[UPDATED] Grab users to fork out 33% more GrabRewards Points for vouchers

[ UPDATE 13/06/2020 16:00 ]: Grab Malaysia has sent us a statement on the new GrabRewards points catalogue update. Details at the end of this post.

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Grab is updating its GrabRewards points catalogue to offer more ways to use your points. However, one of the biggest change is the number of points required to redeem GrabReward vouchers for Grab car rides, GrabMart, GrabFood and GrabExpress deliveries.

At the moment, Grab is offering RM5 voucher for 600 points, RM10 voucher for 1,200 points and RM15 voucher for 1,800 points. The exchange conversion is basically 120 points for RM1.

The new GrabRewards catalogue which will take effect from 22nd of June 2020 will require more points for each voucher redemption. Grab has introduced a new RM3 voucher option that’s listed for 550 points while the RM5 voucher will now require 800 points. Meanwhile, the RM10 voucher will be offered for 1,600 points and they have removed the highest RM15 voucher option.

If you do the math, the new exchange conversion is 183.33 points for RM1 for the RM3 voucher and 160 points for RM1 for the RM5 and RM10 voucher. For those that redeem RM5 and RM10 vouchers regularly, this means you will have to fork out 33% more points with the new update.

In terms of the value, 100 points are currently worth RM0.834. After the revision, the value of 100 points is RM0.625, which is a 25% drop in value.

Before the new catalogue takes into effect, Grab is running a GrabRewards Super Sale with up to 50% off on redemptions. From 22nd to 30th June 2020, they are offering a 50% discount for the vouchers and you can redeem RM10 voucher for only 800 points. The following two weeks between 1st to 14th July, they will offer a 25% discount and a RM10 voucher will cost you 1,200 points.

Extension for GrabRewards tier status and voucher validity

Due to the movement control order, Grab understands that it would be harder for users to maintain their GrabRewards status. To provide greater flexibility, Grab is extending its GrabRewards tier status for all members to 31st December 2020 and there won’t be any tier downgrades during this period.

However, it added that the qualifying period between 1st July 2020 to 31st December 2020 will determine your tier status for the first half of 2020.

In addition, all GrabFood and Ride reward vouchers redeemed from the GrabRewards catalogue will be extended until 31st December 2020. So if you plan to purchase more vouchers before the new catalogue takes into effect, do note that it will be valid until the end of this year. The voucher extension is not applicable to Grab vouchers that are purchased from gifts.grab.com, marketplaces or vouchers received from corporate purchases and marketing campaigns.

GrabRewards points are still valid for 3 months but you can continuously extend its validity for another 3 months by making at least one Grab transaction. For example, if you make a transaction on 10th January, the points will expire on 30th April. But if you made a transaction on 28th February, the expiry will be pushed to 31st May.

As announced previously, GrabRewards points are only given for cashless transactions to support the government’s cashless initiative. This means you won’t earn points if you still pay for Grab rides by cash.

You can learn more from the GrabRewards page.

UPDATE: A Grab spokesperson has reached out to us with the following statement on the latest update:

Grab has grown beyond ride-hailing to serve the everyday needs of Malaysians, through our ecosystem of everyday services. Furthermore, we have improved the accessibility of our services and increased our number of partners across Malaysia (food, mart and pay). Therefore, users now have even more opportunities to conveniently earn GrabRewards points wherever they may be across various essential services be it with food & parcel delivery, virtual payments, ride-hailing and more.

With regards to the change in our GrabRewards catalogue, this was done to reflect the overall growth of our ecosystem and the increased methods users can earn and spend their rewards points. This also opens up more opportunities for additional merchants and partners to be a part of our GrabRewards catalogue. The expanded catalogue now features rewards from GrabMart, GrabExpress as well as additional partners such as Uniqlo, JD Sports, Tesco and more.

To help users with the transition, Grab is also introducing a GrabRewards Super Sale with up to 50% off redemptions on the GrabRewards catalogue. This will help to maximize the point value for our users, making our services more affordable and helping drive further business to our partners, especially in this new normal when cost of expenditure is a growing concern.

Grab is committed to develop further possibilities to reward our users so that they are able to enjoy greater value on the Grab platform.

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