Uber wants to accelerate consumer spending so it is launching Uber Cash, a platform that allows customers to pay for services, like rides and food, across the Uber ecosystem.
As tech giant Uber gears up for its IPO in 2019, it is trying fortify its empire and create a complete and wholesome experience for its customers. In lieu of this, the company recently added a stored-value account feature – Uber Cash – to its mobile app-based platform.
According to payments technology news website PYMNTS, “the new service, Uber Cash, allows customers to add funds to a stored-value account that they can use to pay for services across the Uber ecosystem, such as ride-sharing, food delivery via Uber Eats, and bike-sharing via JUMP Bikes, which Uber acquired in April.”
In an interview with PYMNTS, Rob Daniel, Uber’s Financial Products Lead, resisted calling the new service a “mobile wallet” as the stored value accumulated by customers can only be used within the Uber ecosystem.
Uber Cash offers users a 5 percent discount and multiple spending incentives. For example, a consumer who spends $95 actually gets $100 on their account. The program offers a 2 percent cash back for shoppers using a debit card or bank account to load an Amazon stored-value account. The feature also enables users to store Uber gift cards, loyalty rewards and redemptions.
“Uber Cash is more than an imitation of Amazon’s cash back rewards,” PaymentsSource reported, referring to the Amazon Prime Reload rewards program launched last year. “If successful, Uber could recreate the Amazon Prime effect of getting consumers into its system for one perk (i.e., two-day shipping or an exclusive TV series) and then piling on incentives and services to keep them engaged,” the report said.
In an interview with Reuters Wednesday, Uber CEO Dara Khorowshahi said the company is “on track” to launch an initial public offering next year, and that “the growth rates for a company” of Uber’s size are “unrivaled.
What started out as a ride hailing service has since evolved into a bike sharing service, Christmas tree delivery service, food delivery service, hot air balloon rides, auto leasing, credit card service, Uber Cash and is hoping to introduce its own air transportation shuttle.
The company generated $8 billion in global revenue last year and is predicted to cross $47 Billion by 2020. Entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban of Shark Tank fame says Uber will produce “the world’s first trillionaires,” but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
