Grab offers rewards for Citi users across SEA with co-branded credit card

Grab and Citi have tied up to launch an exclusive co-branded Citi-Grab credit card across Southeast Asia. The card is currently available in the Philippines and will be launched in Thailand in the second half of this year.Under the partnership, Grab will be able to offer its users credit card benefits and rewards and extend its offering to Citi’s affluent cardholder base in the region. For users in the Philippines, includes earning 10 times the amount of points for all Grab spend and having membership fees for Citi's principal and supplementary cards waived off. Meanwhile, Citi will be able to scale its business to Grab’s unique mobile-first user base in Southeast Asia. Grab's spokesperson declined to comment on the monetary value of the partnership.The co-brand card partnership expands an ongoing collaboration between Citi’s consumer banking business and Grab that dates back to 2016. In 2016, Grab and Citi announced their first partnership across six markets in Southeast Asia, which enabled Citi cardholders to use their earned points and miles to pay for rides on the Grab platform. Since then, both parties have systematically widened the scope of their cooperation to include all of Grab’s services. This includes incentives for topping up the GrabPay wallet, to gifts and cash back benefits for spending on Grab services.Huey Tyng Ooi, managing director of GrabPay Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines said there is great synergy between both Citi and Grab. "The Citi Grab credit card is a natural next step as we create more value for our digital first, always in GrabPay users. This will bring us one step further in realizing our vision of becoming the leading everyday super app in SEA,” she added.Meanwhile, Sergio Zanatti, head of cards and personal loans, Asia Pacific, Citi said the launch of the co-branded credit card strengthens its continued successful partnership with Grab and gives Citi the opportunity to leverage its expertise in credit card services to a new all-digital consumer base."From the initial consumer banking relationship, we have deepened our partnership with Grab across the Citi franchise. Today’s announcement affirms how Citi is establishing itself globally as the partner of choice to accelerate growth for our partners and add value to customers,” Zanatti added.(Photo courtesy: 123RF)