Grab Malaysia will be introducing a new financial product in partnership with Maybank and Mastercard tomorrow. Unfortunately, this isn’t the GrabPay card that was introduced in Singapore and the Philippines. Instead, it is a co-branded Mastercard Platinum credit card that provides GrabRewards points with every spend.
The new card has been revealed on Maybank’s website and you can have it in either black or white. It will be open to Malaysians with an annual income of RM36,000 aged between 21 to 65 years old.
Some of the key benefits include 5x GrabRewards points for every RM1 spend on Grab, 2x GrabRewards points for every RM1 transaction spend for overseas, cross-border and e-commerce, and 1x GrabRewards points for every RM3 spend in Malaysia (excluding any Grab and e-Commerce transactions). Grab is also offering 1,000 welcome points for the principal card holder upon activation and a lifetime fee waiver.
If you spend a minimum of RM300 within the first 45 days on Grab services, you’ll also receive RM50 worth of Grab vouchers. This is given in the form of 5x RM5 GrabRide and 5x RM5 Grab Food vouchers.
It is worth pointing out that GrabPay had stopped offering GrabReward Points when you pay for Grab services via credit card effective 31st July 2020. This means you could only earn points via transactions made with the GrabPay Wallet. This new Mastercard appears to be a solution for those who want to earn GrabReward points for credit card spend.
The card is still “numberless” but it’s only for the front. Based on the visuals from the FAQ, the card name, number, expiry and CVV are all printed at the back of the card. Interestingly, there’s digital Grab Card which acts as a temporary virtual card which you can use for the Grab app with a maximum limit of RM300. However, the card details is only viewable from Maybank2U and it will be deactivated after your physical card arrives.
It is disappointing that Grab is introducing a co-branded credit card when they are supposed to be pushing more on eWallet adoption. An eWallet-linked GrabPay card would make better sense as the card would help to expand its contactless usage at more merchant touchpoints without the need of having a separate credit card account to maintain. On top of that, the GrabPay card would be more accessible as there’s no income requirement since it works like a prepaid card.
The Grab Mastercard Platinum Credit Card will be open for applications starting 18th August, and you can apply on either Maybank2U or through the Grab app.
