By the time when innovators first thought about using the power of ecosystems to transform the commercial sphere, scientists have for several centuries investigated the connections in various systems under microscopes in their laboratories.
 
 
Biologists wanted to figure out how to protect the human body's ecosystem from the devastating effects of disease and give people a long healthy life.
 
 
Ecologists studied the relationship between living beings and the environment, seeking to improve the health of the planet.
 
 
Marinologists, in turn, paid attention to the ecology of the Earth and its impact on oceanic ecosystems that exist at a depth of several miles.
 
 
 
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So innovators want to understand how their innovations can improve and strengthen ecosystems in payments, and in addition how to avoid collapse and not lose ambition.
 
 
This analogy will be relevant for studying the experience of such an innovator of the ecosystem of payments and commerce, like Uber Cash.
 
 

Ecosystem under a different name

 
No matter how different the aspirations of scientists and innovators, their success often depends on solving a complex and seemingly insurmountable problem - finding a balance that will preserve the health of the ecosystem.
 
 
To create and maintain this balance, we need an approach long ago discovered by scientists. Everything comes down to managing the fragile interdependence between the four elements, the presence of which is inherent in all systems. reported about reaching a mark of 10 billion completed trips. The average weekly user spend on server services was $ 50. Some residents of big cities, such as Boston, New York and San Francisco, spend even more.
 
 
But this is only one side of the Uber ecosystem.
 
 

When the car park turns into fuel

 
Service introduced into the lexicon a word denoting a new type of transport services - "ridersharing." And also began to call his drivers workers gig-economy.
 
 
Drivers of the Uber platform used their own cars, sharing a trip with passengers who are willing to pay more than the basic fare of a taxi for the journey from point A to point B. The company paid for the services of drivers as independent hired workers. And they built a very flexible schedule and organized their own business on the basis of the Uber platform.
 
 
The ecosystem of Uber grew and flourished: demand was on par with supply. For nine years the company has built up a solid car fleet and has a comparable wide demand for its services in 814 cities around the world .
 
 
The fleet allowed the company to expand its range of services.
 
 
In 201? the company introduced the application Uber Eats - an online aggregator of restaurant delivery, allowing registered Uber customers to order food from local restaurants and cafes.
 
 
Uber Eats also achieved success, despite the fact that it was launched a decade after Grubhub, three years after Postmates and a year after DoorDash. Uber entered the arena with a clear advantage. Behind it stood an ecosystem with a huge base of users already tied credit cards to the service, and a fleet of cars whose drivers earn with Uber and have all the necessary skills to deliver orders. Restaurants also played a key role in the process.
 
 
As a result, today many people call Uber Eats the secret weapon of the company.
 
 
Since its launch, Uber Eats has spread to 280 cities . According to General Director of the company Dara Khosroshakhi, last year the business grew by 200%, and in 201? with the current rates remaining, the total volume of orders will reach $ 6 billion. Grubhub will have a similar figure of $ 3.7 billion.
 
 
The average amount of annual user orders is Uber Eats is 220 dollars - much more than competitors such as Grubhub. And these users retain their loyalty to the service. More than half of their costs for food delivery (53.6%) fall on Uber Eats.
 
 

Close the circle

 
In 201? Uber jointly with Visa launched the Local Offers program, and in 2017 Barclays started issuing the branded Visa card Uber.
 
 
Within the framework of Local Offers users register their Visa credit cards and some other debit cards in the Uber application and receive points for non-cash payment for goods and services in partner stores.
 
 
The Barclays non-commission card provides 4% cashback for payment of restaurant bills, including Uber Eats orders, as well as 3% cashback when paying for travel.
 
 
Recently launched card Uber Cash now positioned by the company as a single storage place for all accumulated bonuses, reward points and gift cards, which can be used in the ecosystem of Uber. Card holders receive additional rewards. The company encourages customers to get Uber Cash: for every $ 95 added by the user to the card, he gets $ 5 from the company from above.
 
 
Representatives of Uber explain that Uber Cash simplifies the use of credit cards, bonuses and rewards available today to users of the ecosystem. The company hopes that a tool capable of simplicity and clarity will become an additional incentive for customers and will create a strong network effect by simplifying the procedures for paying for services and accumulating rewards.
 
 
In addition to streamlining client cards and bonuses, Uber also enjoys a pleasant benefit in the form of an increase in the cash inflow to the cashier, which strengthens the company's financial position.
 
 
And all thanks to payments and payment cards.
 
 

Fuel for pumping the ecosystem

 
The fuel that supports the ecosystem is usually something obvious, hiding in everyone's mind, but essential for launching the ecosystem, its growth and maintaining a balance. With the help of fuel, new values ​​are created within existing ecosystems. Or it becomes an instrument for the destruction of such values.
 
 
Uber hopes that Uber Cash is a new energy source that will maintain balance in the ecosystem of the company.
 
 
Competitors are not asleep, and are also eager to bite off their piece of cake. For example, the Lyft service is actively looking for ways to consolidate and expand its positions in the segment of ridersharing. Do not forget about the regulators in some cities working overtime to complicate these companies operating activities.
 
 
Applications for scoring of scooters and bicycles multiply in hipster cities like rabbits, setting scanty tariffs and rapidly reaching multibillion figures. According to the general director of Uber, the purchase of the bicycle service JUMP was just intended to mitigate the impact of competition, although it cost the company a decrease in margin for platform services. It is rumored that Uber is close to launching the scooter scoring service. The application is ready for such an extension, offering a simple choice of options for ridersharing.
 
 
Meanwhile Grubhub , DoorDash and Postmates do not sit back and wait until Uber swallows their restaurant delivery businesses. All three companies have chosen different strategies aimed at strengthening their ecosystems and destabilizing the ecosystem of the popular "upstart".
 
 
It seems that Uber Cash is an attempt by Uber to double rates on the source of fuel, which once promoted the launch of the service. The company again uses payments to create a new "Uber experience" that will preserve the health of the ecosystem and protect it from threats. Their payment service offers customers even greater value whenever they use the application to pay for services that they already consume daily.
 
 
And soon, in addition to ridersharing and Uber Eats, this ecosystem will include alternative ways of moving, such as renting bicycles and scooters.
 
 
And in the future, perhaps, Uber Cash will grow into a separate mobile wallet, allowing you to pay for goods and services in a new format. For example, pre-order in restaurants-partners Uber Eats with the ability to pick it up at a convenient time.
 
 
Uber is not the first company to use payments as a fuel to launch a powerful and attractive ecosystem. Two decades ago, PayPal and Amazon also took advantage of the simple payment option to create large and growing commercial ecosystems.
 
 
But payments alone are not enough. After all, somewhere in a prominent place is always hidden some experience that can be applied to payments and build a healthy ecosystem, attractive for producers and consumers and resistant to the actions of malicious agents.
 
 
The lesson of Uber, PayPal and Amazon is that payments are only a means to achieve this growth.