Safer trips for teens, group order with strangers: Grab unveils new features

Come May, teens will be able to link their Grab accounts to their parents' Grab for Family account where the latter can book rides on behalf of their children.

Several new features will also be implemented to enhance safety for these teenage children on the road, including a PIN number to confirm rides and an upgraded AudioProtect system.

These are part of a suite of new features unveiled by local tech company Grab on Tuesday (April 8).

 Grab for Family/Teens — an addition to the Grab for Family account — was introduced at the GrabX event on Tuesday at the JW Marriott Grand Ballroom

The existing Grab for Family account, according to Grab's website, currently allows for family members to join only if they are 18 years old and above, and is available only to Singapore Grab users.

This new feature will benefit users aged 13 to 17.

Speaking at the event, Grab's chief product officer Philipp Kandal stressed the "need for safe, trackable transportation for teenagers across Southeast Asia", which Grab may soon be capable of fulfilling.

As part of the new Grab for Family/Teens feature, top-rated drivers will be assigned as a priority for these teens, who will also have to get a PIN number from the driver and enter it into their own application.

Without a matching PIN number, the ride will not start, preventing potential incidents where teens enter the wrong vehicles.

While on the journey, a trip-monitoring system will allow parents to track the trip, and Grab will be able to detect any unusual activity, such as a route deviation, unplanned stop or premature termination.

Additionally, devices with the Grab application installed will have AudioProtect, which utilises GenAi to detect loud noises and threatening or dangerous language.

While the first version of it, unveiled in 2023, is capable of storing the encrypted recording to address after-the-fact concerns, reports or investigations, this second version of AudioProtect features real-time recording that will allow Grab's safety team to intervene immediately should there be any danger.

With its ability to detect loud noises or inappropriate conversations, this feature is believed to "cover a significant amount of all situations" that may occur, Kandal added.

Should the ride encounter any complications along the way, Grab will also send a notification to the passenger to check on their wellbeing, he also shared.

Sharing with strangers

Grab also launched the pilot for the Shared Saver feature, which allows users to discover and join live orders within a 4km area around them, similar to how a group order operates, except with strangers.

This allows one to save on the delivery cost.

How this works is that a countdown timer will be visible on the Grab screen to inform users how soon they need to make their decision to join, and a notification for how much was saved via the Saver order will be available upon checkout.

Alternatively, users can also start their own shared order, and Grab will help invite nearby users interested in the same merchant to join the delivery.

Users who start the order will be charged a discounted price that's even cheaper than Saver delivery, with no small order fee. The delivery fee will be split among other users who also placed an order.

"We are working with our merchants to curate — and in many cases, create — special meals for solo eaters," Grab managing director Ngiam Xin Wei commented.

This feature will be launched in Singapore from April, with plans to roll out pilots in other cities by June.

The GrabX launch also saw other features being added to the application including the Dine Out Discovery feature which allows one to search and utilise a wide range of filters to search for a place to eat, also showing them the available deals as well as facilitating a reservation where possible.

Dine Out Discovery will be available in May.

khooyihang@asiaone.com

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