The Problem
Loyalty points were a cost center, not a revenue engine
GrabRewards was one of Southeast Asia's largest loyalty programs, with hundreds of millions of points being earned every month. But redemption was limited to a small catalog of partner vouchers and discounts; and most users never bothered to redeem at all.
Points were accumulating as a liability on the balance sheet. Users didn't see enough value to engage, and Grab wasn't monetizing one of its most powerful retention levers. The loyalty team needed a way to make points feel like real currency: something users would actively choose to spend.
The challenge: redesign the redemption experience across 8 countries with wildly different user behaviors, regulatory environments, and partner ecosystems.
My Role & Approach
From voucher catalog to embedded payments
I led the "Pay with Points" initiative: a new feature that let users spend GrabRewards points directly at checkout for rides, food delivery, and in-app purchases. No voucher hunting, no minimum thresholds. Just a toggle at the payment screen.
My approach:
- Conducted user research across 4 markets to understand redemption friction and willingness to pay with points
- Designed a phased rollout: starting with GrabFood in Singapore, then expanding to rides and across markets
- Built the business model with finance and partnerships teams to ensure unit economics worked for both Grab and partner merchants
- Defined the UX framework so the feature felt native to the existing checkout flow, not bolted on
The key product bet was making points feel as effortless as cash. Every tap, every screen, every micro-copy was designed to reduce friction to zero.
Key insight: The biggest unlock wasn't the feature itself; it was changing the mental model. When users started thinking of points as "money I already have," redemption rates exploded. Product framing matters more than product features.