Grab, an on-demand transportation and a mobile payments platform in Southeast Asia, announced it has appointed Ooi Huey Tyng as Managing Director of GrabPay Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines.
Based in Singapore, Huey Tyng brings on board more than 25 years of experience in senior positions at global banks and leading payments providers.
Huey Tyng joins Grab from Visa, where she was the Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei. During her time, Huey Tyng drove the company’s innovation and digital roadmap as well as the strategic engagement of regional banks headquartered in Singapore. Prior to that, Huey Tyng held leadership roles at DBS, UOB, and Citi among others, where she was responsible for managing retail cards businesses, co-branding and rewards partnerships, as well as engagement with merchants. Huey Tyng also served as a representative to the MAS Payments Council and the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE).
“Huey Tyng brings deep leadership expertise from some of the region’s premier banks and payments providers. Her experience with our current and potential payments partners will be invaluable as GrabPay moves into its next phase of growth. Millions of people in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines are still heavily dependent on cash. Huey Tyng’s skills in forging business partnerships across each country will enable us to bring more merchants and consumers into the cashless future faster,” said Jason Thompson, Managing Director, GrabPay Southeast Asia.
Commenting on her new role, Huey Tyng says, “It’s an exciting moment to join Grab. There are unique opportunities and challenges in the payment space for each country in Southeast Asia. “For instance, in Malaysia, cash handling and services still cost the Malaysian economy RM 1.8 billion a year. None of which benefits Malaysian merchants or consumers. With GrabPay, we can complement the work of our partners and offer millions of consumers in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines the opportunity to go cashless.”
GrabPay now has a total of 1,000 merchants in Singapore, reaching its target a mere two months after launching its in-store and in-restaurant payments service. In 2018, Grab said the payments platform will continue to focus on Singapore’s more than 20,000 local, cash-based merchants who will see the most immediate benefits from adopting cashless.
In Malaysia, GrabPay was recently granted the e-money license by Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysia’s central monetary authority. Consumers in Malaysia will soon be able to pay with Grab in restaurants, shops and online, starting in the first half of 2018.
The cashless GrabPay service will be offered via the existing Grab app, available on the Android and iOS platform. Through the Grab app, consumers will be able to access not just transport services, but all of the most important everyday services, whether it’s paying for food and drinks, the latest gadgets in shops or making transfers to friends.
