Since it first hit British roads in 2012, Uber has been a digital-only service, with ordering, tracking and payment all taking place on the company’s app.
Now though, a major part of this process is going analog, as the ride-sharing firm has announced it’s accepting cash for the first time ever.
Following trials in Birmingham, Stoke, Nottingham and Leicester, cash payments have been extended to all UK cities except London, where the move is being reviewed by authorities.
Customers can select cash as their payment option on the app, requesting rides as normal but handing over physical money at the end of the journey instead of the usual automatic card transaction.
However, drivers can choose to opt out of this payment method altogether – for example, if they’re worried about the safety of carrying notes and coins or the potential for passengers to attempt to evade fares by running away (known as ‘bilking’).
For those that do take cash, they’ll log and rate the trip on the app as usual – and if they don’t have enough change, it will be credited to the customer through their Uber account.
It comes after a report from the Treasury Committee suggested vulnerable people are at risk of social exclusion as the country transitions further towards a cashless economy.
While it stopped short of recommending a change in the law, it said ‘there may come a time in the future’ where cash acceptance is mandated, ‘if appropriate safeguards have not been implemented’ for those who cannot pay by card.
Committee chair, Dame Meg Hillier, commented: ‘The Government is in the dark on how widely cash is being accepted and that is completely unsustainable… this needs to be a wake-up call.’
Ron Delnevo from the Payment Choice Alliance claimed Uber’s latest move ‘demonstrates that they now believe in the future of cash in the UK’, bringing its operations into line with other countries where it allows cash payments.
A spokesperson for the company echoed this in a statement, saying: ‘We believe that movement should be accessible to everyone, so following successful pilots in some UK cities over the last 18 months, we have decided to give passengers outside of London the option to pay for trips with cash.’
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