Following a four-month beta trial in Yangon, Singapore-based ride-hailing service Grab has announced a series of Myanmar-specific initiatives that will help “bring a five-star experience to driver-partners and passengers, while supporting the government in upgrading its transport infrastructure,” the company announced this week.
Most notably, the Grab app will be available in both Zawgyi and Unicode — a pivotal feature that the majority of companies still fail to incorporate into their apps to the frustration of local users. Additionally, Grab’s in-app messaging feature, GrabChat, will now include certain ‘templated messages’ which can be translated between Myanmar and English, depending on the user’s preferred language choice.
To help improve customer safety, an in-app Emergency button is also now available and will allow users to call police directly from within the app.
For shoppers, a GrabVenue trial at Junction City is set to launch by the end of August. GrabVenue will allow concierges to book rides on behalf of shoppers, eliminating the need for customers to have access to Wi-Fi or mobile internet to book a ride. It’s worth noting that one of its local rivals, Oway, has already established a similar set-up at several shopping centers around Yangon.
Last month, Grab announced a partnership with Wave Money that allowed drivers to cash out their daily earnings at a Wave shop. Customers who use Wave Money will also soon have the option to pay for their rides through their Wave digital wallet.
In an effort to provide a better service to its network of over 5,000 drivers as well, the company has launched its Grab Driver Care Program which will “increase driver-partners’ net incomes in a sustainable way, while helping them develop new skills,” such as offering the option to partake in a free English language course. According to Grab, drivers have reported a 30 percent increase in monthly income on average since they signed up with the company. Currently, Grab drivers are eligible for discounted Telenor mobile plans, and are covered under the Grab Personal Accident Insurance — which also covers passengers — for medical expenses, permanent disability, or accidental death in the case of an accident.
Hooi Ling Tan, co-founder of Grab, said: “We are deeply appreciative of the opportunity to bring Grab’s service to Yangon and are encouraged by the receptiveness of the local community and the support from the government over the past four months. We’ve seen positive and meaningful results including improvements to driver-partners’ incomes, taxi standards and transport efficiency… We are investing in Myanmar for the long-term.”
