This article was published on October 23, 2014

Hailo gives you new ways to book and pay as it launches in 3 new cities


Hailo gives you new ways to book and pay as it launches in 3 new cities

Hailo has today announced new features for its cab-hailing service and announced an expansion into new markets in the UK, as well as its first venture into Asia.

Among the new product features is an option called Pay with Hailo that was first introduced earlier this month for Boston and Ireland. Now, it’s available in London too and allows passengers to pay for a non-Hailo hailed cab via the app at a cost of 50 pence extra. Another interesting addition to the service today is a Web-based tool called Hailo Hub, which allows users to book Hailo cabs on behalf of other people.

“With Hailo Hub, you can now seamlessly book multiple rides for your guests with individual pick-up and drop-off points. We’ll let them know in real-time by SMS when their cab is arriving. Customers can jump in and pay for their ride by cash or with Hailo. There’s no more waiting on hold with taxi companies to book a cab for your guests,” Hailo said in a statement.

PaywithHailo

Clearly, this lends itself pretty handily to Hailo for Business users, as it allows them to easily make bookings for other people – think restaurants, bars or any other business that needs to book taxis for visitors. However, there’s no option to pay for those journeys using the business’s account though, so the passenger will still need to use cash or Pay with Hailo.

Expanding (and contracting) horizons

Given the rising tide of competition from the likes of Uber and Lyft, Hailo is now focusing on expanding its offering to appeal to SMEs and enterprises as much as possible. Giving them another tool to manage bookings can hardly hurt.

It’ll need to hope its offerings continue to resonate with European and UK individuals and companies, as it has already announced it was pulling out of North America due to the ongoing price war.

Nonetheless, as one opportunity closes, another opens up: Hailo also announced its service is now live in Liverpool and Leeds in the UK, and that it has launched its first venture into the Far East – in Singapore.

➤ New feature – Pay with Hailo / Introducing Hailo Hub – A new way to book more cabs [Hailo]

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