Often times after securing a ride from the mobile app service a time-gap appears between passenger and driver, also uneasiness if the driver would turn up if you’re late to the airport and for the driver if the passenger really there. There is also the case of getting comfortable taking a ride in a stranger car, this of course can be eased if both parties get to know each other just a bit more.

Addressing this pertinent quandary some customers face, GrabCar has introduced GrabChat a one-up on Uber, this new add on features serves to close the ‘stranger gap’ we all feel when we get onto someone we dont know vehicle. During beta testing in Malaysia and Singapore, 45,000 SMS’es were reduced, and a significant reduction were also noticed in ride cancellations . With GrabChat, drivers can communicate their estimated arrival times without leaving the app screen, while passengers were able to receive more responsive feedback and share their exact locations.

To keep drivers on the road, there is also fixed template responses with survey showing most drivers relied solely on these responses to communicate with their passengers, with the top three messages being “I’m here”, “OK” and “I will arrive in 2 minutes”.

GrabChat is currently applicable for GrabCar and GrabTaxi services and will be made available in phases on Android and iOS devices in the coming weeks.