Russian users can now book their car ridewith BlaBlaCar through Yandex.Checkout. BlaBlaCar is a global ridesharingservice connecting people who need to travel with drivers who have empty seatstravelling the same way. The Paris-based company announces starting itsmonetization process in Russia, following the example of other countries.
BlaBlaCar allows drivers to share empty seatsin their car with passengers who travel the same way. If someone is planning atrip from one city to another and they use BlaBlaCar, the service connectspeople who want a ride and handle the payments to cover motorizing costs. Whenthe company first came to Russia in 2014, it started providing Russian userswith a free access to book their trips via desktop or mobile: users only had topay cash to the driver. The company approach is to let the members use theservice first, see its value, and only then start charging a small fee.
The company will now take a small fee forevery online booking, which will not be bigger than 20 percent of the wholefare. This is aimed at reducing the number of cancellations and will guaranteeto the driver that places in his car will be secured. According to BlaBlaCar,the whole ride will still cost much less than the price of a train ticket.Nothing will change for the drivers who will continue to be part of theBlaBlaCar community free of charge.
Using Yandex.Checkout, users will be able topay for booking a ride via BlaBlaCar website or its mobile app. The servicewill accept payments via bank cards and e-wallets. In the future,Yandex.Checkout will also support payments via the online banking and mobilecarrier billing. Users are expected to continue to make cost contribution tothe driver by cash during the trip.
“BlaBlaCar is currently present in 22countries and has been monetized in at least half of them. Starting to charge afee from the car passenger in Russia, we are following the example of ourEuropean colleagues, – says Nikolay Petrov, business development manager forBlaBlaCar in Russia, – We were very selective while choosing a payment solutionprovider: we conducted market research, talked to our partners and reviewed anumber of different players on the market. It was essential for us to provideour users with an opportunity for quick and safe online payments together witha choice of popular local payment methods. Eventually, we chose Yandex.Checkoutand we are sure that our users will appreciate its convenience, security andaccessibility”.
About Yandex.Checkout
Yandex.Checkout is Russia’s leading servicefor accepting online payments, according to a 2016 survey by MARC. With thispayment solution, merchants from all over the world can offer Russian consumersthe online payment methods most popular in Russia: bank cards, e-wallets,mobile phones, direct debit, QR-codes and cash via mobile retailers and paymentkiosks (there are over 250 thousand cash-acceptance points all over thecountry). Currently, more than 76,000 online stores across the globe useYandex.Checkout.
About BlaBlaCar
BlaBlaCar is the world’s largestlong-distance ridesharing community that connects drivers with empty seats topassengers looking for a ride. More than 35 million people in 22 countries useBlaBlaCar creating an entirely new, people powered, transport network. BlaBlaCarcame to Russia in 2014 and quickly gained popularity among Russians. With adedicated customer service and a fast-growing community of users, BlaBlaCar ismaking travel social, money saving and more efficient for millions of membersworldwide.