The Dubai-built ride-hailing platform said the Zed Wallet will credit cashback automatically after each eligible journey, with rewards capped at Dh20 per trip and redeemable against future rides booked through the app. The offer covers both taxi and premium ride categories across the emirate and is open to new and existing users under the campaign “Ride. Earn 15%. Repeat.”
The initiative is aimed at daily commuters who rely on taxis for office trips, Metro connections, school runs, airport transfers and late-night travel. For frequent riders, the effective fare reduction could build into meaningful monthly savings, particularly at a time when residents are more alert to transport costs and when competing platforms are using discounts, subscriptions and wallet-linked incentives to hold customers.
Zed’s move also reflects a wider shift in Dubai’s mobility sector from simple ride booking to retention-led ecosystems. Ride-hailing companies once competed largely on availability, estimated arrival times and fare comparisons. The field is now moving towards wallet balances, repeat-use rewards, pre-booking guarantees and personalised app journeys, as operators try to turn occasional users into habitual customers.
Badr Al Ghurair, chief executive officer of Zed, said the platform wanted commuters to “feel recognised” rather than view the service as a transactional ride. He described the wallet as part of a mobility ecosystem built around the people who keep Dubai moving. Abhinav Patwa, executive vice-president and head of Zed, said the reward makes value visible after every trip, changing the way customers perceive everyday commuting.
The cashback launch comes after Zed expanded its operating footprint through agreements that brought a large share of Dubai’s licensed taxi fleet onto its platform. The app now lists vehicles from Dubai Taxi Company, National Taxi and Kabi by Al Ghurair, giving it broader coverage across high-demand districts and areas where passengers often face longer waits during peak hours.
That scale matters in a city where transport demand continues to climb. Dubai’s public transport, shared mobility and taxi services handled 395.3 million trips in the first half of 2025, a 9 per cent increase from a year earlier. The taxi sector alone recorded 59.5 million trips during the same period, up from 55.7 million, while passenger numbers rose to 103.5 million.
The Roads and Transport Authority has been pushing to move 80 per cent of taxi trips to digital booking channels, a target that has encouraged taxi operators and technology platforms to deepen partnerships. For Zed, cashback is a consumer-facing layer on top of that digitisation drive, using rewards to increase app frequency while supporting the transition from phone bookings and street hailing to digital dispatch.
Dubai’s ride-hailing market is crowded. Careem’s Hala service remains a major player in regulated taxi e-hailing, Uber continues to serve premium and international users, Bolt has been expanding its local taxi access, and other platforms seek niches in pricing, service levels or airport travel. Zed’s positioning rests on its local identity, taxi integration and a rewards model that directly lowers the cost of repeat travel.
The offer also arrives as mobility operators test new ways to protect margins while keeping customers engaged. Flat discounts can be expensive and short-lived, while subscription plans suit only some riders. Cashback tied to a wallet can keep spending within the platform, giving users a reason to return while allowing the operator to track behaviour and tailor future promotions.
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