Yangon, Myanmar, 29 June 2017 – Wave Money, Myanmar’s first licensed  mobile financial service provider, and Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing platform, have announced an exclusive partnership to drive Myanmar towards a digital economy. Through the partnership, Grab’s driver partners can sign up for e-money accounts that allows them to easily manage their cash flow. Wave Money’s e-wallet platform will also be integrated in the Grab app as a cashless payment option for passengers. This is part of Wave Money’s and Grab’s shared commitment to make going cashless even more convenient for Grab driver-partners and passengers.

The partnership was signed today by Mr. Brad Jones, the CEO of Wave Money and Mr. Amrt Sagar, Country Manager of Grab Myanmar, during a ceremony held in Meliá Yangon Hotel today.

This partnership is focused on improving the lives of Grab driver-partners in Myanmar. As part of Grab’s driver registration and onboarding, Wave Money will assist Grab drivers to set up Wave Money e-money account. Grab driver-partners can use their e-money account to load their Grab driver wallets, and also easily cash out their daily earnings at any of the 2,000 Wave Shops in Yangon and 9,000 Wave Shops across Myanmar.

Mr. Brad Jones said, “As part of our commitment to increase financial inclusion provide a fairer future for people in Myanmar, Wave Money is delighted to be partnering with Grab to increase access to financial services for people in Myanmar. By providing an easy and safe solution to Grab drivers to manage their earnings and cash, they will no longer miss business opportunities spending time travelling to the bank and queuing for services as they did before. It’s important to note as well that banks only operate for a few hours a day, five days a week. The Grab platform operates twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; Grab driver-partners need a convenient way to access their money that’s flexible to how they actually operate. With Wave Money agents operating every day until late, we can easily provide this flexibility. ”

“Grab is honoured to be the exclusive ride-hailing platform to collaborate with Wave Money and to integrate their e-wallet into the Grab app. With Grab, our driver-partners are using their smartphones to earn more, and now, many of them will be taking their first steps into the cashless economy, where they will enjoy the benefits of cashing out their daily earnings conveniently and safely managing their cash flow and not worrying about theft or loss of cash. This is a starting point to a long term partnership with Wave Money, which will also give Grab and Wave Money users the option to use e-money to pay for Grab rides,” said Mr. Amrt Sagar.

With less than 10% of the population having a bank account and an even lower debit and credit card penetration, Myanmar is predominantly a cash-based environment, cash has been the default payment method for people to pay for goods and services including transportation. Wave Money and Grab will work together in the coming months to enable users to make cashless payments and enjoy ease, safety and convenience when travelling in the city.

Special Promotion for Wave Money and Grab Customers

To celebrate the partnership, Wave Money and Grab are offering a promotion to all existing Wave Money app customers and any new customers who download the Wave Money app. From Thursday 29^th June to Wednesday 12^th July 2017, Wave Money app customers will receive a promo code entitling them to 2,000 MMK off their next three Grab rides.

Users in Myanmar can download the Grab app for free from the Google Play or App Store. Users will need to open the Grab app after downloading it to create an account using a phone number, Facebook account or Google account.

All taxi rides booked with the Grab app will offer an upfront, fixed fare, with no taxi booking fees. Grab’s taxi driver- partners undergo stringent training and screening– including training on customer service, and using the Grab app and navigation apps to choose the fastest travel route – and in-person taxi inspection to ensure that taxis are comfortable, have working air-conditioning and are well-maintained.

Taxi drivers can register to drive with Grab by visiting the Grab office at Mimosa Building, Level 1, 196/A, Shwe Gon Taing Street 5, Bahan Township, Yangon, or by calling 09765400450.

Grab currently operates its ride-hailing app services in seven Southeast Asian countries – Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. Grab has up to 2.5 million rides daily, making it the largest ride-hailing platform and the preferred app that the most drivers and passengers use in Southeast Asia. It has the largest driver base in the region with more than 930,000 drivers across 55 cities. There have been more than 45 million downloads of the Grab app.

Wave Money continues to innovate in providing financial services and payment solutions to customers and businesses in Myanmar and is expanding quickly into merchant payments and bill payments, onboarding new partners each week. For businesses, Wave Money offers fast, easy and convenient salary disbursement services.

About Wave Money

Wave Money is an innovative and leading mobile financial provider operating with over 9,000 Wave shops across Myanmar. Wave Money is a joint venture between Telenor, First Myanmar Investment (FMI) and YOMA Bank providing easy, fast and reliable mobile financial services through a nationwide agent network. Wave Money introduced a unique way of transferring money, bringing millions of people in Myanmar access to formal financial services. Through Wave Money, people are able to transfer money anywhere and at any time. http://www.wavemoney.com.mm.

About Grab

Grab is Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing platform. Grab solves critical transportation challenges to make transport freedom a reality for 620 million people in Southeast Asia. Grab’s core product platform includes commuting solutions for drivers and passengers with an emphasis on convenience, safety and reliability, as well as its proprietary mobile payments platform, Grab Pay. Grab currently offers services in Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. For more information, please visit: http://www.grab.com.