Over 600 cars leased through Uber-Wesbank deal

Johannesburg – Since signing a vehicle financing deal with WesBank in November last year, over 600 vehicles have been leased to Uber, said the internet ride-sharing service's Sub-Saharan Africa managing director Alon Lits.

Lits was speaking at the FNB Franchise Summit held at Johannesburg's Montecasino on Thursday.

The leasing programme, valued at R200m, was a collaboration among the e-hailing service, WesBank and FirstRand’s enterprise development fund Vumela.

“The deal is unique and innovative,” said Lits.

The programme is offered to drivers based on their ratings and earning potential.

This is different to traditional vehicle finance agreements where a driver needs a credit record before being approved for funding, he explained. Driver-partners also need to have been with Uber for at least three months.  

The initial agreement was for 1 000 vehicles to be leased, said Lits. Vumela pledged R20m for these cars.

Read: Uber, Wesbank in R200m car rental deal

Fin24 previously reported that that driver-partners will have an opportunity to rent cars from WesBank, as part of a three-year full maintenance lease programme.

The agreement gives driver-partners an opportunity to build up a credit record. Driver-partners will then also have the opportunity at the end of the three-year period to buy the car at a value that takes into account depreciation.