Uber

Clearly communicating with customers on a powerful engagement platform is enough to increase customer confidence, writes Donika Kraeva, strategic communications manager at Dentacoin.

Despite the fervor over mobile wallets and banking, one day consumers may never need to open a dedicated bank or payment app.

Many of the factors that make Uber a natural fit for restaurant delivery don’t apply for groceries, according to Pradeep Elankumaran, founder and CEO of Farmstead.

The Merchant Customer Exchange may not have succeeded, but there is still value to the concept that drove the retailer-driven wallet, according to Brian Crist, chief payments counsel at Uber.

Uber’s corporate existence has jumped from one PR crisis to another, but the company has always been lauded for how seamlessly it handles payments. Until now.

It all comes down to convenience. New payment apps, like Venmo, and widely adopted mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay and Alipay, have made the consumer payment experience incredibly convenient, writes Ralph Dangelmaier, CEO of BlueSnap.

After an attempt to test the service with Postmates years ago, the coffee company is now teaming up with UberEats to test delivery in more than 100 locations in the Miami area.

Uber’s latest app update adds a stored-value account that incentivises riders to dive deeper into the Uber ecosystem — and away from their bank or mobile wallet provider.

Each of these wallets has developed its own personality — and, presumably, its own must-have feature to pull consumers and merchants away from the competition.

While mass transit has long been seen as a potential catalyst for changing payment habits, it's apps such as Uber, Grab and Lyft that are making the biggest difference in how people pay for transportation.

Digital payments are becoming a critical aspect of nearly every new service for merchants or financial institutions.

On the surface, the Uber-Venmo partnership sounds like a coup for Venmo, getting its brand into the app that defined the ride-sharing category. But the partnership is a much bigger deal for Uber.

The ride-hailing giant is the largest retailer to accept Venmo payments to date, and the move is an indication of how the platform plans to make money.

As alternative apps and fintechs make progress on mobile payments and digital finance, banks will need to turn to third parties and partnerships to stay relevant, writes Paul Wilmore, chief marketing officer of Barclays U.S. consumer business.

As the gig economy and prepaid cards draw more people into mainstream banking, the card providers are increasingly competing with one another instead of simply moving people away from cash.

Barclays is one of the top five cobranded card issuers in the U.S., but because the bank has no branch network it must use unconventional marketing approaches — and unique technological innovations — to win customers.

“We know we've said this before, but we do feel we've put this behind us now,” Joseph DePaolo said Thursday.

Driving an Uber car isn't like many other jobs, and drivers' payments and expenses are also very different. Much of those differences are built on Green Dot technology, and the bank is ready to see if its platform can work for more than just Uber.

Companies that aspire to be the Uber of their industry should take a second look at the ride-sharing market, where Grab has become a lightning rod of payments investment and innovation.

A new cobranded Uber debit card from Green Dot’s GoBank unit gives drivers 3% cash back if they choose PIN entry when filling their tanks at ExxonMobil stations, affirming the persistence of PINs in an increasingly digital payments environment.