Uber cash payments could be rolled out in more countries including the UK as ride-hailing app recognises people are still carrying and paying with cash Using the Uber app Its one of the key players in edging us towards a cashless society but Uber cash payments could soon be available in the UK The ride-hailing app whose business model has always been to offer quick and cashless payments already offers the service in 51 countries It also announced in October 2016 that it would be trialled in Manchester but was never rolled out across the country Now the Uber cash payments system could be made available in more locations with one of its employees name-checking the UK during a talk at the Women of Silicon Roundabout conference in London last week Ubers product designer Femke van Schoonhoven said Weve launched cash in 51 countries all over the world and we are continuing to grow into new markets Were so excited about the potential of cash coming to the UK and what is has to offer not just for us as a business at Uber but also for our drivers and riders as well as for earnings and potentials A spokesman for the company said this remained a work in progress with no firm plans yet to introduce Uber cash payments in Britain or other countries yet South America and India rely on Uber cash payments The private hire firm which launched in the UK back in 2012 has already introduced cash payments in 51 countries including Mexico Singapore and India India was the first country where Uber cash payments were enabled in 2015 and it now gets almost 65 of its payments in cash Another country with a huge market for the service is Brazil where more than 25 of rides are paid for in cash Speaking at the Women of Silicon Roundabout conference Ubers product designer Ms van Schoonhoven said Our mission with Uber is to make transportation as reliable as running water everywhere and for everyone Before we introduced cash we only had digital payment methods so of course to achieve our mission we started to launch Uber cash in markets all over the world After years of paying for Uber trips using cards through the app it could soon bring its cash payments service to the UK whilst theres a lot of risks and regulations to consider it could be a step forward for the taxi firm Ms van Schoonhoven said We realised there was a whole segment of people who didnt use Uber because they didnt have digital payment methods We realised we were launching a product that a lot of locals couldnt access which was a big missed opportunity for us So we knew that we had to consider those who dont have access to a bank account and rely on cash as a daily method of payment to pay for their goods and services Two-thirds of global population used cash as payment method in the past year Uber looked further into global cash usage to find out how many people were making transactions through credit cards debit cards and using cash to make payments Ms van Schoonhoven said the companys research showed that cash payments were something that needed to be explored We started by looking at the global usage of cash she said We assumed that a lot of people were still using it but was that actually true In the last year alone 151 of the global population had used a credit card and 232 used a debit card which meant that 617 had used cash as a payment method at least once We knew that cash was a big opportunity as people were still using it daily and we decided to launch cash Accepting cash payments was still a dangerous territory for Uber drivers and Ms van Schoonhoven believes the company found the safest process for both the drivers and riders She said What the experience looks like on the drivers side is as a driver is approaching the drop-off location the app will show a small cash symbol to help prepare for the cash exchange As they get closer to the destination we ask them to collect cash from the rider and tell them how much to ask for We also offer a detailed summary in case the rider has questions about how the fee was calculated Uber showing a spending summary What are the other risks of Uber cash payments Before Uber cash payments were an option users had to select a digital payment method and through their card the company would verify the persons identity But now it offers cash riders can sign up and take a trip right away without Uber really knowing who they are Now if users want to sign up and pay using cash the app would need to consider other means of verifying the customers identity Ms van Schoonhoven said We launched this experience but it came with some safety concerns The thing with a cash payment method is that riders can sign up anonymously to use Uber Drivers had some concerns over this and we asked ourselves how can we make sure that cash payments are a safe experience for us all and want to share three initiatives that we did to address safety in cash The first safety check Uber does is called the social connect which involves asking users who want to pay using cash to connect to their Facebook account This is a way for the company to verify the persons identity and also gives drivers peace of mind that the rider has gone through some kind of verification process A second feature it launched is called underpayments and this is beneficial to the driver When a customer might not have enough cash to pay for the trip perhaps the trips might have ended up costing more than they expected the driver can report it in the app and Uber will settle it separately The last process is known as credit exchange This is a case where the driver might not have enough change to give to the rider they can report it to the app and Uber will give change back to the rider as a form of credit which they can use for their next trip Ms van Schoonhoven added The last two initiatives will help and lead to less disputes between the rider and driver They will also take the friction out of the trip experience and we can settle it outside of the app