Uber Eats will start accepting food stamps and healthcare benefits as payment for grocery delivery orders, the company announced Wednesday. It also plans to add a new AI assistant that it says will help grocery customers get better deals.
Anyone with a valid Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, which disburses funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), will be eligible to use their funds to pay for grocery delivery through Uber Eats starting in 2024.
The app will also accept FSA (flexible spending accounts) cards and flex cards that are issued through healthcare programs like Medicaid’s Managed Care and Medicare Advantage plans. The move comes as Uber’s post-pandemic pivot to food delivery continues to bear fruit, reaching almost $11 billion in revenue in 2022, compared to over $8.3 billion in revenue in 2021 and $3.9 billion in revenue in 2020.
I’m conflicted on this, it’s good to have options but its rough knowing that fees of delivery will be taking food away from people. That’s the tradeoff, I guess.
Yeah, considering the compounding problems of transportation and food deserts in the US I think this could be helpful for a lot of people, but on the other hand I’m not wild about a company like Uber extracting profit from public assistance. Feels a little exploitative.
If they’re like literally all the other services that already do delivery for EBT, they will waive the fees.
I wouldn’t exactly bet the house on that, though.
Wait, which services waive fees?? It would be great if those exist in my area. My location has ebt support via instacart, but the fees are definitely a huge out of pocket expense. EBT does not cover them.
Oh I wasn’t aware that was a thing, well awesome then! More accessibility is always good!
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Uber Eats will start accepting food stamps and healthcare benefits as payment for grocery delivery orders, the company announced Wednesday.
“We know that online food delivery can have a meaningful impact in reducing barriers to fresh groceries, especially for the most vulnerable–including people living in food deserts, seniors, and those facing disabilities or transportation barriers,” Therese Lim, senior director of product at Uber Eats, said in a blog post.
According to Uber spokesperson Leah Seay, the company plans to share information about merchant locations and availability closer to the launch date in 2024.
Most delivery platform apps aren’t equipped to accept food stamps as a universal form of payment.
Uber is also launching a new AI chatbot that it says will help “make it easy for consumers to meal plan, find sales on grocery items, and quickly order ingredients for their favorite recipes while sticking to a budget.” The new “conversational” AI assistant will launch later this year, the company says.
Lastly, Uber is adding a new feature to its app called “Sales Aisle” where customers can find a curated list of the promotions and deals in their area.
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