Uber Eats will become another option for those under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and with flexible spending accounts (FSA).
Uber Eats is set to accept food stamps and healthcare benefits for grocery delivery orders, according to an Uber news post. The announcement details that along with FSA cards, flex cards issued through healthcare programs such as Medicaid’s Managed Care and Medicare Advantage plans will also be able to be used through the app.
According to the news post, the updates are as a result of inflated grocery prices and a lack of access to healthy foods.
“With prices of goods on the rise and access to fresh and healthy foods crucial for households, our team has been hard at work building new tools to help you save time and money,” Therese Lim, senior director of product at Uber Eats, wrote in the post.
She continued, “We know that online food delivery can have a meaningful impact in reducing barriers to fresh groceries, especially for the most vulnerable–including people living in food deserts, seniors, and those facing disabilities or transportation barriers. Helping to improve access to quality food is incredibly important to our work at Uber and we’re proud to use Uber’s technology and extensive local delivery networks to offer SNAP recipients the ability to use their benefits to access fresh groceries conveniently from our app in 2024.”
Uber claims to be the first company to accept healthcare benefit payments for grocery delivery, per The Verge.
Another upcoming tool is Uber Eats’ AI assistant, which will help users save money by helping to find restaurant deals, order ingredients on a budget, and more.
The AI chatbot is expected to be released later in 2023.
The online food delivery app also announced Sales Aisle, “a curated selection of the best ways to save near you” through having promos and deals in one place.
