Gojek partners with e-wallet player MoMo, intensifying turf war with Grab in Vietnam

• Locals in Vietnam can use MoMo to pay for a ride by motorbike or car, as well as for food and parcel delivery, Gojek said on Monday.
• MoMo has 31 million users, outnumbering the country’s entire market for ride-hailing.
• Experts reckon the tie up with MoMo could encourage Gojek’s growth with not much cost.

In May 2021, Indonesian-based Gojek announced plans to add car-hailing and e-payments to its operations in Vietnam. At that point, unlike its Singaporean rival Grab, Gojek were offering selected services without any digital payments option. To change that and offer users more payment options on its app, Gojek this week inked a deal with Vietnam’s e-wallet unicorn MoMo.

Gojek country manager Phung Tuan Duc even told Nikkei last year that they “feel confident to start expanding, and four-wheel [transportation] and payment are the two most requested [services] from our consumer base.” That said, with the partnership forged this week, Vietnamese can begin using MoMo to pay for a ride by motorbike or car, as well as for food and parcel delivery, Gojek said on Monday.

What makes the deal a good one is the fact that MoMo’s users alone outnumbers the country’s entire market for ride-hailing. The local e-wallet unicorn has 31 million users, whereas the whole of Vietnam has 19.9 million ride-hailing and taxi users, based on Statista estimates in 2021. 

The statement by Gojek also reckoned that the integration of MoMo’s services is part of the Indonesian startup’s strategy to offer users more payment options on its app, following the launch of its card payment feature last year. Gojek Vietnam’s general manager Duc Phug highlighted that it is also Gojek’s first time collaborating with a Vietnamese tech firm.

Gojek only eventually launched its GoCar car-hailing service in Vietnam in November last year, after announcing its intention in May. MoMo’s co-founder and senior vice president Nguyen Ba Diep also said that “Through this partnership, we also hope to help Gojek’s driver and merchant partners reach more customers, increase their income, and recover from the pandemic.”

Experts believe that the deal between Gojek and MoMo is a “smart move” as it increases payment options on the former, which previously accepted only cash and bank cards in Vietnam. Singapore’s Grab on the other hand uses e-wallet Moca. Depending on contract terms, IT consultant Amanuel Flobbe told Nikkei Asia that the tie-up with MoMo could help Gojek grow without too much cost.

Both Gojek and Grab have been racing to dominate much more than ride-hailing in Southeast Asia. Especially with their superapp plays, both Grab and GoTo seem to be aiming for territory far beyond Uber’s gambit of offering ride-sharing plus other forms of transport with a few burgeoning delivery services.

As for Vietnam’s e-wallet space, there are currently more than 40 e-wallets, compared to merely five just six years ago, according to Decision Lab. Momo, ShopeePay (AirPay), and ZaloPay are the top three most popular e-wallets in the market, based on penetration rates.

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