If you’re wondering whether you can pay cash for Uber rides, then you might be surprised to learn that you can.
After all, one of the most discussed Uber advantages is the ability to grab a ride by simply tapping a few buttons on your iPhone or Android smartphone.
But what do you need to know about the question: does Uber take cash?
In this article, you’ll learn about Uber cash payments as well as other ways to pay for your next rideshare trip.
Table Of Contents
- Can You Pay Uber with Cash?
- Does Uber Eats Take Cash?
- When Did Uber Start Accepting Cash?
- Other Payment Options
- Don’t Get Confused by Uber Cash
- How To Add The Cash Option for Uber
- Where Can You Use Cash for Uber?
- Should You Use Cash for Uber?
- Can I Tip Uber Drivers in Cash?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Wrapping Up
Can You Pay Uber with Cash?
Have you ever found yourself wondering, “does Uber take cash?”
The short answer is, yes, you can pay Uber with cash.
It all depends on your location, however.
This option isn’t available in all countries, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.
Does Uber Eats Take Cash?
You can pay with cash when getting food delivered via Uber Eats.
If paying with cash is available in your area, then your driver sees that you prefer cash payment in their driver app.
Uber uses a cash icon to show drivers that they need to collect cash from you.
Pay your driver with cash upon the food delivery, and then the driver ends the trip like they usually do.
From there, drivers see the amount owed to the restaurant and Uber.
Uber will then deduct the rideshare and restaurant fees from their digital payouts each week.
When Did Uber Start Accepting Cash?
Uber started their cash payment option back in 2015 by releasing it in Hyderabad, India.
They then added the cash payment choice in four additional Indian cities by the end of the year.
Today, Uber offers the ability to pay via cash in over 50 countries.
Other Payment Options
Although most people think of making a credit card payment when paying for Uber, the rideshare app offers several ways to pay for your subsequent ride request.
What Forms of Payment Does Uber Accept?
Uber allows you to pay for rides in many other ways besides cash, such as:
- Credit Card
- Uber Gift Card
- Apple Pay (available for iPhone users)
- Google Pay (available for Android users)
- Venmo
- Paypal
- American Express
What Prepaid Cards Does Uber Accept?
Uber accepts the following prepaid cards:
- Xapo
- Tango
- Satoshi
- EntroPay
Xapo is based in Hong Kong.
It offers the ability to load bitcoin to its wallet so that you can then use the card to pay for Uber products.
The Tango app lets you perform money transfers and payments to vendors.
It’s a free app that you can use for Uber, mortgage, lease, and utility payments.
Satoshi is a digital bitcoin wallet.
Similar to Xapo, you can load it with bitcoin and then use it to pay for services that don’t accept bitcoin directly.
EntroPay provides virtual prepaid credit cards.
The company exists to help people make and receive online purchases.
All you need to do is add one of these prepaid cards to your Uber account and start traveling with the rideshare company.
Does Uber Accept Cash App?
Uber accepts Cash App, and you can use it for rideshare trips or on Uber Eats.
Even Lyft takes Cash App.
Keep in mind that Cash App is a separate company, and some people report having trouble verifying their financial information when using it.
How Do I Choose a Payment Method on Uber?
You can add multiple payment methods inside the Uber app to make it easy to use your best option at any given time.
Open the Uber app and click on “Wallet” from the navigation menu.
Look for the “Add Payment Method” button and tap on it.
From there, you’re able to add the information for PayPal, gift cards, debit cards, credit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and other options available in your area.
Uber lets you either enter payment information manually or by scanning it in.
Here are the steps for scanning if that’s easier for you:
- Tap the camera icon to scan a credit card’s information. Your iPhone or Android phone may ask you to permit Uber to use the camera data.
- Hold the card within the center of the phone’s screen.
- Take the picture after you see all four corners start flashing green.
- Add in the billing zip code, CVV number, and expiration date.
- Tap on the “save” button.
You can update the payment methods at any time and choose a primary method for your Uber trips.
Don’t Get Confused by Uber Cash
Uber offers an option called Uber Cash that doesn’t have anything to do with paying cash for rides.
What Is Uber Cash?
An Uber Cash account is simply another payment option for using all of Uber’s products such as rideshare services or food delivery via Uber Eats.
It’s a 100% cashless system, even though it’s called Uber Cash.
The Difference Between Uber Cash and Paying For Uber Rides with Cash
Are you confused?
Admittedly, the name of this program does cause confusion for customers.
Try to remove the word “cash” from the equation when understanding the Uber Cash program.
Instead, you need to realize that “Uber Cash” is simply a brand name for an electronic way to load money into your Uber app.
One of the nice things about Uber Cash is that you can use its one balance to pay for any Uber service.
Rather than entering various credit card, debit card, PayPal, or other payment options in a separate Uber or Uber Eats app, for example, you’ll see the same Uber Cash balance in each app.
This makes it easy to add one payment balance and use it for any type of service you require from Uber.
How To Use Uber Cash
You can load money into your Uber Cash area of the app’s Wallet section with a gift card, credit card, or debit card.
You will then use the Uber Cash balance to pay for food delivery or rides instead of directly from a credit card, PayPal, Venmo, or any other payment method offered by Uber.
Gift Cards Require Uber Cash
We listed Uber gift cards as a payment option above.
You should know that you must add a gift card balance to your Uber Cash balance inside the app.
Uber lets you add up to $1,000 in gift card amounts to the Uber Cash balance.
You can add as many gift cards to Uber Cash as you desire.
Go into the Uber app and select “Wallet.”
Tap on “Add Funds” and choose the “Gift Card” payment option.
The gift card balance will show up inside your Uber Cash area after you enter the gift code.
Don’t allow for any spaces when adding the gift code.
Uber doesn’t allow you to transfer gift card balances once you enter them into your Uber Cash balance.
You also can’t use them for scheduled rides or family accounts.
Uber automatically applies the gift card to your next trip or food delivery order by default.
If you don’t want Uber to do that, you can select a different default payment method before ordering the following food delivery or Uber ride.
How To Add The Cash Option for Uber
Adding the cash payment method is quick and easy.
Go into the “Wallet” section of your Uber app and look for the “Cash” icon.
Tap on that icon to make cash payments your default payment option for rides.
You can now pay cash on your next Uber ride.
Where Can You Use Cash for Uber?
It’s challenging to know which countries, states, and cities Uber lets you pay cash for rides in.
The only way to find out is to open the app, navigate to the “Wallet” area, and look for the “Cash” icon.
The cash payment option started initially in areas where debit cards and credit cards aren’t the preferred ways for people to pay for services.
This included areas such as:
- Peru
- India
- Indonesia
- South Africa
- Malaysia
- Philippines
- Brazil
- Egypt
Give this option a try as you travel from state to state or country to country.
Should You Use Cash for Uber?
The answer to whether you should use cash for Uber is that it’s entirely up to you.
Most drivers and passengers view Uber as a cashless experience.
You might discover that your driver becomes confused after being notified by their driver app about your intentions to pay with cash.
However, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use cash.
It’s just to make you aware that you may need to educate your driver about the option.
You could run into a scenario where drivers don’t have cash on hand when you need change back.
Such scenarios might end up in cases where you’re leaving a large tip simply because the driver can’t provide change when using larger bills.
Some locations give Uber drivers the ability to give you the change back inside the app.
However, you’re taking a chance if you hand drivers a large bill.
It’s possible that they won’t have enough cash to have change on hand and also can’t find a way to credit you change electronically inside the Uber app.
Can I Tip Uber Drivers in Cash?
You can always decide to leave your driver a cash tip.
It’s up to you whether to tip that way or inside the app.
You don’t need to worry about drivers getting the entire tip amount you leave in the app when paying via credit card.
Uber gives its drivers 100% of the tip amounts received when providing driver payouts.
If you’re going to pay for the trip inside the app anyway, then there really isn’t any need to hand the driver cash for the tip.
Top it off inside the app after the trip while you’re providing the driver rating and you’re all set.
Of course, if you enjoy the instant human reaction of seeing a driver smile as you hand them a nice tip in cash, then go for it.
Again, the decision about whether to tip in cash or not is entirely up to your personal preference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are a few frequently asked questions that you might still wonder about.
Do Uber drivers prefer cash?
Most Uber drivers don’t have a preference of getting tipped via cash or inside the Uber app.
Many of them are simply thrilled with people who think highly enough to leave them a nice tip.
Tips represent a big part of an Uber driver’s overall income.
They’ll love you for leaving either a cash or cashless tip for their effort.
What driver apps take cash?
Finding other driver apps that accept is a difficult task.
You can’t pay cash for any of these driver or delivery apps: Lyft, Instacart, DoorDash, and Postmates.
Besides Uber and Uber Eats, you can pay cash when using the Grubhub food delivery app.
See all the food delivery services that accept cash.
Does Lyft take cash?
You can’t pay for a Lyft ride with cash.
You must pay for it by using an electronic payment through the app.
However, you can always use cash to tip a Lyft driver and pay only for the trip charge inside the Lyft app.
You can do the same when using food or grocery delivery apps like DoorDash, Postmates, or Instacart.
Does Uber take cash from Google?
You can use Google Pay when using an Android device.
This option isn’t a cash payment, though. It’s an electronic payment method.
Set up the Google Pay option inside the payment area of your Uber app.
Does Uber take a commission in countries where riders can pay with cash?
Some people might mistakenly believe that they can help an Uber driver make more money by paying them in cash.
This isn’t true.
Uber still gets their fee.
Here’s how it works.
Uber still takes its standard commission when riders pay with cash.
Uber sees the record of the ride, its fare amount, and the fact that the passenger paid in cash after a trip ends.
The Uber driver pockets the entire cash amount and then sees the Uber commission taken out when Uber provides the driver payout.
Wrapping Up
Does Uber take cash?
Now you know that it does!
What do you think about paying for Uber rides in cash?
If it sounds like something you’d prefer, then take a look inside your app.
You’ll see whether cash payment is available in your location.
