McDonald’s expands Grab partnership to offer mobile payment option in-store | ZDNet

McDonald’s has expanded its partnership with Grab in Singapore to enable diners to pay for their orders via the latter’s GrabPay mobile payment app. Their collaboration also includes plans to jointly develop a data platform that will enable both companies to analyse purchasing patterns. 

The “multi-faceted” partnership meant GrabPay would be the first non-bank e-wallet to be available as a payment option across McDonald’s network across the city-state as well as the McDelivery app and website, the two partners said in a joint statement Monday. 

The fast food chain operates 130 restaurants, 17 drive-throughs, 42 dessert kiosks, and 48 McCafé outlets in Singapore, where it serves more than 6 million customers each month. Grab’s app, which includes services such as deliveries, ride-sharing, and fintech, is available in more than 400 cities in eight Southeast Asian markets, including Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and the Philippines. 

McDonald’s has been available on food delivery service GrabFood in Singapore since 2018.

With the expanded partnership, McDonald’s customers now can pay for their orders via GrabPay over the counter, at self-service order kiosks, and driver-throughs. Grab’s last-mile delivery service GrabExpress also has been integrated with McDonald’s online ordering platforms, including its McDelivery app. 

In addition, both companies plan to develop a “unified insights platform” that consolidates data across their respective ordering channels. 

This would allow the two partners to better understand what consumers valued and develop personalised experiences for their customers, such as exclusive promotions and joint offerings. The data insights also would enable both brands to tap GrabAds and push relevant marketing deals and campaigns to different consumers.

McDonald’s Singapore general manager Benjamin Boh said: “By tapping Grab’s ecosystem of services, it adds to our promise of greater digital convenience and accessibility for our customers, so they can enjoy their McDonald’s favourites seamlessly. It also opens up the world of McDonald’s to more Grab users.”

Grab’s Singapore managing director Yee Wee Tang said the partnership was the company’s “first multi-prong” collaboration with a fast food chain in Southeast Asia that encompassed online and in-store customer experience. 

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