Grab will now offer loans and insurance with its new fintech platform - Grab Financial - the ride-hailing company announced yesterday.

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 businesses across South-east Asia, Grab has embarked on a joint venture agreement with Credit Saison, one of Japan's largest consumer financing companies.

This partnership will leverage Grab's data sets 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," it said.

At the start, the joint venture will focus on providing products to meet the needs of Grab drivers, agents and merchants, such as working capital loans, smartphone financing 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 driver app.

"At Grab, driver welfare is at the heart of our vision... We want to ensure our driver-partners' hard work pays off, and that their income and livelihoods are protected," GrabPay South-east Asia managing director Jason Thompson said.

"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."