Uber announced today that the Instant Pay option for its drivers has been extended to nearly all U.S. debit cards, with the help of MasterCard Send and Green Dot, the operator of the mobile-first bank GoBank.
“The expansion offers frictionless, elegant service to Uber, which is the poster child for the on-demand market,” said Green Dot Senior VP of Product Mike Panzarella. “As we move forward, as we look into the American general market, we’re seeing a large shift for an on-demand economy, and Green Dot has the services to help attract and satisfy partners.”
Uber drivers using the Instant Pay option are able to have their money instantly deposited to an Uber debit card through their GoBank account, an ease of payment that drew 80,000 drivers to sign up for GoBank since the option launched in March. Though MasterCard operates the payment network, payments can go to Visa or Discover cards as well.
Now, with the expansion, Uber drivers will be able to send their money, with the help of the MasterCard Send platform, to any debit card on the MasterCard, Visa or Discover network in the USA. Currently, this Instant Pay expansion is running in 45 cities, according to Green Dot, which has completed over 60,000 Instant Pay transactions since the program’s launch. This expansion, according to Panzarella, will allow Green Dot to better serve the on-demand economy.
“Uber says, Pay this partner or driver, and we make it seamless for them to do that,” said Panzarella. “Not only does it expand Uber driver partnerships, but it allows us to leverage Green Dot technology to disburse very widely and with extreme efficiency.”
The service is “underpinned” by the MasterCard Send platform, according to MasterCard Executive Vice President, Customer Deliver, North America Jennifer Rademaker, who added that the reach of MasterCard Send is nearly every debit card issued in the U.S.
“Together, we’re bringing more choice to consumers in terms of how they receive their payments,” said Rademaker of MasterCard’s partnership with Green Dot. “We’re underpinning the push payments, in this first instance to Uber but really it can be expanded to lots of different applications.”
To learn more about payments, join us at Bank Innovation Israel this November 1-3 in Tel Aviv. Learn more and register here.