EXCLUSIVE – First comes Uber, an on-demand car service, then UberEATS and now a credit card?
Yes, that’s right, the car service app has teamed up with U.K. bank Barclays to launch its own credit card.
“Obviously this has been a long process, but the idea to have our own credit card was something we got from listening to our customers,” Judy Zhu, business development at Uber told Bank Innovation.
The card, powered by Visa, will go live on November 2.
The card has no annual fees.
Rewards were another integral component, Zhu said.
“The idea behind what our consumer wants online and offline in regards to their Uber experience was something we looked at to create this tailored rewards system,” Zhu said.
An example of what Zhu means would be, say a user orders an Uber ride to a music concert. The music concert would be the offline need while the Uber ride, and the purchase of the concert ticket, would be online. The idea behind Uber’s rewards system, Zhu explained, was to cater to both the pre and post-Uber ride experience.
The card has 4% cash back on restaurants and UberEATS; 3% back on hotels and airfare, 2% back on retail and online purchase including Uber rides, and 1% back on everything else.
Uber and Barclays declined to provide information on the credit limit.
The card will be available in the U.S. only (for now).
In regards to its partnership with Barclays, Zhu said Uber selected the bank because of its technological advancement and innovative mindset.
“Even though Barclays is an old bank, in the U.S. we are relatively young,” Kirsten Osland, director of U.S. partnerships, Barclays told Bank Innovation. “So we are not bogged down by a lot of legacy and can therefore be more creative and partner up with tech companies like Uber.”
The application process is fairly simple too. After tapping on the card option, which will appear in the Uber app, a user can get approved for a card within seconds. The online application is automatically populated with the user information that Uber already has on file.
“The idea was to create a seamless and efficient application process,” Zhu said. “So you can order an Uber ride and apply for a card while you are on that ride and already have the card by the end of your ride.”
While the physical card will take between 7 -10 days to arrive via mail, Uber will have a virtual card that is available immediately.
Uber and Barclays are currently demoing the card at Money 20/20 in Las Vegas.