Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Solly Malatsi seeks out-of-court deal in TV migration fight

      15 July 2025

      South Africa’s telcos battle to monetise 5G as 4G suffices for most

      15 July 2025

      Major new electric car brand launching in South Africa

      15 July 2025

      MTN empowerment investors see ‘modest’ return as Zakhele Futhi winds up

      15 July 2025

      Eskom wants your solar system registered – but what does that actually mean?

      15 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025
    • In-depth

      The 1940s visionary who imagined the Information Age

      14 July 2025

      MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

      10 July 2025

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

      15 July 2025

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Uber, WesBank in R200m car rental deal

    Uber, WesBank in R200m car rental deal

    By Agency Staff10 November 2015
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    alon-lits-640
    Uber’s Alon Lits

    Driver-partners of Internet ride-sharing service Uber will have easier access to cars following a R200m agreement with vehicle finance provider WesBank and FirstRand’s enterprise development fund Vumela.

    The companies announced on Tuesday in Johannesburg that they’ve struck up a partnership to offer Uber driver-partners the opportunity to rent cars from WesBank as part of a three-year full maintenance lease programme.

    Uber driver-partners will be offered these programmes based on their established earnings and quality record, said Uber and WesBank. Driver-partners also need to have been with Uber for at least three months.

    The aim of the partnership is also to help driver-partners establish their own passenger transport business and contribute to providing 15 000 work opportunities for Uber partners in South Africa over the next two years.

    The agreement, though, does not involve offering car loans but rather an opportunity to build up a credit record. Driver-partners will then also have the opportunity at the end of the three-year period to buy the car at a value that takes into account depreciation.

    “The [Uber] technology is really about empowering these entrepreneurs. But there was always a piece missing. It wasn’t always easy for Uber drivers to get finance,” said Alon Lits, the regional GM for Uber in Sub-Saharan Africa, at a media briefing in Johannesburg.

    “While it’s not ownership, they get all the benefits of ownership. It gives them something to aim towards,” Lits said.

    WesBank CEO Chris de Kock also commented on the deal at the media briefing.

    South Africans have challenging credit records as out of every 100 applications for financing, 60 are declined, said de Kock.

    But he said that WesBank had created a new model that involves Uber subtracting income off of drivers’ fares to service the car rental agreement, tapping FirstRand’s enterprise development fund Vumela for security in case drivers can’t pay back amounts owed, and using a cents per kilometre model that determines how busy the drivers are and how much they need to pay each month to service the agreement.

    “We own the car at all times. It’s not a traditional finance agreement at all,” said de Kock.

    “We have worked very closely with Uber and we have developed a unique understanding of being a driver-partner within their network,” said de Kock.

    “We have worked out what are the right affordability criteria. We have agreed with them (Uber) that they will subtract that income … and pay us that revenue before it goes to the driver,” said de Kock.

    Meanwhile, Vumela has pledged R20m for the first thousand vehicles and is also expected to provide WesBank with financial risk mitigation and support measures that will “enable the provision of the full maintenance lease option to Uber driver-partners”, according to a statement from the companies.

    Uber added that the programme is “not limited to drivers with an existing record of income with Uber but open to all prospective professional transport providers as well”.

    “Hertz, Europcar, Pace and Fleet Data Technologies have launched a short-term rental programme, negotiated by Uber, that gives drivers of metered taxis or other passenger transport vehicles the option of renting an accepted vehicle at improved rates,” said Uber in a statement.

    “They can then use these vehicles, in partnership with Uber, until they have built an earnings and quality record needed to qualify for the full maintenance lease programme,” said the company.  — Fin24



    Alon Lits FirstRand Uber Wesbank
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleFinally, some clarity from MTN
    Next Article SA’s AG Mobile challenges cellular’s big boys

    Related Posts

    South African law is failing gig-economy workers

    12 June 2025

    ‘Afrikaans Uber’ sparks controversy

    27 January 2025

    Uber bakkie service launched in South Africa

    5 December 2024
    Company News

    Mental wellness at scale: how Mac fuels October Health’s mission

    15 July 2025

    Banking on LEO: Q-KON transforms financial services connectivity

    14 July 2025

    The future of business calling: Voys brings your landline to the cloud

    14 July 2025
    Opinion

    A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

    15 July 2025

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.