Uber, the ride-sharing service, is set to begin accepting payments in New York City on Thursday, marking a major milestone in its global expansion.
Uber will accept payment in New Yorker’s currency, New York State will accept payments in the form of bitcoin and American Express will also begin accepting the payments, the company announced on Thursday.
This marks Uber’s first acceptance in New Yorkers and is part of a wider push by the ride services giant to expand beyond New York.
The company has also partnered with Lyft in the past, but only recently has taken the leap into New York’s crowded taxi market.
The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission announced Thursday that Uber and Lyft would be accepting New York state-issued debit and credit cards as payment for all of their New York-based drivers.
In addition to credit cards, drivers will also be able to accept bitcoin, American Express and Visa.
The move is likely to fuel criticism from critics of Uber’s taxi business model.
New York has long been a destination for the global ride-share industry, and it has attracted many of the world’s most famous companies such as Airbnb and Uber, with many local drivers being recruited by these companies as a way to secure lucrative deals with clients.
But New York is not the only place where Uber and its competitors are moving into the crowded New York taxi market: In February, the European Union’s European Commissioner for Transport, Peter Sutherland, stated that Uber was a threat to the health of the European economy, and suggested that the ride companies could be considered a form of tax evasion.
Uber, which is already expanding its network in London and Amsterdam, has said that it would accept payments from drivers in other European cities as well.
In a statement, Uber noted that New York was the first city in the world to offer UberX, a cheaper option for New Yorkers who do not want to take the subway or walk to work, with no surcharge.
The company added that it planned to expand to New York and that it had “significant investments” in New Yorks operations.
