Citi to Launch Lending Services on Grab App in Southeast Asia

Citi has partnered with south-east Asian company, Grab to offer consumer lending from the latter’s application using the bank’s new API.

Citi is one of the region’s largest credit card issuers, and now it has new services for its existing and new eligible customers to apply for a personal instalment loan. The API-based services will be first available in Singapore, but the bank has plans to expand it to other south-east Asian countries as well.

“Citi is proud to be the first banking partner to offer personal loans on the Grab app,” Citi’s EMEA and Asia-Pacific Partnership Head, Sanjay Nambiar, said. “We have long recognized that consumers in Asia are inclined to use digital apps for various lifestyle and daily needs, including more increasingly, their payment and lending needs. We are excited to further our strategic partnership with Grab while deepening our engagement with our expanding digital-first customer base.”

Capturing the Growing South-Asian Market

Grab is one of the widely used mobile applications in south-east Asia. The company started as a ride-hailing platform and later expanded its arms into several sectors, including financial services. Further, Grab received a digital banking license in Singapore.

The lending feature will allow people to apply for a loan from Citi through the Grab app and receive flexible instalment options ranging from 12 to 60 months. However, the bank did not specify any interest rate for lending.

Both Citi and Grab were existing partners in the lending arena as they are already issuing collaborative credit cards since June 2019 in six Asian markets.

“Grab is committed to serve the everyday borrowing needs of our customers with responsible access to credit. We are excited to partner with Citi to do so, offering a financing solution for qualified users through a seamless Grab app experience for the first time,” Grab’s Managing Director and Head of Lending, Ankur Mehrotra said.