Credit Cards Are Helping NYC Taxis Get Through The Recession
The New York Times reported that the Taxi Commission is loving the use of credit cards for payment. Last year less than 1 out of 16 cab rides in NYC were paid for with plastic. Now a year later, 1 out of 5 customers are paying with their Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover.
Last November, every single yellow cab in New York City was outfitted with credit card terminals. Now companies are telling employees with business credit cards to hitch a ride on a cab now that they accept plastic, instead of phoning for a more expensive black Lincoln Town Car. Even with the boom in business customers, taxi use in the city is still down because of the recession. More people are either sharing cab rides or taking other shared public transportation – the shift is bad for taxis, but is good for the environment.
They absolutely hate accepting credit card purchases. In the early days, when the first machines were installed in certain cabs (late 1990s to early 2000s), literally almost every single driver would refuse to let you pay with a card. The most common excuse was that the machine was broken. But if you called their bluff, and promised a huge tip, suddenly the machine would be fixed. Now it’s mandatory. They aren’t even allowed to have a credit card minimum, although some of them still refuse to accept a card for a small fare, even though they’re not allowed to.
I live in New York nand I don’t use taxis they are way too expensive.
Its great that they have done that , I personally dont carry cash around with me. This will make taxi rides a lot more easier.
What about the credit card processing fees they have to pay? They can’t possibly be happy with those. Not to mention all the fradulent credit card purchases I’m sure they get in that city.