Ola Expands Payment Service to Other Apps

ola comboIndian taxi-hailing app Ola is expanding its mobile payments service beyond its taxi and food delivery businesses to partner companies including hotel networks, music streaming services and retailers.

Ola Money, the digital wallet solution, has proved incredibly popular with customers, with over 20m users registered since the systems introduction and the majority of Ola trips now paid for using the wallet.

Over half of transactions in Olas other verticals, food delivery and groceries, are also paid with using Ola Money, and the company is looking to take advantage of this popularity by expanding to work with other businesses.

Among the companies Ola Money will now work with are music streaming service Saavn, budget hotel network Oyo Rooms, digital marketplace Zopper and eyeglasses website Lenskart.

The expansion of Ola Money follows the introduction of Ola Select last week, a loyalty program that grants especially active users a range of perks including in-car wi-fi. Earlier this year, the company received $315m (£200m) in a funding round that took its valuation well beyond $1bn.

“At Ola, weve always worked on making your lives simpler,” said an Ola representative in a blog post announcing the expansion. “Wed like to think that weve made a big difference in the way transportation, food and how your daily grocery comes to you, and now were all set to make it just that simple for you to pay.

“As we get closer to our mission of mobility for a billion Indians, we want to make sure that we solve for the whole experience, in a way that will give you more choice and freedom.”

Array