Gig economy

Uber Technologies Inc. is rolling out a new rewards program starting Wednesday, offering its most loyal users cash back on rides, priority airport pickups and free phone support.

Companies that rely on contract work also depend on diversifying revenue streams, a cycle that will repeatedly place fresh stress on an already complicated payroll system.

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

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.

Executives from four companies—Worldnet co-founder John Clarke, Payrailz CEO Fran Duggan, CardFree CEO Jon Squire, and Sionic Mobile CEO Ron Herman— view Uber and Amazon as drivers of the shift to an "unattended" retail experience that removes human interaction from the process of making a payment.

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.

Debit push payments proved an essential component of the ride-sharing boom, with many drivers opting to pay a fee for immediate funds throughout the day to cover fuel and other expenses. And the technology is finding fans in other niches as well.

Generation Z and later groups will increasingly demand alternative salary options, including bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to David Johnson, founder and CEO of Latium.

While a significant amount of press has been made about providing faster access to payments for Uber and Lyft drivers, as well as workers in the gig economy, there is an underserved community of millions of Americans who work in low-wage jobs living paycheck to paycheck.

Founded in 1971, First Data may not have the glow of being a trendy startup. Green Dot, founded in 1999, is in the same boat. But under the hood both companies have done much to keep up with the innovators.

PayPal can combine its payment service, Braintree and Hyperwallet for a variety of use cases for online marketplaces and gig economy workers.

As the gig economy balloons, a private network is adding partners and geographies to separate itself in a fintech-dominated market.

The world’s most profitable car manufacturer is investing $1 billion in Singapore’s Grab Holdings Inc., valuing Southeast Asia’s largest car-hailing service at just over $10 billion.

Subscribing to simplification at the expense of nuance is hugely counter-productive, and will alienate both existing and potential customers, writes Elina Mattila, executive director at Mobey Forum.

Comdata has been processing corporate payments for almost 50 years, paying truck drivers through a proprietary fuel card network. But its next chapter could be its toughest.

Fintechs are entering the market to close the time gap in gig economy payments between businesses and consumers. This will fundamentally change business models for banks, according to Lauren Reuf, a research analyst at Nvoicepay.

Intuit has added new features to QuickBooks Payroll so employers can make payroll at the last minute, delivering same-day paychecks to workers with the option to make direct deposits to contract employees.

Visa Canada plans to offer real-time B2B and B2C disbursements via its Visa Direct card-to-card transfer service, competing head-on with Canada's Interac network and a product Mastercard launched in the country earlier this year.

Freelance payment companies are taking advantage of the Trump administration's immigration policies, which are starting to drive more work to freelancers in the U.S. and overseas.

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.