Grab (Vietnam)
Dec 4, 2022, 7:30 pm
#17
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DFW
Posts: 1,145
You have potentially two problems here - both or one of them completely block the transaction going thru.
The first problem is with Grab geofencing - not allowing you to open/use the card outside of their market areas. This is relatively easy to fix - go to your phone app settings, find Grab and deny location access - set it to Never. When you open the app next time it will complain that it can't access the location, click Cancel and instead select a location, you can set SGN for example. The app should work fine after that. Obviously, you need to change location access to Allow once you are in Vietnam.
The second problem, as already mentioned is with 3D Security - 3DS, basically 2FA, and the second factor for cards issued in Asia is 6/8 digit SMS code sent to the phone as an authentication. US issued card use a localized version of 3DS without SMS, which is done online. If you have ever seen the 'Verified by VISA' or 'Secured by Mastercard' pop-up/flash page when you made an online transaction with your US-issued card - this is it.
How to fix the above - you need to call your card issuer and ask them to put your call to 'VISA security/Verified by VISA' department - is not the card issuing bank blocking the transaction, it is done by VISA. Once you are on phone with VISA department (expect to go thru quite a serious KYC - they will ask questions from your credit history/accounts, I was asked for example what is the county's name where billing ZIP code of the card is) tell them that you are trying to make online purchase with an Asian vendor which asks for OTP and ask them to whitelist Grab in their system. They can do it while you are on phone and then once confirmed that they whilelisted Grab, you can open the app and add your card there and see how it works.
Background: I have been using Grab for >6 years and continue using it while still in the US to make some bill payments in Singapore. I have and used Chase Sapphire and Chase United Business cards with Grab without much problem by using both fixes described above:
The first problem is with Grab geofencing - not allowing you to open/use the card outside of their market areas. This is relatively easy to fix - go to your phone app settings, find Grab and deny location access - set it to Never. When you open the app next time it will complain that it can't access the location, click Cancel and instead select a location, you can set SGN for example. The app should work fine after that. Obviously, you need to change location access to Allow once you are in Vietnam.
The second problem, as already mentioned is with 3D Security - 3DS, basically 2FA, and the second factor for cards issued in Asia is 6/8 digit SMS code sent to the phone as an authentication. US issued card use a localized version of 3DS without SMS, which is done online. If you have ever seen the 'Verified by VISA' or 'Secured by Mastercard' pop-up/flash page when you made an online transaction with your US-issued card - this is it.
How to fix the above - you need to call your card issuer and ask them to put your call to 'VISA security/Verified by VISA' department - is not the card issuing bank blocking the transaction, it is done by VISA. Once you are on phone with VISA department (expect to go thru quite a serious KYC - they will ask questions from your credit history/accounts, I was asked for example what is the county's name where billing ZIP code of the card is) tell them that you are trying to make online purchase with an Asian vendor which asks for OTP and ask them to whitelist Grab in their system. They can do it while you are on phone and then once confirmed that they whilelisted Grab, you can open the app and add your card there and see how it works.
Background: I have been using Grab for >6 years and continue using it while still in the US to make some bill payments in Singapore. I have and used Chase Sapphire and Chase United Business cards with Grab without much problem by using both fixes described above:
Dec 6, 2022, 6:19 pm
#18
Join Date: May 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: UA-Gold AA-Gold, Marriott Lifetime Tit. Elite
Posts: 299
Yes, kudos/hat tip to Invisible. Just followed that process and the Venture X was added. I read on another thread about doing it while in the country, however, adds stress and "hope" one of the cards you brought with...works.
Thanks for enabling my upcoming trip to be that less worrisome.
Side note: I think a reason some CC companies don't allow text verification is b/c of spoofing/cloning someone's phone to receive said message, etc. It's in part why you're starting to see 2FA being pushed to consumers. That said, Americans don't like anything which makes it more difficult to spend $$, so rather than be secure, they'd rather be blissfully unaware While not 2FA, the newest Pixel is rolling out VPN, so that could be a future way to get around turning off location services for the app.
Thanks for enabling my upcoming trip to be that less worrisome.
Side note: I think a reason some CC companies don't allow text verification is b/c of spoofing/cloning someone's phone to receive said message, etc. It's in part why you're starting to see 2FA being pushed to consumers. That said, Americans don't like anything which makes it more difficult to spend $$, so rather than be secure, they'd rather be blissfully unaware While not 2FA, the newest Pixel is rolling out VPN, so that could be a future way to get around turning off location services for the app.
Dec 6, 2022, 9:18 pm
#19
Community Director Emerita
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,782
We're in Vietnam now and have successfully used Grab both to order food and to use a car. We had a challenge in Da Nang where we couldn't bring Grab up. We had a strong cellular connection but not wifi. Fortunately we were able to grab taxis at a cost that was several times the cost of Grab. But paying $8 instead of $2 (for example) is not a bad thing when it's raining and we'd like to move on.
Dec 14, 2022, 7:09 pm
#21
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,907
P.S. One thing about grab in Vietnam and Indonesia - the driver might be a completely different person than the one shown in the app. It happened to me a couple of times. It does not necessarily mean scamming or something bad - one time to was the driver's wife, the second time - his friend or relative. If you are not comfortable, just skip/cancel.
Also, take the expected time of arrival with a big grain of salt, especially for airport pickup. In our case, 10 min ended up being 35.
Dec 17, 2022, 10:27 pm
#23
Join Date: Dec 2022
Location: Naarm VIC
Posts: 31
5 years ago it could. I remember that the app asks to pick up the exit door number.
P.S. One thing about grab in Vietnam and Indonesia - the driver might be a completely different person than the one shown in the app. It happened to me a couple of times. It does not necessarily mean scamming or something bad - one time to was the driver's wife, the second time - his friend or relative. If you are not comfortable, just skip/cancel.
Also, take the expected time of arrival with a big grain of salt, especially for airport pickup. In our case, 10 min ended up being 35.
P.S. One thing about grab in Vietnam and Indonesia - the driver might be a completely different person than the one shown in the app. It happened to me a couple of times. It does not necessarily mean scamming or something bad - one time to was the driver's wife, the second time - his friend or relative. If you are not comfortable, just skip/cancel.
Also, take the expected time of arrival with a big grain of salt, especially for airport pickup. In our case, 10 min ended up being 35.
Dec 18, 2022, 7:06 pm
#24
Community Director Emerita
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,782
We tried to get a car at the International Terminal. We got the notice that a car accepted but we could never find it. We ended up taking a taxi which was very affordable. We were charged 10,000 VND or $.42 for not meeting the Grab car. We liked using Grab a lot but it could be tricky getting it to the address where we were. More than not, the driver only accepted cash.
Dec 19, 2022, 8:20 am
#25
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 64
We tried to get a car at the International Terminal. We got the notice that a car accepted but we could never find it. We ended up taking a taxi which was very affordable. We were charged 10,000 VND or $.42 for not meeting the Grab car. We liked using Grab a lot but it could be tricky getting it to the address where we were. More than not, the driver only accepted cash.
Dec 20, 2022, 9:13 am
#26
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 187
As for the airport, I didn't have Grab set up in Bangkok, but I used Grab with no hiccups at HAN, SGN and DPS.
Dec 20, 2022, 9:14 am
#27
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 187
In Vietnam, I had once have the same driver as matching in the photo but in a different car! Since we wanted to go a lot further than his usual passengers, he decided to swap to a bigger car. I had my doubts at first but he knew exactly the destination as what I put in the app and there was no other issues.
Dec 21, 2022, 7:07 pm
#30
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,907
Sure. Grab is (was - no idea what the situation looks like now) a good option to go to the city from Changi, however, MRT is good as well. Taxis now charge $8 surcharge when leaving from the airport. The same applies to the city center where $5 surcharge applies.
Just watch for surge pricing
Just watch for surge pricing