It was proven quite a while back that Uber does not want to stay in the ride-hailing industry. Even as the firm has made its way deeper into ride-hailing sector, it has been exploring other ventures. The latest venture is called Uber Money and the company is planning to provide a variety of financial services through this brand-new division. According to the new plan, this division would be overseeing the financial services that Uber is planning to offer, including but not limited to a mobile bank account, credit cards, debit cards and services based on digital wallets.
According to the head of the division, Peter Hazlehurst, the primary objective of Uber Money would be the creation of a mobile bank account for all its drivers across the world. This way, the drivers would be able to get their payment transferred to the account after every trip is completed. This would offer them a greater amount of mobility and flexibility, while getting such an Uber bank a wider user-base from the very start. It is estimated that more than 4 million drivers would benefit from this endeavor. As far as the philosophy is concerned, Uber believes in financial services that are quite inclusive.
“We wanted to help everybody understand that there’s a new part of Uber that’s focused on financial services and that has a mission of giving people access to the type of financial services they were excluded from,” said Peter Hazlehurst in a phone interview, as quoted by CNBC. The financial services would be more than a way to earn extra money for Uber. If the company manages to offer its mobile bank account to the drivers, driver retention rates and loyalty could be increased. Getting rid of financial intermediaries would make it easier for the company to make amends, believes Uber.