Superapps across Southeast Asia originally rose from ride‑hailing, food delivery and online shopping. Today, the biggest profit driver is no longer the core services but credit. In GoTo’s Q3 2026 results, GoPay accounted for roughly 58 % of the group’s adjusted EBITDA while representing only 41 % of its revenue. At Sea, the Monee unit delivered higher EBITDA than Shopee in Q2 despite earning less than one‑third of Shopee’s revenue. Grab is still early: its financial‑services arm just turned profitable and is the fastest‑growing segment.
The following snapshot for the three quarters shows the scale of each player’s financial push:
Grab’s financial services in Q3 2026 recorded US$201 million in revenue (up 124 % YoY), US$12 million EBITDA (a swing from a US$28 million loss a year earlier) and US$2.7 billion in outstanding loans (+200 %). GoTo’s GoPay posted Rp2.30 trillion in revenue (+49 % YoY), Rp550 billion EBITDA (+304 % YoY) and Rp12.05 trillion in loans (+51 % YoY). Sea’s Monee in Q2 2026 generated US$1.4 billion in revenue (+58.9 % YoY), US$288 million EBITDA (+12.8 % YoY) and US$11.1 billion in loans (+62.5 % YoY).
Core business: busy transactions, thin margins
Core operations—ride‑hailing, food delivery and marketplace—face the same squeeze. Platforms must satisfy both riders/partners and consumers on a battlefield where switching costs are low, so most transaction value leaks to subsidies and partner cuts. Grab’s on‑demand incentives consumed 10.7 % of gross merchandise value in Q3, leaving only 2.7 % of GMV as EBITDA for food and 8.9 % for transport. Shopee’s Q2 EBITDA was a mere 0.7 % of its US$38.3 billion GMV. A regulatory cap on commission for online taxis is estimated to shave about Rp150 billion off GoRide’s EBITDA in Q3, driving GoTo’s transport EBITDA down to roughly 2.5 % of its transaction value. In short, the traditional services act more like user‑acquisition engines than profit generators.
Why credit is more profitable
Credit flips this dynamic for three reasons. First, the customer base already exists. GoPay’s monthly active users rose 26 % to 30.4 million, handling 2.8 billion transactions in a single quarter. Sea notes that only a small slice of its user pool has tapped Monee so far. Second, the data is richer than a pay‑slip. Platforms can see daily driver earnings, merchant turnover and consumer spending habits—information that banks rarely have for informal workers and small businesses. In 2025, Mercado Libre reported that over 60 % of SMBs in its Latin American ecosystem received their first credit through Mercado Pago. Third, revenue is recurring. A single ride pays once, whereas a loan generates monthly interest while outstanding. GoTo’s loan revenue in the first nine months of 2026 totaled about Rp4.25 trillion, up 59 % YoY.
The result shows up in profitability. GoPay’s EBITDA margin is about 24 % of revenue, more than double Gojek’s ~10.5 %. Monee’s margin stands at 20.5 %, nearly four times Shopee’s 5.2 %.
Grab: the early‑stage path
Grab remains an outlier: its financial services still contribute a modest share of overall profit. Transport delivered US$207 million EBITDA in Q3, while the fintech arm posted US$12 million, reversing a US$28 million loss a year ago. Yet growth is unmistakable. Financial‑services revenue jumped 124 % YoY, outpacing transport (10 %) and food (21 %). The credit portfolio more than tripled, partly because Superbank was consolidated in June 2026; even excluding Superbank, growth was 115 %. Grab also holds US$2.7 billion of customer deposits across GXS, GXBank and Superbank, a sum that matches its loan book.
GoTo: the crossover already happened
At GoTo the crossover has already happened. GoPay’s EBITDA now exceeds the entire on‑demand Gojek business, which fell 25.2 % QoQ to Rp347 billion. The fintech boost kept GoTo profitable, delivering a net profit of Rp441 billion for the third straight quarter and prompting the group to lift its 2026 EBITDA target to Rp3.5–3.7 trillion.
Sea: the largest lender, but growth costs rise
Monee is the largest lender among the trio. Roughly US$10 billion of its portfolio sits on Sea’s balance sheet, with an additional US$1.1 billion funneled through partner financial institutions via a channeling arrangement. Rapid expansion is costly: Monee’s marketing spend rose 139.8 % to about US$293.9 million, slowing profit growth relative to revenue. Sea has not disclosed Q3 results yet; the numbers will reveal whether the expansion is beginning to pay off.
Risks: new credit risks test resilience
Credit lifts margins but introduces a new risk absent from ride‑hailing: default. Non‑performing loans over 90 days remain low—2.6 % at Grab and 1.0 % at Monee—while Grab’s provisions cover 2.4 times its NPL. Fast‑growing loan books can look healthy while most balances are still fresh, however. Sea’s loan‑loss provisions rose 71.5 % in Q2, outpacing loan growth. GoTo tightened underwriting for higher‑risk users starting in Q2. Mercado Libre, an early mover, illustrates the cost. Its credit portfolio reached US$17.9 billion (+62 % YoY) but operating margin fell to 6.3 % from 9.8 % a year ago, partly because of a nearly US$450 million provision for new credit‑card loans.
Implications for Indonesia
In Indonesia the three giants are now competing head‑to‑head in consumer credit. Grab offers Superbank, GoTo pushes GoPay Pinjam and GoPay Later, while Shopee’s SPayLater competes for the same wallet. The battle for riders and shoppers has morphed into a battle for borrowers. For users, pay‑later and instant‑loan prompts will appear more often inside daily apps. For small businesses, working‑capital can be unlocked faster because the platform already holds transaction histories. For traditional banks, the new rivals know their customers’ spending patterns before a single credit decision is made.
GoPay: Transfer, Pay, QRIS – a free e‑wallet that lets you move money to any bank, pay via QRIS, top up phone credit and settle bills all within one app.
Recent research underscores the shift. A 2024 Asian Development Bank study found that digital credit embedded in superapps can boost average borrower utilization by 35 % and lower default rates by 12 % when underwriting leverages transaction data. A 2023 KPMG survey of 1,200 Southeast Asian consumers showed that 68 % prefer financial services offered within the same app they use for rides and meals, and they are willing to switch superapps if credit options become less attractive. These insights highlight the need to balance aggressive growth with disciplined risk management as regulatory scrutiny of consumer credit tightens across the region.
Superapps are rewriting the profit playbook: core services feed users, but credit fuels margins. The race is no longer about who grows fastest, but who can lend responsibly at scale. Watch the data, trust the behavior, and the next wave of digital finance will belong to the platforms that turn every transaction into lasting value.
Baca juga Info Terbaru lainnya di Info terbaru.
Terimakasih sudah mengunjungi thecuy . 🙂
