Grab Joins Hands With Digital Payment Service PayTren to Recruit Prospective Drivers
Jakarta. Grab, a ride-hailing service operating in Southeast Asia, signed a partnership agreement on Wednesday (13/12) with Indonesia-based digital payment provider PayTren to allow registered partners to recruit prospective drivers, in a bid to assist with job creation.
From January next year, PayTren member partners will be able to recruit drivers for Grab in a commission-based system. PayTren's platform will also be integrated with the Grab and Kudos smartphone applications as an additional service.
Kudo is an online-to-offline payment platform recently acquired by Grab.
PayTren, which is controlled by celebrity cleric Yusuf Mansur, boasts around 1.7 million registered partners. The digital payment platform requires users to deposit a certain amount of money, which allows them to purchase train tickets or pay bills, ranging from insurance premiums and electricity payments to cable TV and internet subscriptions.
The Bandung, West Java-based company also implement a multi-level marketing scheme, allowing users to receive fees when they recruit other people to register and use the PayTren app.
PayTren has partnered with several firms, from state-owned enterprises to telecommunication service providers, including railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia, mobile phone operators Indosat and Telkomsel, and utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara.
"With PayTren, we add a partner who shares our commitment to bringing digital income opportunities to the middle economy across urban and rural Indonesia. By adding PayTren's scale and presence in rural Indonesia, we are confident that we can accelerate the pace and depth of our expansion across Indonesia," GrabPay Indonesia managing director Ongki Kurniawan said in a statement.
Kudo and PayTren allow Indonesian consumers living in small towns or rural areas without bank accounts to also benefit from the country's rapidly expanding digital economy.
"Partnering with Grab is a step for PayTren into the world of financial technology and SME empowerment, which supports PayTren's core business in empowering the community. We are looking forward to exploring additional ways to bring the digital economy to Indonesians," said PayTren founder, Yusuf Mansur.
Grab made a commitment earlier this year to invest $700 million in Indonesia by 2020. As an early step, the company established a research and development center in South Jakarta, while it also acquired Kudo for an undisclosed amount in May.
The company also plans to help establish 5 million micro-entrepreneurs in the country by 2018.
Tags: Keywords: