Amid intensifying competition between ride-hailing giants Grab and Gojek, which both want a slice of the region’s e-payments market, the latter has inked a deal with Carousell.

Gojek has inked a deal with Carousell to offer vouchers worth $13 to new riders who sign up with the ride-hailing app through the mobile marketplace, the Jakarta-based technology startup said on Thursday.

This deal opens the doors for Gojek to Carousell’s broad user base in Singapore as it enters a market previously monopolised by regional rival Grab.

«We look to partner with local brands that align with our mission of making the everyday lives of people better. As Singapore’s most well-known consumer-to-consumer marketplace, Carousell solves a pain point for consumers by making the exchange of goods and services more accessible,» Gojek's Global Head of Transport, Raditya Wibowo, said about the deal.

Competition for Digital Payments

Competition between the ride-hailing platforms is heating up, particularly as both Grab and Gojek have set their sights on Southeast Asia’s lucrative e-payments market. Gojek is currently in talks with Philippine authorities to enter the country after expanding into Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore in 2018. 

GoPay, operated by Gojek, is already Indonesia's fourth-largest e-payments platform. Grab's GrabPay digital wallet, on the other hand, is already in Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and soon, Thailand. It is expected to launch a cross-border remittance product later in the year.

Gojek is a recent entrant into Singapore. It launched its services to commuters in January, after a beta phase that began on 29 November 2018. Like Grab, Gojek, evolved from a ride-hailing app to offer a range of services, including digital payments, food, logistics, and more. It is backed by the likes of Tencent, JD.com and Temasek Holdings.

Carousell, present in seven markets in Asia, originated in Singapore in 2012, and is among the largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It is backed by Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, DBS and EDBI. In June 2018, Carousell itself entered the e-payments market with the launch of CarouPay. Developed in partnership with DBS, Stripe and Visa, it is an integrated payment system for transactions made on its platform.