Lyft riders will soon have the option for paying and splitting fares using Venmo, the company said in a blog posting this morning. Venmo joins Lyft’s other payment methods of PayPal, credit cards, debit cards, Lyft Cash and more.
To enable the payment method, users need to authorize Venmo in the Lyft app.
Lyft says this feature is rolling out this month and will be available across its network in the coming weeks.
This feature comes to Lyft several years after first hitting Uber in 2018. Through Venmo users are able to create a financial social network of sorts where users share transactions including ridesharing charges. For services like Uber and Lyft, this unlocks a new form of marketing where users note their ridesharing service of choice. And, in theory, if your closest friends use a particular service for rides, you’re more likely to follow in kind.
Splitting fares happens in the Venmo app. After the ride is complete, users need to find and select the Lyft transaction in their Venmo payment feed. From there the Venmo user can select the person they want to split the charge. However, Lyft offers a native fare splitting service that does not require Venmo.
