Uber is allowing UK customers to pay in cash, however the move won’t be coming to Australia. (Source: Getty)
Uber Australia will not be following in the footsteps of its UK counterpart anytime soon. The British version of the ride-sharing and food delivery service has revealed a significant change in the way it will operate.
After trials in several locations over the past 18 months, Uber UK has decided to allow customers to pay with cash. The new frontier will apply to all cities across the UK, except for London.
But a spokesperson for Uber Australia told Yahoo Finance there are no plans to bring this idea Down Under at the moment.
Uber’s whole operation has been cashless up until now.
Whether you were trying to get from A to B or get food delivered to your door, no physical money would ever exchange hands.
It has been done digitally, with Uber claiming the operation was safer for drivers and fostered a more casual experience by avoiding the transactional nature of handing over cash.
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Under this new-look system, drivers will be able to opt in or out, depending on whether they want to accept and carry cash.
“We believe that movement should be accessible to everyone,” a spokesperson said.
When you request a ride in the UK, you can now press the cash option.
If the driver doesn’t have the correct change, the money will be given to you as a credit in your Uber account, meaning you wouldn’t be able to use that money for other purposes.
At the moment, the cash option is only available for ride-sharing and isn’t accessible for Uber Eats or other forms of transport.
London authorities are currently reviewing the system, and it could open up to residents in the megacity in the future.
The move has been welcomed by Brits, who called it common sense to have cash back as an option when getting around.
“Back to nature somehow is quite convenient to get around and the satisfaction is different from the plastic,” said one person.
“Absolute win from Uber on allowing cash payments. I will use Uber a lot more now,” added another.
A third wrote: “Finally, some good sense—cash still keeps the power in the passenger’s hands, doesn’t it?”
It comes as the UK grapples with a potential mandate that would force businesses to always carry and accept cash.
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