http://skift.com/2014/11/15/how-uber-overcame-indias-credit-card-rules-to-bu... For the Indian commuter, Uber has been the coolest ride on the block. The cab-booking service's convenient, cashless payment system made it a hot favorite in India--it brought freedom from hailing a cab, haggling over the fare, or dealing with notorious taxi drivers who won't give change or comply with the prescribed meter fare. No wonder then that within a year of its launch, India became Uber's largest market outside the US <http://qz.com/251667/the-war-between-uber-and-indias-taxi-operators-is-hotting-up/>. A big part of the appeal was that paying for an Uber ride was completely frictionless: riders could walk away from their Uber car and their credit cards would be automatically billed for the fare. But now things are about to change. Due to a long-running dispute with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about Uber's use of customers' stored credit card details--which was triggered by complaints from India's old-school taxi operators--Uber has been forced to set up a new system with local payments firm Paytm <http://firstbiz.firstpost.com/corporate/one-step-payment-days-over-now-use-uber-by-topping-up-virtual-wallet-paytm-108093.html>that allows users to load cash onto a virtual wallet that can then be used to make transactions. ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya "There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, till all men walk on higher ground in that lifetime." - Maxwell Anderson