Grab today launched Grab Asenso: A Digital Diskarte Program, a nationwide push to speed up the digital shift of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) outside Metro Manila. The program combines a multi-city Learning Caravan with the rollout of mobile-first merchant tools inside the GrabMerchant app, giving entrepreneurs practical skills and plug-and-play infrastructure to grow online.
MSMEs are the backbone of Philippine commerce — 99.59% of all establishments and roughly 65% of jobs — yet many are still early in their digital journey. The country’s shift to cash-lite is now mainstream — 57.4% of retail payments by volume and 59% by value were digital in 2024, driven by QR PH and instant transfers — making merchant readiness urgent for inclusive growth.
Supported by the local government units, DICT Regional Office, and Grab merchant-partners, the inaugural leg kicked off in Angeles City and will expand to Cavite, Baguio, Bohol, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Bacolod, and Cagayan de Oro in the coming months.
Grab Philippines Vice-President for Cities CJ Lacsican shares, “Progress happens when every entrepreneur, regardless of business size, can fully participate in the digital economy. Grab Asenso goes beyond seminars. We pair hands-on, mobile-based learning with ready-to-use tools — marketing, payments, logistics, and an AI-copilot — so MSMEs can find consumers, run leaner operations, and scale their business faster. When small businesses thrive, supply chains strengthen, jobs multiply, and local economies become more vibrant and more resilient.”
Grab Philippines Vice-President for Cities CJ Lacsican
The Grab Asenso Program has also earned the endorsement of the DICT, with Director of the ICT Industry Development Bureau Emmy Lou Versoza-Delfin underscoring the program’s alignment with the agency’s digital livelihood agenda. “The Department of Information and Communications Technology is deeply honored and excited to be a part of the Grab Asenso Learning Caravan. This initiative is more than just an event; it’s a testament to our shared belief in the power of digital technology to transform lives and build a brighter future for the Philippines. Grab Asenso is a powerful display of digital bayanihan — a modern-day take on our cherished tradition of community cooperation. The DICT and our valued private sector partners like Grab have come together to bridge the digital divide and bring opportunities directly to your doorstep.”
What’s different about Grab Asenso
Unlike training-only initiatives or tools-only platforms, Asenso links three essentials in one track: skills + tools + access to demand.
Asenso Learning Caravan: Mobile-First Capacity Building
Designed for real-world use on a smartphone, the Caravan delivers concise modules that MSMEs can apply same-day:
Mobile-First Digital Marketing. Make and measure social posts, promos, and storefront updates directly from a phone; use basic analytics to improve reach and repeat orders.
AI 101 for MSMEs. Work with prompt templates to draft product descriptions, promo captions, menu updates, and basic customer insights in minutes — inside GrabMerchant.
Financial Growth Planning. Use payout data to set weekly targets, track unit economics, and manage cash flow for healthier working capital.
This approach addresses the adoption gap: 77% of Filipino MSMEs want to use more digital tools, but only 16% actively do so, largely due to skills and perceived complexity — precisely the friction points Asenso removes.
Asenso Tools: Practical Infrastructure Embedded in the Grab Merchant app
Payment Solutions: Tap & Scan To Pay turns any NFC-enabled Android phone or merchant device into a checkout terminal — accepting tap-to-pay cards and QR PH. Quick activation, competitive fees, seamless payouts, and tap-to-reconcile reports help cash-flow discipline. Registered merchants are also automatically enrolled in the Income Protection Coverage, which safeguards daily revenue against calamity-related disruptions. The rise of merchant QR acceptance and SoftPOS globally underscores the timing. The technology will mark its first pilot rollout in the country in Angeles City starting Q4 2025.
Grab Merchant AI Assistant (BETA) is a built-in AI copilot that suggests actions from context (e.g., “run a rainy-day bundle,” “reorder best-sellers”), and surfaces simple customer trends — with multi-language support to lower the learning curve.
Together, these tools lower entry barriers and speed time-to-impact for thin-margin entrepreneurs, helping merchants reach Grab’s highly active user base.
Public-Private Alignment
Grab Asenso is a flagship public-private partnership program, designed as a Digital Diskarte Program to accelerate the digitalization of livelihoods and enterprises across the Philippines. Endorsed by agencies like the DICT and local governments, the program aligns with national priorities on digital entrepreneurship and inclusive growth — ensuring that MSMEs and traditional transport professionals gain both the skills and the tools to thrive in a fast-changing economy.
“Grab Asenso solidifies our covenant with government and communities: that progress in the digital economy must be shared, inclusive, and within reach of every entrepreneur, in every city,” Lacsican adds.
Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by publishing their stories on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.
Join us on Viber at https://bit.ly/3hv6bLA to get more updates and subscribe to BusinessWorld’s titles and get exclusive content through www.bworld-x.com.
