Lyft, Uber and Scooters Gain Popularity with Business Travelers – Skift

The transfer of funds from firms to ridehailing companies continues to grow as the apps gain traction among North American business travelers.

Uber Technologies, Inc. was the most frequently expensed vendor last quarter, according to a report by Certify, a software provider enabling companies to manage travel expenses. Uber receipts made up 12.7 percent of all corporate transactions among Certify customers. On average, travelers spent $25.37 per Uber transaction.

Rival Lyft, Inc. also gained market share in the second quarter contributing 3.8 percent of all transactions, a 2.6 percent increase for the app from two years prior. Taxis lost market share in traditional yellow cab cities New York City and Chicago.

“If you’re a taxi owner/operator, you need to find a new business model because this trend is clear and continues to result in fewer taxi rides taken,” Certify CEO Bob Neveu said.

In an effort to curb traffic congestion and prevent further annihilation of the taxi industry, New York City and state policy makers implemented a series of rules in the past year on ridehailing apps.

Fast-food chains are a popular choice when dining with the corporate card likely because of their prevalence and convenience. Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Chick-fil-A were the top frequented restaurants last quarter. McDonald’s was the most expensed restaurant for both lunch and dinner.

A recent addition to Certify’s reports are electric scooter rides. Lime and Bird were the most-expensed scooter services. The two start-ups operate in more than 100 cities worldwide and they’ve been valued as high as $2.5 billion.

Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. expenses are most likely technology items and services, such as Amazon Web Services or a laptop charger. The average cost per transaction from Amazon was more that twice that for Walmart, at $121 and $55 respectively.

Certify publishes a quarterly spending report based on more than 10 million business travel transactions from clients including Exxon Mobil Corp, H&R Block, and Garmin.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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