When Uber launched its presence in the Kenyan market earlier this year, there were mixed feelings and the taxi market shook a bit for it was not sure what to expect. Easy Taxi made it known, however, that it was not afraid of Uber’s presence in the areas it operates.
Now in a move to stay ahead of the competition in the taxi market that is being enjoyed by the two and Maramoja alike, Easy Taxi has added the use of credit cards and debit cards as payment methods for its customers in the Kenyan market.
The new mode of payment, dubbed Easy Taxi Pay or ET Pay was first announced in October last year when the company said it was working to introduce an in-app cashless payment module that would allow customers to pay using their debit or credit cards, and now that announcement has become a reality.
With ET Pay, users will be required to import their card details to the new platform through which they can then pay for rides with one click of a button through the app and the solution supports multiple card details allowing users to choose the account from which to make the payment.
Before this new addition, the Rocket Internet-backed company allowed customers to pay for their rides either through cash or Safaricom’s mobile money platform M-Pesa which is relied upon by many Kenyans as a fast and effective payment method.
“Easy Taxi is excited to provide customers with the option of paying for their rides using their credit or debit cards. With this new mode of payment, we hope to further enhance our customer’s convenience and overall experience,” says Lauren Gray, Marketing Director at Easy Taxi.
While the addition of credit or debit cards is good for Easy Taxi, it is the one setback that Uber is facing in the Kenyan market since it is the only mode of payment by the company, meaning if you don’t have the card you cannot use the Uber service; a situation that has been raised over and over with the Uber team who now say they are working to add M-Pesa as a form of payment as well.
The new introduction is available for the Kenyan market, with plans to launch in other markets in the coming months, including Nigeria.
“To ensure that all transactions made with Easy Taxi are safe and secure, Easy Taxi is working with Amsterdam based payment services company Adyen, to process the credit and debit transactions,” reads part of a statement from the company.
