Transportation with Uber now available on Facebook Messenger

   Facebook Messenger now lets you order “Transportation”, starting with Uber and with more services on the way. Facebook’s twist is that ordering a car via Messenger alerts those in your chat thread that you have indeed grabbed a ride…instead of you lying that you have while still in your pajamas.

   This isn’t the first time a ridesharing app has hooked up with a messaging app. WeChat, a messaging and calling app used outside the U.S. also allows users to book cars on ridesharing platforms such as China’s Didi. However, WeChat’s parent company Tencent blocked users from booking with Uber a number of times recently in an ongoing Chinese rideshare war.

source; slashgear.com

   But Facebook claims this collaboration wasn’t necessarily inspired by WeChat. “For us we’re more inspired by how we see our users using Messenger and we just saw the growing popularity of group chats and this is one of the best use cases of why Messenger’s so great,” Facebook product manager Seth Rosenberg said.

How It Works

   The new Uber in Messenger feature can be found by clicking on the car icon or finding “Transportation” in the three-dot “more” menu below where you write your messages. Either of those actions will open Uber’s Request Ride option where you can add your pick up location, destination, and car type.
   Everyone who uses Messenger Transportation will get a $20 Uber credit. It’s rare for Uber to hand out these kinds of free credits to people who are already users, but somehow Facebook convinced it to create a big incentive to use Messenger Transportation.

   Uber’s public API for its Request Ride button has a policy excluding partners from featuring it alongside competing ride services. However, Uber tells us that since the Messenger Transportation feature is built through a private integration, that anti-competitive policy doesn’t apply and Messenger can include other services like Lyft.
   Both Facebook and Uber sidestepped questions directly about a Lyft integration, but a source close to the matter tells TechCrunch that Lyft will offer rides through Facebook Messenger starting in January. Messenger already partnered with KLM for flight-booking option, but it’s been delayed until early next year.

source; techcrunch.com