I understand where you are coming from, but the competitor here is Google. The Google brand is arguably even stronger than the Uber brand and I don't see why it

I understand where you are coming from, but the competitor here is Google. The Google brand is arguably even stronger than the Uber brand and I don't see why it wouldn't transplant easily to cabs. People trust and like Google. They might as well like its cabs. This is particularly true because unlike Uber, Google hasn't been maligned by the perception of being a bully (the 'Dont be Evil' mantra is widely still held to be true by the general public). Here in India, for instance, the Uber brand was tarnished heavily by a rape in New Delhi followed by utterly callous handling of the case by Uber employees (which included sending everyone, along with the rape victim, an email saying 'we are back!'). Google doesn't have that problem. As for payment information, Google already has that for a lot of consumers thanks to Google Play