Ride-hailing was hit hard by COVID-19. Grab's Russell Cohen on how the company adapted.

Many had never sold online before, so Grab expedited the release of a self-service feature, making it easier for merchants to on-board themselves.“This is a massive sector of the Southeast Asian economy that effectively digitized within a matter of weeks,” said Cohen.A lot of the new merchants had previously taken only cash payments, so Grab had to set them up for digital payments, a process made simpler because the company’s financial unit, Grab Financial, already offers services like Grab Pay for cashless payments, mobile wallets and remittance services.Grab also released a new package of tools called Grab Merchant, which enabled merchants to set-up online businesses by submitting licenses and certification online, and includes features like data analytics.Part of Grab’s COVID-19 strategy involved collaborating with local municipalities and governments in different countries to make deliveries more efficient.