NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Uber today announced that it will begin testing a cash payments system in Hyderabad, India, marking a global first for the credit card-based mobile app. In a blog postpublished today, the company described the initiative as an “experiment” in a part of the world where many consumers prefer to pay for services in cash.

“Tradition dictates that cash plays a big role for Indian consumers,” Siddharth Shanker, GM of Uber Hyderabad, said in an email statement. “As a data-driven technology company that has seen strong growth in India we feel this is the right time to explore the extent of this predisposition when it comes to our service.”