Hacker News Reader

(I live in SE Asia.)

Grab did a better job of having an offering that fit the local markets, whereas Uber tried to fit its US model here. It has since adapted but Grab has always executed faster and better.

Grab showed up front pricing first. Grab allowed paying by cash. GrabPay has been (somewhat) adopted by other companies.

View on HN

There's another thing I heard lots of people saying in KL a few weeks ago. Uber had developed a reputation for employing crooks—drivers who would accept a fare and claim the payment, but simply not show up, and so on—and not doing anything when they were reported. Grab was supposed to be a lot stricter with its drivers, and their drivers were much more trusted.

I dunno. I don't live in KL. Uber is fine where I live. Grab is also fine.

> Grab allowed paying by cash.

So how does that work? Do drivers get a statement at the end of the month on how much they owe Grab? Is it itemized by ride, or juts aggregated?

It's actually the other way around, they prepay Grab some package and make it back + the driver commission over time.

That's a great model to deal with the fact that cash isn't going away anytime soon.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com