Uber is still standing strong in Argentina, despite months of being denied credit and debit card service , in part thanks to Bitcoin. According to Franco Amati , co-founder of the Latin American Bitcoin Conference, Uber is still holding on despite resistance from government. Amati says: “Uber is fighting the blockade, sometimes Uber changes the place from where it is charging the payment, and local cards work again, but then the government blocks them again.” To fuel the use of cards that are not so easily shut down, Uber is incentivizing prepaid cards, according to Amati. He explains to CoinTelegraph: “SatoshiTango and Xapo cards still working, and they have a 25% discount for the moment, using them daily. Uber gives a discount in Argentina to everyone using "prepaid" cards. This includes Bitcoin cards like SatoshiTango and Xapo, but also non-Bitcoin cards like Neteller.” Amati also notes that other prepaid cards not related to Bitcoin have also factored into fueling Uber’s continuing operations. He says: “Many people use Neteller and CardNow, two prepaid options not using BTC. It’s a combo, prepaid cards, bitcoin cards, and tourists (who use cards from abroad).” A bump in BItcoin card use since Uber’s card ban Matias Bari , CEO of Bitcoin debit card provider SatoshiTango, saw a marked increase in card use by Uber because of the company’s trouble with the authorities: “We had an important increase in the amount of prepaid cards issued since Uber announced the possibility to pay with them. Until July 31st, more than 200 people have linked their debit cards to Uber. And we keep receiving queries about that functionality. Many people asking if the card really works with Uber. We are constantly trying to add new payment methods, so we don’t limit our platform to bitcoin users only.” […]
