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Uber’s Family Profiles let you add up to 10 people to a single account

Image Credit: Uber

Uber sees itself as a family-friendly service, and, to further that end, is launching Family Profiles, a feature that allows groups of up to 10 people to sign into the same account and pay for rides with a single payment method. This feature is now available in Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix, with other markets being added in the future.

Anyone can create a Family Profile, but to be added to one, you’ll need to receive an email invitation from the organizer. That will allow you, or anyone associated with your profile, to open up the Uber app, select the “Family Profile” option as the default payment method, and summon a ride. Afterwards, the organizer will receive a receipt.

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Over the past few months, Uber has built offerings around “profiles” that cater to different users, as the company seeks to further cement its reputation in the on-demand ride service space. Besides going after groups and families, Uber also has a Business Profile that makes it easier for riders to expense their trips.

Now the focus is on families, although that’s not the only use case for this new feature — it can just as easily be used by a group of friends or coworkers. There’s a limit of 10 people per profile, though, in order to minimize fraud and abuse.

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Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix are the first of Uber’s markets to provide this feature. “We have heard from our local teams that there is demand for this type of feature in those cities,” said Marie Hagman, senior product manager. “In a city like Dallas, for example, there is a high college student population. Both parents and college-age children alike could benefit from an easy way to request rides from their own phone that are then billed to one shared payment account.”

If a student who lives at home can’t get to class because they don’t have a car, the family profile could alleviate that pain point. Parents won’t get tied up arranging their children’s rides to soccer practice, school, or work — it can be done in a separate app, but the parents will know exactly where their child went and how much the trip cost.

Hagman explained that Family Profiles is launching in the United States, for now, but the company is looking to expand this feature internationally: “As we roll this feature out more broadly, we believe it can help families help each other and will be a great product to securely share a payment method and retain control.”

Only riders in Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix will be able to add people to their Family Profile immediately. However, you don’t have to live in those cities to join — it’s open to any Uber city except for those in China.

To check out family profiles, update the Uber app.

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