This will enable anyone using minicabit’s app to enjoy enhanced usability and will also help boost revenues for minicabit’s network of over 650 minicab operators, further accelerating the company’s strong growth.

How does it work? * Partnership enables anyone using minicabit to easily and securely pre-pay their cab fare when booking with minicabit’s app, instead of entering card details or getting cash out * Customers will be presented with the Pingit payment option in minicabit’s mobile app when booking minicabs in advance. Those registered for Pingit will then be taken to the Pingit app where they can simply enter their five digit security code to confirm their payment * Tie up with Barclays Pingit is the latest in a long line of blue chip partnerships minicabit has secured, including The O2 Arena

Already widely recognised for its innovative technology, minicabit was the first app to ever receive offers on popular BBC TV show ‘Dragons’ Den’, receiving a total of three offers from the Dragons. In its first year of operations the company’s app was consistently promoted by Apple in its App Store and has also recently been shortlisted by leading marketing publication The Drum for its highly sought after User Experience/ Usability award.

minicabit has continued to enhance its app with new design and additional features launched earlier this year for both the iPhone and the Android. The app already has an enhanced home screen, meaning there is no need to register or submit card details before receiving a quote, and now includes the ability to enter up to seven additional pick-up/drop-off destinations for easy planning and coordinating with friends and family, and a ‘luggage selector’ feature which covers items for going to airports, festivals and even moving house, with minicabit automatically calculating the size of car required.

In recent years, minicabit has enjoyed strong growth and success with revenues increasing eightfold year on year, bookings up by 150% in the past six months and the company is aiming to expand its network to 1,000 cab firms over the next two years. As well as growth in the Capital, minicabit is also targeting the regional markets and is currently generating almost 50% of its bookings outside the M25.

minicabit was founded by Amer Hasan, ex-Global Head of Apps and Internet Partnerships at Vodafone. The company’s board benefits from Steven Norris, Former UK Transport Minister, as a Board Adviser and Paul Lawton, O2 UK General Manager of Small and Medium Businesses, as a Non-Executive Director.

Over the last five years, the company has attracted backing from global telecommunications company Telefonica O2’s Wayra Fund, leading crowdfunding platform Seedrs and high-net-worth investor syndicate Angels4Angels.

minicabit has set itself apart from the ultra-competitive ‘on-demand’ app sector that’s largely focused on short distances in the biggest cities. Instead, minicabit is leading the pre-booked cab sector and is capitalising on the 30 million ‘out of town’ trips taken annually by cab in the UK, which account for a combined value of £1 billion, still largely booked over the phone. The online taxi market offers tremendous growth potential and in the UK it has grown over the past five years to an estimated £9bn in 2015.

Amer Hasan, CEO and founder of minicabit, commented:
“We are delighted to announce that we will partner with Barclays’ innovative mobile payments service, Pingit. Given 1 in 4 of our bookings still entail the customer paying cash to the driver, offering Pingit will further enhance our app’s user experience by making it even easier to pay via your mobile rather than rummage around for cash.

By innovating across our web and mobile platform, whilst partnering with major brands like Barclays, we aim to increase the value of our service to customers and boost revenues for the several hundred mini-cab firms in our UK-wide network.”
Darren Foulds, Director of Mobile Banking and Pingit at Barclays, commented:
“This partnership is another example of how mobile payments are being integrated across different industries, and shows the great potential for mobile payments as services like Pingit gain more widespread use.

For quick, secure transactions on the go, mobile is fast-becoming a trusted method of making payments - whether from person-to-person or directly to a business. For consumers it offers a totally secure way of making payments that are at the same time quick - and on a device that almost everyone in the UK carries with them on a permanent basis.”