Uber Africa launches Uber Cash in partnership with Flutterwave

Uber Africa launches Uber Cash in partnership with Flutterwave

Uber will launch its Uber Cash digital wallet feature in Sub-Saharan Africa in partnership with San Francisco based  Nigerian founded fintech firm Flutterwave. This will let riders to top up Uber wallets using the dozens of remittance partners active on Flutterwave’s Pan-African network. Flutterwave works as a B2B payments gateway network that allows clients to tap its APIs and customize payments applications. Uber Cash will go live this week and next for Uber’s ride-hail operations in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tanzania, according to Alon…

Uber to sell its services to local Indian business

Uber

Uber is in advanced stages of talks to sell its food delivery service UberEats’ India business to local rival Zomato,  as the American ride-hailing giant looks to cut its spending globally, three people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The deal currently values UberEats’ India business at around $400 million, one of the sources said. As part of the deal, Uber may invest between $150 to $200 million in Zomato and get a sizable stake in the 11-year-old Indian firm, people said. A spokesperson for Uber declined to comment on Saturday.…

Uber loses London operating licence due to a pattern of failures

Uber London

The online taxi app platform Uber has ljust ost its licence to operate private hire vehicles in London after authorities found that more than 14,000 trips were taken with uninsured drivers. Transport for London announced the decision not to renew the ride-hailing firm’s licence at the end of a two-month probationary extension granted in September. Uber was told then it needed to address issues with checks on drivers, insurance and safety, but has failed to satisfy the capital’s transport authorities. TfL said on Monday it had identified a “pattern of…

Uber introduces an electronic chip in NTSA Kenya safety enforcement push

Taxi-hailing firm Uber has introduced a new safety measure that requires vehicle owners to first acquire an electronic chip windscreen sticker from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA). The sticker allows identification and authentication of car ownership before they are certified to offer its service. Uber in a notice to vehicle owners last week said starting March 1 all vehicles were required to have the NTSA’s Radio Frequency Identification sticker before receiving a go-ahead for further inspection at partner stations AutoXpress or Kingsway Tyres. In the latest safety drive,…

Uber and lyft race to debut on the stock market

With the SEC up and running again after the government shutdown, the IPO gears are grinding back to life. Uber Technologies and Lyft Inc., both planning highly-anticipated public offerings, could be two of the first unicorns to take the plunge in the public markets this year. It’s not confirmed publicly which rideshare giant plans to go first, but both reportedly have received feedback from the SEC on their IPO proposals. But the significant disparity in their sizes and valuations could influence how both are ultimately received by the market. That could put pressure on the rival…

Uber booking has been removed from Google Maps for Android

Google Maps can no longer be used to book an Uber on Android. It brings the app in line with the iOS version, which lost the feature last summer, as noted by Android Police. Google has had the ability to show price estimates and pickup wait times for ride-sharing apps for a while. Back in January 2017, Uber alone gained the ability to actually book rides in the Google Maps app by pulling up your account window and hailing your ride without ever leaving the app. But for whatever reason, Google has officially removed the…

Uber is launching its bike-share company Jump in Europe

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In the two months since Uber bought bike-share startup Jump, the company’s bright red bikes have already rolled out across a few US cities — and now they’re coming to Europe. Onstage at today’s NOAH Conference in Berlin, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced that the company would be expanding beyond its traditional taxi rides with plans to roll out electric bike rentals in the German capital by the end of the summer, with more European cities to come. It’s a move that raises eyebrows for a few reasons. European cities are already flooded with…

Uber Vehicle Allegedly Saw but Ignored Woman it Struck

The cause of the fatal crash of an Uber self-driving car appears to have been at the software level, specifically a function that determines which objects to ignore and which to attend to, The Information reported. This puts the fault squarely on Uber’s doorstep, though there was never much reason to think it belonged anywhere else. Given the multiplicity of vision systems and backups on board any given autonomous vehicle, it seemed impossible that any one of them failing could have prevented the car’s systems from perceiving Elaine Herzberg, who…

Uber expands privacy settlement with FTC

Uber is expanding the proposed settlement it made with the Federal Trade Commission last August pertaining to data mishandling, privacy and security complaints that date back to 2014 and 2015. In August, Uber agreed to 20 years of privacy audits. That proposed settlement happened prior to Uber’s disclosure of the massive 2016 data breach that affected some 57 million riders and drivers. Now, Uber will be subject to “additional requirements,” according to the FTC. “After misleading consumers about its privacy and security practices, Uber compounded its misconduct by failing to…

Uber Blocked from Testing Self-driving Cars on Arizona Roads

Uber has been barred from testing its self-driving cars on public roads in Arizona following the accident last week involving one of its testing vehicles that killed a pedestrian crossing the street in its path. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey released a letter sent to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in which he described the accident as captured by onboard cameras as “disturbing and alarming.” The governor, who has been a strong proponent of self-driving testing in the state up until this point, advocating for Uber and other companies to bring their…