 |
| Ah Beng Squat and waiting for his ride! |
I am a very big fan of the GrabTaxi app. I am not saying this because I got invited to their launch the other day but I truly am a heavy user of the app these days. Not only does it make life so much easier but the pricing is way more reasonable.
What makes me choose GrabTaxi over other app or even conventional Taxis is simply because I get to know how much I am paying for my ride even before I get a ride. I wouldn't have to pay more if there's a jam or worry that drivers take the longer route just to earn more money out of me! Just the other day, I was going to somewhere really near but there was a major jam and we were stuck in the traffic for a good 30mins? Instead of paying a good $20-$30 ride if I was on a Taxi, my fee was only $8 for that trip! But I was feeling a bit bad for the driver cause it ain't his fault so I actually have him $12. It's hard earn money on the road!
Anyway, GrabTaxi just got rebranded recently and there's 7 things you probably didn't know about it!
1.It is now known as Grab!
The new Grab brand identity brings together all their different transport services under the one transport brand! Dropping the word 'taxi' from their name doesn't mean they aren't still a core part of their business. Rather, it represents their commitment to serving the transport industry as a whole.
So basically now you just have to search for Grab on the app store and download it! There will not be a confusion of downloading how many different apps for all the different services.
(okay, fine, you might already heard about this because it's all over the news. Be patient and read on before you judge my post okay?)
2.Grab is more than just Taxi!
If you are unfamiliar, Grab is more than just Taxi or Car. They also have GrabBike, GrabExpress, GrabHitch. GrabBike is a very very popular service in Indonesia. It is the quickest way around a busy city! GrabHitch is simply hitching a ride as the name suggest. It is for the carpooling community! I am actually quite interested in trying this service myself someday! (And hoping to get a pretty lady to pick me up like literally. :x) GrabExpress is the interesting one! Instead of transporting yourself around, this is the service which is similar to a courier service!
Although not on the app but do you know there's also GrabHeli? Yes! You can GrabHELICOPTER!!!
"Eh, sorry ah, my Helicopter not here yet. I will be reaching soon." HOW COOL IS THIS!
3.It is not just a rebrand but there are also new functions!
The new functions are pretty exciting! Not like you can now use Grab app to GrabGf or GrabBf (Maybe Grab can look into dating app soon?) but these new functions makes life a lot more easier.
For example the auto retries function. Instead of staring at your phone trying to get a ride where there isn't one, the app will automatically help you keep on trying!
Now you can also add multiple credit card instead of one! What for you ask me? So for people who needs to claim expense under company can simply just charge it to a card and not mix it with your personal claims! No need to worry that HR department coming after you for misused of claims for personal use. Saves so much time from trying to sort out claims.
They also added a location prediction function where they learn about you via your usage pattern. It is such small innovation that makes the whole user experience so much better! Not just about having new major functions where you can do something else but instead, allowing you to do the same thing but easier and better!
4.Grab's new logo is inspired by "the road"
The new logo was designed with freedom at its core. The dual lines are inspired by roadways and they represent an endless road of possibilities. They symbolize the new journey they are taking in parallel with their passengers, drivers, employees and society at large.
5.Grab's Missions
Grab shared with us their mission during the launch and I am sharing it not because they make me do it but I find it rather inspiring considering the fact that I am also in a startup environment. (Okay lah, different level but I think it is worth sharing)
Providing The Safest Transport Platform
This is actually my favorite within the 3 mission statement. A lot of us might not feel it in Singapore but in other parts of the world, Taxi ain't exactly a very safe transport. Not in terms of driving on the road but there are people who gets rape or rob from taxi rides. With business like Grab, they make sure all these drivers go through a proper selection process and best of all there are GPS tracking as well as pick-up history etc. So I mean even if something happen to you, Grab can still assist the police to erm, like find whatever is left of you. :x
Making Transportation Accessible to All
I mean this is their core business which is the reason why I'm always using the app. So this is pretty straight forward and erm, I have no other comments on this besides how it changed my life and save me so much time.
Improving The Lives of Our Partners
This is something I practice a lot at work as well. I am a true believer of win-win situations. I never believe in taking advantage of others. Some might say that I am a bad negotiator because I am always fair to the other party and giving what I believe is right to the other party while some might think I'm actually giving too much. I mean yes, this is business, and life always ain't about being fair but I try my best to make things fair for everyone.
6.Grab is in 6 Countries and 28 Cities
 |
| Mr.World Wide! Okay lah, regional wide. Soon ok soon. |
I believe I am one of the early adopter of Grab. I downloaded Grab when it was MyTeksi. I had it because a friend of mine from KL introduced it to me when I went to KL in early 2013. I was rather impressed by it although if I remember correctly it wasn't very well adopted yet back then. I came back to Singapore and I actually had to download another app which is known as "GrabTaxi", but of course, like its Malaysia counterpart, there wasn't much ride on the platform at that moment.
It's really amazing how the app has picked up over such a short time and they are now in Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Good news? 1 app for 6 countries. No longer need to download multiple apps just because you are traveling around the region visiting your different wives. Oops.
7.Anthony Tan's (Group CEO and Co-Founder of Grab) great grandfather was a taxi driver!
Ok lah, Anthony Tan ain't like my friend and he told me this but I read it off the press kit and this caught my attention. I don't know how old is he but great grand father is 3 generation back. Which means if Anthony is in his 30s, his dad is probably 60s and grand father is around 90s and Great grandfather should be 120s - 130s. Which means it was in the 1880s that his grandfather was a taxi driver?!
So I did a quick search on the world's most trusted source for all students - Wikipedia! And it says in the 1890s, taxis were like...
 |
| DAMN COOL CAN!! CAN WE BRING GrabHansom to Singapore now??? |
Anyway, I hope you like this post and find it informative and kind of amusing. If not, I am very sorry I waste your click. Here's pictures of pretty girls to make up for it. #Priorities
 |
| The pretty @FloraIsabelle |
 |
| The handsome me, Flora (again), Karen and Cheryl (who surprising had a lot of makeup that day)! |