Lyft Adding Option To Let Passengers Round Up Their Fares For Charity Donations Image courtesy of Tony Webster
For decades, retailers have had charity donation jars at checkout points, giving customers the option to quickly support a helpful organization with the change from their purchase. Now Lyft is looking to apply that same model to ridesharing, by letting passengers round up their fares with the extra money going to non-profit groups.
The company announced its plans to launch a Round Up & Donate option via an ad in The New York Times on Sunday.
“Opt in and we’ll automatically round up your fare to the nearest whole dollar and push the difference toward issues impacting everyone everywhere, from climate change to the pursuit of equality,” the ad reads, with the kicker, “All you gotta do is take a seat to take a stand.”
A Lyft spokesperson explained how it will work to The Verge: Passengers will choose their desired charity from a list in the app. Users can always opt out, and will be able to change which organization they’re giving to at any time. The company says it’s looking into ways for riders to suggest other organizations that should appear on the list of charities.
The company explained in a blog post for drivers that the feature will be separate from tipping: Passengers will have to turn it on in their Settings, and it won’t be part of the tipping screen at the end of each ride.
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