In Venezuela, You Can Pay Taxi With Cryptocurrency

YummyRides online taxis accept crypto payments. (Screenshot of @YummyRides Twitter)

JAKARTA – Yummy is a delivery platform and taxi service in Venezuela. The company decided from April 12, 2022, to accept payment options with cryptocurrencies. The platform's taxi service is called Yummy Rides.

Yummy operates in various major cities in Venezuela. Reportedly, service users like the new payment method. For the crypto payment mechanism, Yummi has been integrated with the Binance Pay payment service. It allows platform users to pay for services with cryptocurrency.

“Now you can move with Crypto on Yummy thanks to our new integration with Binance Pay. Driving with stablecoins? Only at Yummy", reads the announcement from Yummy CEO, Vicente Zavarce.

Despite the increasing adoption of crypto, Yummy explained that his party was only able to accept the stablecoin Tether (USDT). A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency whose value is tied to the dollar, so its price is more stable and its price fluctuations are not as extreme as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. The executive explained that USDT is the most widely used digital currency in Venezuela.

According to DailyCoin, before accepting crypto payments, the Yummy taxi service only offered payment options via banking and financial platforms such as Mobile Payments, Yappe, Zelle, credit cards, and PayPal.

This new method of paying for the Yummy Rides taxi service using cryptocurrency via Binance is the company's response to consumer demand. The reason is that crypto users in Venezuela have experienced a significant increase. This condition also encourages Yummy users to ask companies to open payments with crypto.

Yummy's party hears and responds to the requests of its users. On April 12, the company opened a payment option with crypto. To be able to enjoy this payment method with digital assets, Yummy instructs its users to update the Yummy application which is integrated with Binance Pay.

This payment method does not incur admin fees or the like. Therefore, this new option is favored by Venezuelans. In addition, payments can also be made by simply scanning the recipient's QR code in the application.

Yummy users hope that this crypto payment method can be expanded to other services including delivery, as reported by local media CryptoNoticias.

Yummy Rides itself has been operating in Venezuela since July 2021. The platform offers Venezuelan citizens an online taxi transportation service. The online taxi service Yummy Rides is already operating in Caracas, Maracay, Valencia, and Barquisimeto. This service is similar to GoCar and GrabCar in Indonesia.

Apart from Venezuela, Yummy also operates in several other Latin American countries including Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, and Bolivia.