Lyft and Uber Expand Rivalry To Encompass Dueling Credit Cards

This is a two-fer for the ride-hailing companies: it enables them to further monetize the value of their customer base as well as to broaden and deepen the electronic ecosystems they have created.

Uber gets a limited first mover advantage, but given Lyft's plan to issue its own card, the primary benefit is not differentiation but capturing another source of revenue from customers. JL

AnnaMaria Andreotis and Greg Bensinger report in Marketwatch and the Wall Street Journal:

It could help (Uber) lock in more customer relationships, a crucial goal as it faces an invigorated Lyft, which is also working on rolling out a credit card. Credit card issuers already have been including Uber benefits on their cards to entice more usage, in particular with millennials.
Ride-sharing rivals Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. may soon take their fight to your wallet.
Uber is rolling out a credit card for its U.S. customers, choosing Barclaycard, a unit of Barclays , BCS +1.86% as the issuer, the companies said Friday. The card will be available in the fall, according to a Barclaycard spokeswoman.
Visa is expected to be the network for the card, according to a person familiar with the deal.
San Francisco-based Uber would be the first major ride-sharing company to launch a credit card. It could help the firm lock in more customer relationships, a crucial goal as it faces an invigorated Lyft, which recently raised fresh funds and has been expanding into new U.S. markets. Lyft is also working on rolling out a credit card, according to people familiar with their plans.
Uber, meanwhile, has been grappling with a series of scandals, including charges it tolerated chauvinism, a lawsuit over trade secrets and a depleted executive suite. It is nearing a decision on a new chief executive after the surprise resignation of co-founder Travis Kalanick in June.
Ride-sharing is a relatively new sector in the credit card market, where partnerships with banks in the travel sector have been mostly dominated by airlines and hotels.
“This partnership represents a unique opportunity for Barclaycard to work with a globally-recognized disrupter,” said the spokeswoman for Barclaycard.
The bank’s CEO, Jes Staley, announced the partnership on Barclays’ earnings call.An Uber spokeswoman said the company will be launching a co-branded card with Barclays, but declined to share more details. Consumers will be able to use the card outside of Uber. Potential rewards for card users aren’t yet clear.
Credit card issuers already have been including Uber benefits on their cards to entice more usage, in particular with millennials. When American Express boosted the benefits on its Platinum card earlier this year it added $200 worth of Uber rides a year. An AmEx spokeswoman said the benefit will continue.
Barclaycard is the ninth largest U.S. card lender based on purchase volume and outstanding balances, according to 2016 data, the most recent from trade publication Nilson Report.
Uber’s decision marks the latest in a string of wins for the card issuer that in recent years included the JetBlue credit card account that was previously with AmEx and becoming one of the issuers for the American Airlines co-branded card that it shares with Citigroup Inc.