GetTaxi Ltd. has upgraded its taxi calling app to include direct payments via mobile phones. Users upload their credit card data just once, and then can pay the taxi fare with the press of a key. The invoice is sent directly to the user's e-mail.
The upgrade also allows for the automatic payment of a taxi fare up to NIS 100. The app allows users to simply leave the taxi upon arrival at the destination without any need to interact with the driver or go through the process of paying in cash.
"For us, this is a real revolution, the second most powerful since the establishment of the company," said GetTaxi founder and CEO Shahar Waiser (Smirin). "It completes our vision of changing how people get around town. We want to transform the taxi experience so that passengers will feel that they are in a private car with a chauffeur. The high availability of taxis, which makes one available within three minutes, makes it possible to get from place to place without the need to hail a cab, but to get into an air conditioned car and protect the environment."
Although fares will be paid by credit card, Waiser says that there is no intention of charging a fee for the service from either the passenger or taxi cab driver; GetTaxi will carry the transaction fee.
In June, GetTaxi raised $20 million in a financing round led by Len Blavatnik, who previously invested $9.5 million in the company's financing round in July 2011. GetTaxi has raised $30 million since it was founded in 2010.
In Israel, GetTaxi operates with 500 taxis in greater Tel Aviv and 50 taxis in Jerusalem. The company scrupulously carries out weekly driver ratings by passengers via the application. It plans to further upgrade the taxi passenger's experience by offering them Wi-Fi Internet access via the application. GetTaxi already offers this service in Moscow. The company also operates in London and is planning to launch in New York.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 8, 2012
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