Gojek looking at possible expansion into financial services and other offerings

Gojek co-chief executive officer Andre Soelistyo speaks at the company’s first birthday celebration in Singapore on Nov 29, 2019. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO

SINGAPORE - Indonesian ride-hailing firm Gojek is aiming to diversify into financial services and other offerings in Singapore, one year after it started business here.

But any expansion of services will take place at a controlled pace, as the firm seeks to develop in a sustainable manner amid cautious investor sentiment.

Gojek is already offering a wide range of services in Indonesia, including payments, logistics and food delivery, but it has only ride-hailing services in Singapore.

At an event celebrating its first anniversary on Friday (Nov 29), co-chief executive officer Andre Soelistyo did not commit to any timeline, but said financial services are one area of interest for the firm.

Mr Andre said: "Lending is already something we are pushing in Indonesia, we have a product called PayLater, which is like a charge card."

" We have done working capital lending," he said. "Hopefully... a lot of this can be pushed to Singapore as well."

He said the firm views financial services as products or features that will "enhance the trust and engagement with our users".

But in spite of its diversification, Gojek will continue to offer ride-hailing services both in Singapore and overseas, added Mr Andre.

The firm said it has completed 30 million trips in Singapore since it started operations last November, with 20 million of the trips made in the last six months.

Singapore is now Gojek's second-largest transport market after Indonesia in terms of transaction value.

Gojek Singapore's general manager Lien Choong Luen said the firm is looking at offering larger vehicles for ride hailing next year.

It is also exploring the possibility of providing ride-sharing services, similar to rival Grab's GrabShare offering.

Gojek also announced a partnership with Trans-Cab on Friday. Trans-Cab's 3,000 drivers will progressively be able to respond to bookings on the Gojek platform and fulfil trips on a flat-fare basis.

Gojek said the partnership would let its customers get rides more easily.

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