Uber makes major change to how customers pay for rides in UK first
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. More Trending
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.
View More »
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.'
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Trump reveals how Americans can score a free $1,000 'MAGA baby account'
President Donald Trump promoted a key aspect of his 'big beautiful bill' as the Senate continues to debate the legislation: $1,000 investment accounts for babies born during his tenure in office. The 'Trump accounts' will be given to every U.S. citizen born after December 31, 2024, and before January 1, 2029. The government's $1,000 contribution would be placed in an index fund tied to the overall stock market and managed by the child's legal guardians. The accounts 'will make it possible for countless American children to have a strong start in life at no cost to the American taxpayer, absolutely no cost. It's going to have a huge impact,' the president said during an event at the White House on Monday. Named after himself, Trump called the accounts a 'pro-family' initiative as he works to rally senators to support the legislation. It's not the first time that Trump has made sure it's his name that Americans see on a financial statement. He put his name on the stimulus checks the government sent to millions of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. House Republicans changed the name of the program from 'MAGA accounts' to 'Trump accounts' before the bill's passage last month. The Trump accounts will be funded by contributions from private businesses. The heads of Dell, Uber, Altimeter Capital, ARM Corp, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Robinhood and Goldman Sachs jointed the president for the announcement. The accounts will also be accessible for additional financial contributions throughout the child's life: from family, friends, parents, employers, or other entities. 'It is a pro family initiative that will help millions of Americans harness the strength of our economy to lift up the next generation, and they'll really be getting a big jump on life, especially if we get a little bit lucky with some of the numbers and the economies,' Trump noted. The recipient of the account could access some of the money when they turn 18 for things like education, training or a first-time home purchase. The full balance would be available at age 30. Democrats are critical of the legislation, which they say will remove millions from Medicaid and add billions to the federal deficit. Some Republican senators, especially those who represent states with large rural areas, also have expressed concern about the cuts to Medicaid. The Senate can still amend the bill, which, if that happens, it would need to be re-approved by the House before it could go to Trump for his signature.
North Wales Chronicle
27 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Spending review is ‘settled', says Downing Street
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce funding increases for the NHS, schools and defence along with a number of infrastructure projects on Wednesday, as she shares out some £113 billion freed up by looser borrowing rules. But other areas could face cuts as she seeks to balance manifesto commitments with more recent pledges, such as a hike in defence spending, while meeting her fiscal rules that promise to match day-to-day spending with revenues. On Monday morning, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was the last minister still to reach a deal with the Treasury, with reports suggesting greater police spending would mean a squeeze on other areas of her department's budget. Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'The spending review is settled, we will be focused on investing in Britain's renewal so that all working people are better off. 'The first job of the Government was to stabilise the British economy and the public finances, and now we move into a new chapter to deliver the promise and change.' The Government has committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product on defence from April 2027, with a goal of increasing that to 3% over the next parliament – a timetable which could stretch to 2034. Ms Reeves' plans will also include an £86 billion package for science and technology research and development. Last week the Chancellor admitted that she had been forced to turn down requests for funding for projects she would have wanted to back, amid the Whitehall spending wrangling. Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan's office is concerned that Wednesday's announcement will include no new funding or projects for London. The mayor had been looking to secure extensions to the Docklands Light Railway and Bakerloo line on the Underground, along with the power to introduce a tourist levy and a substantial increase in funding for the Metropolitan Police. A source close to the mayor said on Monday that ministers 'must not return to the damaging, anti-London approach of the last government', adding this would harm both London's public services and 'jobs and growth across the country'. They said: 'Sadiq will always stand up for London and has been clear it would be unacceptable if there are no major infrastructure projects for London announced in the spending review and the Met doesn't get the funding it needs. 'We need backing for London as a global city that's pro-business, safe and well-connected.'
North Wales Chronicle
27 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Labour MPs in call for benefits U-turn after change to winter fuel payment cut
Ms Reeves' £1.25 billion plan unveiled on Monday will see automatic payments worth up to £300 given to pensioners with an income less than £35,000 a year. It followed last year's decision to strip pensioners of the previously universal scheme, unless they claimed certain benefits, such as pension credit. Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, warned ministers they risked making a 'similar mistake' if they tighten the eligibility criteria for personal independence payments, known as Pip. Leeds East MP Richard Burgon called on pensions minister Torsten Bell to 'listen now' so that backbenchers can help the Government 'get it right'. In her warning, Ms Whittome said she was not asking Mr Bell 'to keep the status quo or not to support people into work' and added: 'I'm simply asking him not to cut disabled people's benefits.' The pensions minister, who works in both the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions, replied that the numbers of people receiving Pip is set to 'continue to grow every single year in the years ahead, after the changes set out by this Government'. In its Pathways to Work green paper, the Government proposed a new eligibility requirement, so Pip claimants must score a minimum of four points on one daily living activity, such as preparing food, washing and bathing, using the toilet or reading, to receive the daily living element of the benefit. 'This means that people who only score the lowest points on each of the Pip daily living activities will lose their entitlement in future,' the document noted. Mr Burgon told the Commons: 'As a Labour MP who voted against the winter fuel payment cuts, I very much welcome this change in position, but can I urge the minister and the Government to learn the lessons of this and one of the lessons is, listen to backbenchers? 'If the minister and the Government listen to backbenchers, that can help the Government get it right, help the Government avoid getting it wrong, and so what we don't want is to be here in a year or two's time with a minister sent to the despatch box after not listening to backbenchers on disability benefit cuts, making another U-turn again.' Mr Bell replied that it was 'important to listen to backbenchers, to frontbenchers'. Opposition MPs cheered when the minister added: 'It's even important to listen to members opposite on occasion.' Liberal Democrat MP Mike Martin warned that 'judging by the questions from his own backbenchers, it seems that we're going to have further U-turns on Pip and on the two-child benefit cap'. The Tunbridge Wells MP asked Mr Bell: 'To save his colleagues anguish, will he let us know now when those U-turns are coming?' The minister replied: 'What Labour MPs want to see is a Labour Government bringing down child poverty, and that's what we're going to do 'What Labour MPs want to see is a Government that can take the responsible decisions, including difficult ones on tax and on means testing the winter fuel payment so that we can invest in public services and turn around the disgrace that has become Britain's public realm for far too long.' Conservative former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey had earlier asked whether the Chancellor, 'now that she and the Government have got a taste for climbdowns', would 'reverse the equally ridiculous national insurance contribution (Nic) rises, which is destroying jobs, and the inheritance tax changes, which is destroying farms and family businesses'. Mr Bell said: 'This is a party opposite that has learned no lessons whatsoever, that thinks it can come to this chamber, call for more spending, oppose every tax rise and expect to ever be taken seriously again – they will not.' Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey pressed the Government to make changes to the two-child benefit cap, which means most parents cannot claim for more than two children. 'It's the right thing to do to lift pensioners out of poverty, and I'm sure that both he and the Chancellor also agree that it's right to lift children out of poverty,' the Salford MP told the Commons. 'So can he reassure this House that he and the Chancellor are doing all they can to outline plans to lift the two-child cap on universal credit as soon as possible?' Mr Bell replied: 'All levers to reduce child poverty are on the table. 'The child poverty strategy will be published in the autumn.' He added: 'If we look at who is struggling most, having to turn off their heating, it is actually younger families with children that are struggling with that. 'So she's absolutely right to raise this issue, it is one of the core purposes of this Government, we cannot carry on with a situation where large families, huge percentages of them, are in poverty.'
