Fave
Fave runs a deals, cashback, and rewards app in Malaysia and Singapore, owned by Pine Labs.
On the record
Checkpoint: 12-month window for Pine Labs to extend its OpenAI agentic commerce rollout from India into Malaysia or Singapore through Fave
The call
Fave sits as a shrinking, non-core unit inside a newly public Pine Labs, losing merchants and staff to bigger rewards apps while its parent's AI plans stay focused on India.
Fave is a cashback and rewards app that lets shoppers get discounts at partner stores and online. It is easy to replace because bigger companies like Grab, Shopee, and Lazada already offer the same deals built into their apps, and new AI shopping assistants (like ChatGPT) can now find deals automatically without needing Fave at all. The company has been losing merchants fast (from 40,000 stores down to 10,000) and hasn't launched anything new in over a year. The one thing that could turn it around is if its parent company, Pine Labs, takes the AI shopping technology it built in India and uses it to lock in Fave's merchants in Malaysia and Singapore with real money and support within the next year. If that does not happen, Fave will keep shrinking.
Why
01
AI pressure: Pine Labs' own OpenAI-powered agentic commerce stack. Parent Pine Labs is building AI agent checkout tech in India first; whether it ever reaches Fave in Malaysia or Singapore is undecided. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: ShopBack, Grab, and Shopee/Lazada loyalty programs. Fave's merchant base shrank from 40,000 to about 10,000 while ShopBack, Grab, and Shopee grew their own cashback and rewards programs around it. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Pine Labs' payments infrastructure keeps Fave funded and running, but nothing stops merchants or shoppers from leaving for bigger rewards apps.
What would change this call
Whether Pine Labs ships its OpenAI agentic-commerce stack into Malaysia/Singapore via Fave within 12 months. Would show Fave getting real capital and product investment instead of being harvested.
Fave's merchant count in future disclosures or app-store/press data. Stabilization would signal the decline is reversing; further drop confirms continued erosion.
Pine Labs' post-IPO earnings commentary on its international/SEA segment. Would reveal whether Fave is being funded for growth or scaled back further.
Fave's merchant count in future disclosures or app-store/press data. Stabilization would signal the decline is reversing; further drop confirms continued erosion.
Pine Labs' post-IPO earnings commentary on its international/SEA segment. Would reveal whether Fave is being funded for growth or scaled back further.
Key numbers
- Merchant count fell from ~40,000 to ~10,000
- Pine Labs IPO raised $440M, below its 2022 $5B+ valuation
- Fave ranked #7 in Singapore loyalty app survey, behind ShopBack, Grab
Named risks
- Merchant base fell ~75%, from ~40,000 (2021) to ~10,000 (2026).
- No major Fave-branded product launch in 18+ months as of July 2026, non-core within Pine Labs.
- AI shopping agents could disintermediate deal discovery, Fave's core consumer hook.
- Southeast Asia fintech funding softened 3-4% in H1 2026, tightening capital environment.
- Ranks below six competitors in home-market consumer recognition (2024 Singapore survey).
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| ShopBack | gaining on | Hired ex-Fave MD Feb 2026; claims 60M+ shoppers across 13 markets vs Fave's 10,000+ merchants |
| Grab (GrabRewards/GrabPay) | losing to | Ranked above Fave in June 2024 Singapore loyalty survey |
| Shopee/Lazada rewards | losing to | Both ranked above Fave in June 2024 YouGov Singapore survey |
| Atome | contesting | Launched cross-border SG-MY BNPL shopping Feb 10, 2026, overlapping Fave's cashback/rewards niche |
Questions people ask
- Is Fave profitable in 2026?
- No standalone profitability figures are disclosed; Fave's financials are consolidated into parent Pine Labs, which contributed only about 15% of Q1FY26 group revenue from international units including Fave, as reported at Pine Labs' November 14, 2025 IPO.
- Who owns Fave now?
- Pine Labs, an India-based merchant-commerce fintech, acquired Fave for about $45 million in a cash-and-equity deal on April 13, 2021. Fave remains a wholly owned subsidiary; Pine Labs itself went public on NSE/BSE on November 14, 2025.
- Is Fave losing ground to ShopBack?
- Yes. In February 2026 ShopBack hired ex-Fave managing director Aik-Phong Ng to lead its expansion into Australia, Thailand and Taiwan, while ShopBack claims 60 million-plus shoppers across 13 markets versus Fave's stated 10,000-plus merchants in 2026.
- Could AI shopping agents replace Fave?
- Fave's core hook, deal discovery and cashback, is exactly what AI shopping agents target. Parent Pine Labs announced an OpenAI 'agentic commerce' partnership on February 18, 2026, but it is explicitly India-focused, with no confirmed extension to Fave's Malaysia/Singapore app yet.
- What happened to Fave in Indonesia?
- Fave exited the Indonesian market entirely in April 2023, discontinuing voucher and eCard sales there and shifting remaining services to Pine Labs and sister entities, part of a broader retrenchment after its 2021 acquisition.
- Who is Fave's biggest competitor in Singapore?
- A June 18, 2024 YouGov survey ranked Fave behind ShopBack, Shopee Members Club, GrabRewards, CapitaStar, KrisFlyer and Lazada Rewards in Singapore consumer loyalty-app recognition, placing it seventh among major rewards programs.
Timeline
- 2026-02-18Pine Labs announces OpenAI 'Agentic Commerce' partnership, initially India-focused
- 2026-02-10Atome launches cross-border Singapore-Malaysia BNPL shopping feature
- 2026-02-06ShopBack hires ex-Fave MD Aik-Phong Ng for APAC expansion
- 2025-12-04Fave Google Play listing shows 1M+ downloads, 4.2-star rating
- 2025-11-14Parent Pine Labs IPOs on NSE/BSE, raises about $440M
- 2024-06-18YouGov survey ranks Fave below six Singapore loyalty rivals
- 2023-04-01Fave exits Indonesia market entirely
- 2023-02-01Joel Neoh steps down as CEO; Chen Chow becomes CEO
- 2021-04-13Pine Labs acquires Fave for about $45 million
- 2016-07-01KFit pivots to Fave after acquiring Groupon's MY/SG/ID operations
Revision history
26 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Fave - Your All-in-One Lifestyle & Savings Companion
- Pine Labs acquires Southeast Asian startup Fave for $45 million (2021-04-13)
- Pine Labs acquires digital payments start-up Fave in $46m deal (2021-04-16)
- Fave (company)
- Pine Labs gets warm market welcome on $440M India IPO despite a valuation trim (2025-11-14)
- gurufocus.com (2026-07-26)
- Cashback & Savings, Apps on Google Play (2025-12-04)
- Singapore's top customer reward apps (2024-06-18)
- Highlights: Pine Labs sees strong day-1 performance (2025-11-14)
- ShopBack appoints ex-Fave exec (2026-02-06)
- Atome enables Singapore users to shop in Malaysia via BNPL app (2026-02-10)
- OpenAI deepens India push with Pine Labs fintech partnership (2026-02-18)