“The expanded partnership reflects Uber’s growing use of Adyen’s global payments platform to enhance performance and offer more alternative payment methods to support Uber’s continued international growth,” the companies said in a Monday (Jan. 9) news release.
Among the new territories where Uber is employing Adyen’s services are the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and the Caribbean, the release said. The company is also expanding local acquiring in regions like Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia, and adopting local payment methods like Pix in Brazil, AfterPay in Australia and WeChat Pay worldwide to serve travelers ordering Uber through the WeChat mini app.
“A reliable and innovative payment platform is a fundamental requirement for Uber’s global growth,” Karl Hébert, vice president of global commerce at Uber, said in the release. “Continuing and expanding our partnership with Adyen is key to that, enabling us to support our growth and quickly integrate new methods.”
Also Monday, Uber announced the launch of new kiosks powered by Adyen terminals, offering a “phone-free” way of booking an Uber, even for travelers without the Uber app, the release said. The first kiosk debuted at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Terminal C, with additional rollouts planned for hotels, ports and international airports in the months ahead.
Meanwhile, during its fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday (Feb. 4), Uber devoted unusual attention in its earnings materials to autonomous vehicles, PYMNTS reported Wednesday. Executives on the call did not promise an imminent transformation but instead constrained expectations.
“The company’s argument was that autonomy will arrive unevenly, scale slowly and reward platforms capable of balancing fixed and flexible supply,” PYMNTS reported. “Uber sees itself as one of those platforms, with executives suggesting that Uber’s early deployments in Austin and Atlanta show that adding autonomous vehicles to Uber’s network increases total demand rather than cannibalizing human-driven trips.”
At the same time, Uber warned against reading too much into AV-related developments in San Francisco, where regulatory conditions and demographics are atypical.
“We enter 2026 with a rapidly growing topline, significant cash flow, and a clear path to becoming the largest facilitator of AV trips in the world,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.