Uber Technologies is continuing its global expansion with a launch in Israel that is facilitated by joining its ride-hailing platform with a nationwide taxi network, according to a Reuters report Tuesday (July 5).
Thousands of independent and company-tied taxi drivers have joined Uber’s Israeli operation, with the service also featuring ridesharing, primarily for passengers in Israel’s two largest cities, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Uber operates in more than 70 countries and 10,000 cities around the world.
In Israel, it will compete for riders and customers with Gett and Yango, the report said.
This isn’t the first time Uber tried to come to Israel, but it’s the first time it’s been successful. In 2017, Israel’s Transportation Ministry, Taxi Driver Union and a rival ride-hailing company won an injunction after complaining that the company used drivers without the proper business licenses and insurance, per the report.
“We want to use technology to turn taxi services, working with other public transportation services, into the alternative to the private car they can be,” said Gony Noy, general manager of Uber Israel.
Uber also operates with taxi drivers in Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Turkey, South Korea, Hong Kong and U.S. cities including New York and San Francisco. The company has said it wants to have every taxi available on its app by 2025.
Uber Core Payments Lead Maria Jose Cornejo, who heads Latin American payments for Uber, told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster that global brands “need to understand the countries and which are the most accurate payment methods, as well as the regulations, the infrastructure that each country has. It’s really challenging. Every time you open a new market … you have also to think about all the payments infrastructure you need.”
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“Even though our main business is a frictionless experience and it’s based on not even feeling that you [paid], you have to adapt and understand which are the payment methods [used by] consumers and drivers” in each new market being opened, Cornejo said.
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