SINGAPORE - Grab will now offer loans and insurance with its new fintech platform - Grab Financial - the ride-hailing company announced on Tuesday (March 13).

This new platform will encompass all of Grab's fintech offerings, including payment services, rewards and loyalty services, and financial services, among others.

To provide loans to consumers, micro-entrepreneurs and small businessess across South-east Asia, Grab has embarked on a joint venture (JV) agreement with Credit Saison Co, one of Japan's largest consumer financing companies.

This partnership will leverage Grab's datasets to provide reliable alternatives to traditional credit ratings, the company said.

"By analysing behaviour from the app, such as transport movements, geo-location, and GrabPay transaction data, the company can offer alternative data points to assess credit worthiness, filling the gap left by traditional credit scoring methods."

In its early stages, the JV will focus on providing products to meet the needs of Grab drivers, agents and merchants, such as working capital loans, financing for smartphones, and consumer goods financing.

Separately, Grab has also signed a partnership with property and casualty insurance company, Chubb, to offer insurance plans to Grab's drivers and customers.

Initial offerings include accident, hospitalisation and other critical insurance coverage to Grab's 2.6 million drivers, accessible through the Grab driver app.

Said managing director of GrabPay South-east Asia Jason Thompson: "At Grab, driver welfare is at the heart of our vision of improving the lives of people in South-east Asia. We want to ensure our driver-partners' hard work pays off, and that their income and livelihoods are protected. Backed by Chubb's global insurance expertise, we are now able to bring this app-based insurance product for the first time to drivers across South-east Asia."