Singapore’s Grab pulls the plug on investment services citing non-viability
Grab, a Singapore-based super-app for services such as mobility, deliveries and digital financial services, is winding down its retail investment products, which have been deemed to be “not commercially viable”.
Grab is set to wind down GrabInvest
On 25 September, customers of Grab’s AutoInvest and Earn+ services received an email stating the company will be discontinuing the two products in Singapore, with no new deposits being accepted.
Customers have been advised to withdraw all of their money by 13 October, after which the accounts will be permanently closed, with no further transactions being permitted.
“Our decision to sunset GrabInvest follows an extensive review which concluded that the business would not be commercially viable,” the super-app says.
The company says in a media statement that the decision to wind down GrabInvest is part of its efforts to “streamline” its financial services business, focusing on other products such as GrabPay, insurance and lending.
In August 2020, Grab forayed into the retail investment space by launching AutoInvest, its first micro-investment service, allowing its Singapore-based customers to automatically invest with every transaction. The launch followed Grab’s acquisition of robo-advisory firm Bento in February 2020.
Grab rolled out Earn+ in May last year, describing it as a “low-risk” investment portfolio for cash reserves, allowing customers to earn up to 2.5% interest per year.
Both AutoInvest and Earn+ were part of GrabInvest, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grab, and a licenced asset manager regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
