Apps
GrabPay expands its cashless payments
You can now pay for bills, groceries with GrabPay
The enhanced community quarantine for high-risk areas in the Philippines has been extended until May 15. With strict stay-at-home directives, delivery services saw a notable increase as Filipinos buy essential goods online. Grab expands its GrabPay service to include payments for these goods in order to simplify the delivery process.
Cashless payments for grocery items, bills payment, and more
Responding to the needs of the times, Grab launches GrabMart — an on-demand grocery shopping service. GrabPay is available for items purchased from retailers like Robinsons Supermarket, Great Deals Ecommerce Corporation, FamilyMart, Starbucks, ASSI Fresh Plaza, Fetch! Naturals, Freshmart, and more. It will also expand to include medicines in the future.
There’s a special promo for those who use GrabMart too. To get a PhP 100 discount, users can use the promo code MART100 for purchases with a minimum spend of PhP 1,000. Meanwhile, MART150 applies a PhP 150 discount for purchases with a minimum spend of PhP 2,000.
Grab users have more reasons to use GrabPay too as it expands to include bills payment for the following:
- Meralco
- Manila Water
- Maynilad
- Sky Cable
- Destiny Cable
- Cignal TV
- Cable Link
- PLDT
- Smart
- Sun Cellular
- Smart Bro
- Globe
- SSS
- DFA
- NBI
- PhilHealth
- Unicef
- VECO
- Metro Water
- Auto Sweep
- Pag-Ibig fund
- MMDA
Meanwhile, those that use GrabFood and GrabExpress delivery service are encouraged to use GrabPay. This will eliminate the need for paying cash and promotes non-direct contact with riders. It also ensures a seamless delivery process and proper social distancing.
Send money to others and pay in physical counters
GrabPay users can also send money to other GrabPay users within the app. Simply go to the Payments tab and tap on the “Send” button. They can then input the desired amount as well as the recipient’s contact number. The amount sent is automatically added to the recipient’s GrabPay balance.
For items available only at a physical store, GrabPay now supports scan-to-pay service to facilitate contactless payments. From the Payments tab, tap the “Pay” button to scan the QR code in a check-out counter. Supported establishments and stores include SM and Watsons. There’s a GrabPay Green Lane for faster checkout in some SM stores as well.
To reload a GrabPay balance, users can top up from convenience stores or Grab riders or cash-in with their debit or credit cards.
Grab assures its GrabPay users that the payment service is secure and private. The service automatically encrypts and protects personal information and transactions. Users can see all their transactions in a real-time manner and report any problems to Grab.
With the additions to GrabPay’s capabilities, paying digitally is now quick and easy. These new additions are also helpful during these times when social distancing is encouraged to stop the spread of COVID-19.
As general rules, the CDC or The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed these to help with preventing the spread of COVID-19:
- Stay home when sick
- Cover coughs and sneezes
- Frequently wash hands with soap and water
- Clean frequently touched surfaces
Apps
Honor, Xiaomi are working on their own Privacy Displays
Samsung’s Privacy Display is apparently very popular.
Normally, a smartphone brand’s blatant copying of another brand’s feature is not a good practice. Today, however, there is a new feature that we wish other brands would copy: Samsung’s Privacy Display. Thankfully, some brands, like Honor, have finally gotten the message and are working on version of the feature.
As reported by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Honor is reportedly working on a privacy screen for its smartphones. Likewise, Xiaomi is working on the same thing, potentially launching the feature for the Xiaomi 18 Pro.
For the uninitiated, the Samsung Privacy Display is a built-in feature that blocks visibility of the screen at certain angles. If you’re not looking at the screen from the front, all you’ll see is a black void. It’s a built-in version of those protective screens that you can buy separately. Besides adding a nice layer of protection against scratches, it’s also meant to prevent snooping from your shoulder.
Samsung’s take was widely acclaimed for being insanely useful. When it arrives, this feature will be a godsend to more brands. Even better, users will no longer need to rely on third-party screen just to enjoy the privacy.
That said, there’s still no indication as to when these features will arrive on either Honor or Xiaomi.
SEE ALSO: LE SSERAFIM Chaewon flexes Galaxy S26 Ultra Privacy Display
Meta does not have the most stellar of reputations. Despite offering the world’s most popular social media platforms, the company, through its various experiments throughout the years, continuously proves that it has other priorities than just providing the best for its users. Today, another reported experiment wants to take Meta to a new market that its users might fall into: the prediction market.
If you haven’t heard of the prediction market, consider yourself lucky. These apps, such as Kalshi, are basically just gambling platforms without the glitz of playing cards or the rigor of the stock market. Users gamble on mundane circumstances like the weather and more serious ones like war.
Today, as reported by The New York Times, Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly asking Meta to develop a prediction app of its own. Interestingly, the experimental app, supposedly called Arena, will use virtual points, rather than real money. However, Meta has not ruled out real money — and hence, real gambling — in the future.
Meta is entering the industry at an extremely volatile time. The world is starting to crack down on prediction markets. Some users, for example, have been accused of using insider information to get easy wins on these platforms. Some markets have also accused these platforms of subverting anti-gambling laws.
SEE ALSO: Meta adds subscriptions for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp
Apps
foodpanda relaunches cult-favorite roast chicken brand after 8 years of persistent search queries
Heritage chain Andok’s returns to the platform, driven entirely by long-term user analytics.
In the world of e-commerce and food delivery, platform algorithms usually dictate what consumers see. But occasionally, consumer behavior is so relentless that it shapes the platform’s strategy.
In a move driven entirely by long-term user analytics, foodpanda has officially relaunched Andok’s, one of the Philippines’ most iconic heritage rotisserie chains, back onto its platform after an eight-year absence.
The search bar as a digital wishlist
The decision to ink the partnership wasn’t just a marketing play. It was a response to an ongoing data anomaly. Despite being offline from the foodpanda platform for eight years, Andok’s consistently ranked as one of the most-searched merchants on the app.
Year after year, users treated the empty search results page as an unofficial wishlist. This persistent search intent gave foodpanda a clear, data-backed signal of pent-up demand.
Prior to the official digital rollout, teaser campaigns on social media validated this demand, generating thousands of organic interactions from users anticipating the return.
Bridging heritage flavor with digital infrastructure
For foodpanda, onboarding a merchant with this level of built-in demand fits its broader strategy of marketplace optimization and hyper-local network expansion, turning a heritage brand into another data point for how legacy retail plugs into delivery infrastructure.
For Andok’s, the integration works as a fast track to digital scale. A legacy quick-service chain skips years of independent app development and reaches customers already using foodpanda’s existing logistics network, on a platform they already check daily.
Andok’s built its following on charcoal spit-roasted chicken, a slow-cooked technique that’s stayed largely unchanged since the brand’s early days, alongside seasoned grilled pork belly.
More recently, the Dokito line extended that following into crispy fried chicken and chicken burgers, broadening the brand’s appeal beyond its original rotisserie format and giving foodpanda a menu with both heritage pull and everyday fast-food convenience.
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