Citi and Grab tie up to launch credit card

It is available in the Philippines and will be launched in Thailand later.

Grab and Citi have launched an exclusive co-branded credit card for consumers across Southeast Asia as part of their ongoing consumer finance partnership. The card is available in the Philippines and will be rolled out in Thailand in the second half of 2019.

The Citi-Grab credit card means that Grab will be able to extend its offering to Citi's affluent cardholder base and the bank will be able to scale its business to Grab's regional userbase.

Also read: Grab drives into Asia's banking scene

Citi and Grab first announced their partnership across six markets in Southeast Asia in 2016 after enabling Citi cardholders to use earned points and miles to pay for Grab rides. The partnership has since expanded to include GrabPay wallet top ups as well as gift and cash benefits for spending on the Grab platform. Grab is also a Citi Commercial Bank client and Citi has participated in Grab’s financing round through its venture capital arm, Citi Ventures.

"Citi has been a long-term partner since 2016 and 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," Huey Tyng Ooi, managing director of GrabPay Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines said in a statement.