Digital empowerment initiative: Mastercard and Grab collaborate to educate millions of unstructured workers and small businesses in essential digital skills.

In a significant move to promote digital upskilling and economic opportunity, Mastercard has joined forces with Grab, the leading superapp in Southeast Asia, as an advisory board member for the Grab Tech for Good Institute.

This two-year partnership aims to provide high-quality training programs to millions of informal workers and small businesses on Grab's platform. The scope of the partnership includes bespoke training tools for drivers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners, focusing on areas such as digital literacy, financial literacy, and business management skills.

The partnership will see the co-creation of three different training programs: Small Business Training, Driver Entrepreneurship Training, and Driver Financial Literacy Training. These programs will be progressively rolled out across the region from Q4 2021, starting with a few launch markets.

Grab's partners can access these programs for free through the Grab Driver and Merchant apps. Cheryl Goh, Group Head of Marketing and Sustainability at Grab, expressed her belief that the partnership with Mastercard has the potential to unlock economic growth in communities across the region.

In addition, the partnership will upskill digital talent access in Indonesia through a 10-week cybersecurity certification program for Grab's driver-partners and their family members. This program started in August 2021.

The Grab Tech for Good Institute is deeply committed to using its reach to provide economic opportunity and is working with the public and private sectors to harness technology for good. Rama Sridhar, Executive Vice President of Digital & Emerging Partnerships and New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific, Mastercard, is proud to be partnering with Grab in this noble endeavour.

Grab, with its extensive reach in Southeast Asia, aims to bring these high-quality training programs to millions of people and businesses on its platform, contributing to the region's growth and development by granting underserved communities access to core digital, financial, and business skills.