More and more drivers
‘swear’ by CabCard!
Now the UK is offi cially in recession, cabbies everywhere are feeling the service charge on top of the fare for using CabCard is paid for by the
pinch - taking taxis is one of the fi rst economies people make - so what customer - not the driver.
can drivers do to survive the economic downturn? Work longer hours to
catch any fares is one obvious method, but licensed drivers can also sign
Thereʼs no need to set up a separate bank account, the weekʼs card
up to CabCard, a safe and secure way of accepting fare payment by debit
payments go straight into the driverʼs bank account every Friday
and/or credit card. Such is the popularity of CabCard that it has grown to
morning. Once in use, thereʼs no transmission of passengersʼ details
be the market leader for cab fare card payments and is now being used
by radio, so everything is as secure as any chip & PIN transaction.
in taxis throughout the UK including: London, Liverpool, Manchester,
CabCard uses GPRS, which means the system is always on so
Birmingham, Luton and Edinburgh.
connection is seldom a problem and payments are processed within
The expectation that taxi fares can, like most other goods and services,
seconds. Another boon for the busy driver is if there is any issue with
be paid for by card is increasing and every day; CabCard drivers are
payment by a credit/debit card company, the driver doesnʼt have to
being pulled out of taxi ranks ahead of other cabs because passengers
chase it up, do their own transaction reconciliations with the bank or
request payment by card. Those fares are likely to be for longer journeys
deal with a bankʼs minimum monthly transaction fee charges CabCard
and lead to repeat or return business.
takes care of everything - and the driver always gets paid what theyʼre
due on Friday mornings. CabCard also provide drivers with approved
Liverpool driver Paul Bannon said he was eighth in line when he was
CabCard signage for inside and outside the cab.
plucked out of the rank to take a passenger to Heathrow for £360.
“Because I could take a credit card, it persuaded him to take my cab,” ʻʼI looked into a couple of other systems,” said Mr Darke. “This is Carriage
said Paul. Offi ce Approved and thereʼs better back up. Iʼm recommending it all the
time ... CabCard is great”
Steve Harper got a weekʼs worth of return jobs between Warrington and
Manchester thanks to CabCard. “Another cab driver rang me up and
asked if I had a credit card machine ... This week I have done £252.10
worth of business that I would not have had without CabCard.”
Passengers often jump in a cab and ask to be taken to a cash point
machine - but when they are offered the safe and comfortable alternative
of paying for the fare using CabCard in the cab, they usually take it.
For London drivers it means no more worries about stopping on red
lines, that are often on the roads outside cash point machines. For
drivers everywhere it means they donʼt have to worry about passengers
attempting to get out of paying the fare by ʻdoing a runnerʼ - with CabCard
there is no excuse to leave the cab!
Not leaving the cab for cash is particularly attractive for women
passengers said London driver Richard Darke. “Women at nighttimes
hate going to cash point machine. There is always a beggar at a cash
point. Most people if they ask to stop at a cash machine, I say I do take
credit cards and nine times out of ten they say OK.”
Another advantage of having CabCard is it attracts custom from visitors
from overseas - tourists and business people - who may not have any
sterling when they arrive in the UK or donʼt want to exchange more
currency to get to the airport when fl ying home. CabCard accepts all the
major credit cards, VISA, MasterCard, Maestro and AMEX.Given the
weak pound, the number of visitors from Euro-zone countries and the
US is increasing and CabCard ensures drivers wonʼt miss out on custom
from these overseas visitors who want to use plastic. CabCard is also
very attractive for business people, because it allows them to use their
company card to pay for taxi fares. Corporate cards donʼt allow cash
withdrawal, so they have no alternative than to pay up front using their
own cash and wait for expenses to be paid, a long and time consuming
process. Cabbie Mr Harper said in his experience:
“Itʼs good business practice to have CabCard. People are
using more credit (and debit) cards. People prefer to keep
hold of their cash and borrow cash in the short term on
credit cards. A lot of the business customers are ringing us
more for credit cards.”
Drivers are delighted with the system not least because itʼs so simple
to use. There are no wires or complicated installation instructions, just
a hand held terminal that is individually assigned to the driver - the
terminal connects to the payment system, Each transaction produces
a receipt (with a copy for the customer) that includes date and time of
transaction, it creates a paper trail and gives full accountability. The 10%
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