million, up from US$196 million in the same period last year. As of 31 March 2024, around 80% of GXS Bank’s FlexiLoan customers were also Grab users.
The company maintained a prudent approach to credit risk, with non-performing loans (over 90 days past due) at 2% of the loan portfolio.
Featured image credit: Grab