Uber Expands Instant Pay Beyond Green Dot's GoBank

Five months after creating Instant Pay to allow Uber drivers to get faster payments into Green Dot's GoBank accounts, the companies are expanding the program to include nearly any U.S. debit card.

When Uber and Green Dot launched Instant Pay last March, it was limited to Green Dot's mobile banking account, GoBank. But drivers wanted more options, so Uber and Green Dot now support Instant Pay transfers to non-GoBank debit cards on the Mastercard, Visa or Discover networks.

Instant Pay operates through Green Dot Network's real-time payment disbursement service and Mastercard Send technology.

More than 80,000 drivers signed up for Instant Pay through the GoBank account since its launch, Uber said in an Aug. 16 blog post.  The companies initially launched Instant Pay to get on competitive footing with rival service Lyft, which was offering its drivers instant payment through a service called Express Pay.

The GoBank account carries an $8.95 fee per month, but is a free service if the driver makes a deposit at least once every six months. For Lyft's Express Pay, the driver must have $50 available in an account before they can cash it out. The service has a 50-cent fee each time it is used.