Shorter payment time, more income opportunities as Uber unveils latest initiatives

SINGAPORE — In a bid to counter rival firm Grab’s aggressive wooing of drivers in recent months, Uber unveiled its latest slew of initiatives aimed at boosting driver experience on Monday (Jan 29).

These include shortening the time it takes for drivers to get paid, with payment cycles to be brought forward by up to three days. With effect from Tuesday (Jan 30), Uber drivers with DBS accounts can expect to receive their earnings every Monday of the following week, while UOB and other bank account holders will get their earnings on Tuesday.

Drivers had previously received their earnings on Thursday of the following week.

Other intiatives introduced to help boost drivers’ earnings include allowing drivers with personal cars, or those who rented from Lion City Rentals — Uber’s car rental subsidiary — to put up advertising decals that will earn them an extra S$200 per month.

To reduce the cost of driving, Uber is also increasing its fuel rebate by an additional 3 per cent. This will mean that drivers who top up their petrol tanks at any of the 60 Esso stations can save up to 33 per cent on their fuel costs.

The changes announced on Monday were the third and final installments in Uber’s three-month long campaign to improve drivers’ experiences.

Earlier in November, Uber scrapped its requirement for drivers to accept at least eight out of 10 rides in order to qualify for incentives. A month later, it introduced a S$10 incentive for every lost-and-found item that drivers returned to riders, and also offered car washes at heavily discounted rates of S$5.

Uber’s efforts at the end of last year came after an aggressive campaign by Grab to woo ComfortDelGro cabbies to make the switch. Last September, Grab dangled huge rental discounts of up to S$50 a day if drivers were to switch to any of its taxi partners — TransCab, Prime, SMRT, Premier or HDT Singapore Taxi.

Grab also offered to scrap its 20 per cent commission for each completed ride, and charge only 60 cents per ride for those who made the switch.

On its latest announcements, Uber’s head of operations in Singapore Jonathan Wong said: “What we want to do is to step up our relationship with the drivers so that they can see that we are not just talking, we’re taking action based on their feedback.”

Uber drivers told TODAY that the new initiatives will help with their cash flow.

Mr Adi Sufyan, 32, has been driving for Uber for two and a half years. He pointed out that a very small proportion of riders pay for their rides in cash, so “it can be hard for drivers to get the cash first to pay for petrol”.

He added: “For drivers, petrol and rental can make up more than half of our revenues. By having (payments) come in earlier, it will certainly help with cash flow issues.”

Compared to its rival Uber, Grab drivers who cash out their earnings before 11.30pm receive their earnings the next working day, after 6pm in the evening. Grab pays out its incentives to drivers every following Tuesday.

Though Grab’s payment cycle is still comparatively quicker, Mr Sufyan believes that Uber is closing the gap.

“One of Grab’s strength is cashing out money the next working day. With Uber bringing forward their payment, it helps to nullify that extra edge,” he said.

For others like 48-year-old Uber driver Gazali Ahmad, the earlier payment cycle will help to keep him motivated.

Mr Gazali said: “Most drivers, like myself, work hard over the weekend... so it is satisfying to see something (in the bank account) on Monday”.

Uber said that it had tested the initiatives with a group of drivers before announcing it on its platform.

The ride-sharing company said it received positive feedback about the additional earning opportunities through decals after offering the initiative to a few hundred of its drivers, including those with personal cars.

The new initiatives to boost drivers’ earnings comes about two weeks after the rollout of UberFlash, which offers fares up to 10 per cent less than the regular price on UberX. However, media reports said that drivers had complained that the lower fares resulted in a dip in earnings.

Stressing that the initiatives were not in response to negative feedback on UberFlash, the company said the changes and initiatives are an ongoing process.

When asked how effective the latest announcements would be in terms of increasing a driver’s net earnings, Mr Wong said that the latest initiatives were not geared towards “improving earnings per hour per se, but it is really about increasing a driver’s earnings experience”.