Uber set to start accepting cash, mobile payments in Kenya

It’s 2 am on Saturday morning and you are leaving the rave somewhere in Nairobi’s Westlands. You fish out your phone, and attempt to request an Uber. “Card rejected” reads the response. The bank just stood in the way of your and your money. Your card has been rejected. And of course Uber does not take Mpesa payments.

“Why couldn’t Uber just have talked to Safaricom and got them to implement an Mpesa API?” You think to yourself. “Or why couldn’t Uber just talk the banks into making card payments easier? It’s a B2B issue.”

If you are reading this in Kenya, your bank sucks.
It is not news to you. You know it. They know it. They know you know it. And your Mpesa agent knows it.

Card payments are one aspect where Kenyan banks are just plain pathetic. It gets even worse when you try to use your card to pay for an Uber.The terrible state of card payments in Kenya has no doubt held back the growth of the online taxi hailing service since it launched in Kenya last year.

Well, Uber announced this week that they are testing cash and mobile payments.
Last month Uber start accepting cash in the Indian city of Hyderabad. In April Uber started accepting cash payments for the first time for it’s rickshaw hailing service in another Indian market, Delhi.

You will now be able to pay cash for your ride. You may also pay through mobile money services such as MPesa and Airtel Money. Under the plan, each Uber driver will have an individual Lipa Na Mpesa till number or Airtel Money account.

Local competitors such as Rocket Internet backed Easy Taxi and Mara Moja already accept cash and mobile payments.