Uber Lets Parents Put the Brakes on Teen Spending

Last year, Uber began offering highly supervised services to young passengers.

Now, the ride-hailing and delivery company is giving parents even more oversight into how their kids use the app, with a monthly spending limits feature announced Thursday (Feb. 29).

“With spending limits, you can set a custom budget for your teen’s rides and meals for the entire month,” Uber wrote in a blog post. “Spending limits can also be adjusted at any time to best meet your needs, and we’ll send you a notification when your teen’s monthly limit is almost up.”

The program gives parents three options for their children’s spending: unlimited; limited, which lets them set a custom monthly budget; and no spending allowed, which means the teenager is blocked from ordering rides or food, per the post.

The limits reset at the first of each month, and parents are only charged for what their child spends during that month, the release said.

Such limits might help teenagers develop good financial habits at a time when many younger consumers say that they would rather spend than save money, as PYMNTS Intelligence found.

The “Savings Deep Dive Edition” of the New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report, found that emergency expenses and major life events are the main reasons consumers dip into their savings.

The research also found that 51% of Generation Z consumers specifically attribute their savings depletion to discretionary spending such as major life events, travel, vacation or education expenses, which indicates these individuals are more likely to spend on nonessential items or experiences, making it tougher for them to maintain a high level of savings.

“Against this backdrop, the report emphasized the importance of promoting financial literacy and encouraging responsible spending habits, through educational initiatives and digital tools that help consumers track their spending, set savings goals and prioritize essential expenses,” PYMNTS wrote in December.

Uber debuted its teen accounts — for riders aged 13 to 17 — in May, with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stressing the program’s safety-related focus.

“We’ve designed teen accounts with built-in, privacy-preserving safety features including Verify My Ride, RideCheck and Audio Recording,” he wrote in a blog post at the time. “Plus, live trip tracking lets a parent follow the trip’s progress, so they know exactly where their teen is going and who is behind the wheel.”