Uber interview- PayExpo MENA 2016

Vidit Agrawal, Head of Strategic Vehicle Partnerships, APAC at Uber, will deliver a session titled ‘Changing consumer mindset from cash to debit internationally’ at PayExpo MENA, taking place 5-7 December 2016 at the Intercontinental Festival City, Dubai.

1. How does Uber adapt and evolve payments and strategy to deliver a superior offering in fiercely competitive markets?

[VA] Uber is a global company operating in over 80 countries and 500 cities. Even with such a huge coverage, Uber still remains local enough in every market to make sure it fully understands its customer's needs and customise its products to solve local problems. This strategy gives us advantage over our competitors as Uber's scale helps us to use our global learnings and at the same time serve the needs of the people in each cities.

1. What are the differing regional attitudes to in-app payments between EMEA, Asia and the Americas markets?

[VA] As Uber has grown in different parts of the world, we have seen different customer preferences when it comes to in-app payments. This has led to various solutions which are more region specific. 

Though traditionally Uber used credit card payments which was majorly successful in EMEA and North America, we soon realized that regions like South America, India, China and South East India, with low credit card penetration, required unique solutions. 

This has led to in-app wallet solutions like Alipay (China) and Paytm (India). Also, based on customer feedback we realized that cash is still the preferred option in most developing nations and therefore we introduced cash payments.

1. How do you think Uber has changed transport commerce for passengers?

[VA] Transport industry has been devoid of any changes for many decades with old redundant laws. By introducing technology Uber has disrupted the transportation industry and given users the choice to decide their preferred mode of transport.

Recently, we launched UberPool which matches customers going in the same direction and promotes the idea of ride sharing. With cars being shared, the total number of vehicles on the roads has decreased thus solving one of the biggest problems of today- traffic congestion.

1. How does Uber see it has and is changing mobile app behaviour and future plans?

[VA] Uber has changed the way people think of public transport. Today a comfortable and affordable ride is just a click away. It has brought technology at the forefront of all decision making and made transport an experience rather than just a ride.

1. Future Plans

Today all car manufacturers are moving towards autonomous vehicles and Uber is one of the first movers and leaders in this technology. With the recent introduction of driverless taxis in Pittsburgh, Uber has got closer to the dream of autonomous cars that will be much cheaper and safer than the taxis of today.

1. How do you see yourselves interlinking with public transport?

[VA] Uber plays multiple roles today. In some parts of the world where proper public transport does not exist, Uber is the only solution for its riders to move around their cities. In other cities Uber is seen at the last mile solution for train/bus riders. Also with the introduction of Pool, Uber is often the cheapest and fastest mode of transport.

With greater penetration of technology, existing public transport will improve its standard and digitalize its approach to be competitive in today's world.

For more information about the PayExpo MENA conference programme and specifically Vidit’s session, please visit: www.payexpo.com/mena