Turns out Uber dropped a whole virtual bank card. It’s called the Uber Pro Card. The main benefit of this card (for me) is 4% cashback on all gas purchasing (well I got 3% bur 4$ is possible). Currently my Visa gives me 3 cents per L off if I go to Petro Canada. This would give me 3% money back regardless of where I went. It’s actually a nice deal. Gas is more than a dollar, so it’s like getting 5 cents off per L wherever I go.
I applied, got accepted and then boom, I was approved. I downloaded this new app and when I logged in it asked me if I wanted to basically link it to my Uber account. I honestly thought I hit no, I wanted to check more into it, but next thing I knew I was in the app. Also, the balance of Uber money I had this week was just deposited into this virtual account.
This had me a little concerned as I realized I wasn’t sure what I agreed to. Uber just gave people a way to live without a traditional bank account. This blog is full of ways for you to learn from my ignorance.
My physical Uber Pro Card is in the mail
From what I can tell Uber is linked to Mastercard with this endeavour. Wherever you can pay by Mastercard you will also be able to pay with Uber. I don’t have my physical card yet, but that’s not a huge issue. I added this Uber Pro Card to my Google Wallet.
When I took a look around the app I realized Uber is making a very big play here. According to Reddit it’s been live in other places, even if it’s news to me. Still now I have this new bank account in my name, only it’s an Uber branded one.
I can send an eTransfer across the INTERAC network. This would cost me 1.49$ though. I’m probably never going to use this feature. You can also link your bank account and send yourself a direct deposit. This will take a couple of days, but is free. I most definitely will use this feature.
Once I get my card in the mail, I’ll be able to go to ATMs and pull out cash (not doing this). Say I get some new employment that requires direct deposit, I can then provide my Uber Pro Card account details and get the money deposited there (also not doing this).
The main change for your account is instead of collecting a pool of money, that I was receiving once a week on Tuesdays. Now I have access to the funds, immediately after a trip is done. I can go make 20$ and then immediately buy some food somewhere. While I’m probably still just going to send money to my main account, I went from concerned to intrigued real fast.
There are no fees on this card
We can see the card has a whole banking system behind it, mostly to support Uber drivers. It is a no fee card from what I can tell. There is also a network of ATMs that offer no fee ATM withdrawals. Actually, I wonder if that means when I’m in the States I can use their network, and a quick Google did not answer my question.I did find some concerning Reddit threads, but I figure if Mastercard is there and it got approved in Canada this is legitimate. Ah well, if something goes fishy in the future I will let you know. Tangerine was a new concept, I been with them for ages without hassle.
Why this topic interests me is because Uber is actually moving in on the banking industry. They are competing by offering a nice prize (the cashback) and making this a feasible way for the people who rely on Uber to make gains. What happens if down the line a segment of the population avoids conventional banking entirely using private ecosystems like Uber to deal with their money.
I can see a whole pipeline from immigration, to Uber, to leveraging this banking system. Once you are in, even if you get another job, you can still use the Uber bank to receive money. Even government money can be deposited into this account, it has all the direct deposit numbers ready to go.
Cryptos, e-currencies and an online revolution
Virtual cards aren’t new. Different governments and majour companies are out there working on new ways to deal with money. While I think the crypto bros were a little intense, there is a change coming in the way we deal with each other financially. It’s still pretty miserable to send money from Canada to the USA (I’m exaggerating but it does take a week to get money from my bank to Paypal).
Uber is such a disrupter already. They more or less changed how food delivery works. People don’t hire their own drivers anymore. Do you remember the era where tipping mattered more because you actually were going to see that same driver, over and over again?
They managed to add themselves into the shopping experience. You can ship parcels and people all over. Now they are going to deal with people’s money. Even if at first the population pool is limited to Uber employees, I am curious to see what incentives they offer to people to get them to get their own Uber Pro Card. Tangerine was throwing money at people via referrals. One of the banks recently had a new free iPad, an expensive one for a bank switchover.
On a whole other tip, Uber is harvesting some crazy data. I can’t say specifically they are monitoring how people interact with their Uber Pro Card app, but I’d bet money they are. Even if they don’t register amounts linked to people, they will register a total number of transactions. They can then connect data to a lot of other factors they have.
I don’t know what Uber will do with this data.
I hope I don’t need customer service. Whenever things are really free, or cheap like a Distrokid offering, it often means corny customer support.
Anyway, I need to go make some of that future Uber money soon. I also got a board meeting to attend. Busy busy.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone.
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