TheCable

Bolt, a ride-hailing company, says it has introduced a cash withdrawal option for its drivers in a bid to improve access to their income on the platform.

In a statement, Femi Akin-Laguda, Bolt country manager, said the income include earnings from cashless payment methods, drivers bonuses and discounts.

He said this new feature would enable drivers to easily withdraw earned cash when needed thereby boosting liquidity.

Akin-Laguda added that the feature will improve drivers’ satisfaction as well as customers experience.

“Drivers are core to our business, and we must continue to retain the trust and loyalty we have earned over the years by fulfilling our promise to keep improving the overall experience for every driver,” he said.

“The early cashout option improves liquidity for our drivers by ensuring that they have easier and faster access to their earnings; this will include fares for trips paid with cashless options like cards, driver bonuses and payments for passenger discounts.

“Our aim is to ensure that our drivers have flexibility in how they access their earnings while passengers will be more confident to request rides with any payment method they wish.”

Akin-Laguda said the early cashout service is available to drivers once a day with a transaction fee of N15 paid to the bank.

He said the feature is active for existing drivers who have been on the platform for up to two weeks and have completed at least 25 trips without any irregularities.

The country manager added that the cashout product processes payments directly to drivers’ bank accounts.

“The cashout requests during business hours will be processed in less than an hour, while requests outside these hours on business days will be processed on the same day,” he said.

“Furthermore, early cashout requests made on weekends and holidays will be processed on the following business day.”

This development comes nearly one year after Bolt introduced a trip insurance cover for the safety of passengers and drivers.