Egyptian carpooling innovation Wadeeny goes mobile
After one year of its official launch, Egypt’s carpooling innovation Wadeeny ( http://www.wadeeny.com ) introduced its mobile application and new currency to the world.
Starting off as a university project, founders Aly ElGuezery and Hesham Ghandour decided to take Wadeeny to the next level, after evaluating the feedback they have been receiving from their users over the past year. The first step was to go mobile, since a transportation service needs to be available everywhere and at any time.
One of the main factors that led to people’s hesitation while using the service was the payment method. The concept of Wadeeny is that the passenger pays the driver the gas expenses, which makes this service cheaper than taxi-rides.
“We realized that passengers and drivers found the concept of direct, on-spot payment embarrassing, so we created an online currency called ‘Wadeeny Kilometers’. Virtual kilometers – depending on the length of a route – are transferred from the passenger’s to the driver’s account when the trip starts and the driver can cash them in for real money later on,” ElGuezery explains.
The value of one Wadeeny KM depends on the average gas price at the current time. Passengers can buy KM the same way they would buy credit for the cellphones: via scratch-cards that are delivered to their doorstep. As soon as they enter the code on the card into their accounts on the website, the kilometers are automatically transferred.
“Gas prices are expected to rise, and that way, many drivers will enter their trips on Wadeeny to get back their money by finding passengers who will ride with them,” ElGuezery concluded. “We also launched the service for the London 2012 Olympic Games, since transportation is a huge issue there at the moment, and it is easier for people to catch rides together.”
The application can be downloaded on Android and iPhone and gives each user 50 Wadeeny KMs for free post-download.
Know more about Wadeeny's history:
"The launch of the Egyptian carpooling innovation: Wadeeny"
http://www.egypt-business.com/News/details/The-launch-of-the-Egyptian-carpooling-innovation-Wadeeny/1109
Starting off as a university project, founders Aly ElGuezery and Hesham Ghandour decided to take Wadeeny to the next level, after evaluating the feedback they have been receiving from their users over the past year. The first step was to go mobile, since a transportation service needs to be available everywhere and at any time.
One of the main factors that led to people’s hesitation while using the service was the payment method. The concept of Wadeeny is that the passenger pays the driver the gas expenses, which makes this service cheaper than taxi-rides.
“We realized that passengers and drivers found the concept of direct, on-spot payment embarrassing, so we created an online currency called ‘Wadeeny Kilometers’. Virtual kilometers – depending on the length of a route – are transferred from the passenger’s to the driver’s account when the trip starts and the driver can cash them in for real money later on,” ElGuezery explains.
The value of one Wadeeny KM depends on the average gas price at the current time. Passengers can buy KM the same way they would buy credit for the cellphones: via scratch-cards that are delivered to their doorstep. As soon as they enter the code on the card into their accounts on the website, the kilometers are automatically transferred.
“Gas prices are expected to rise, and that way, many drivers will enter their trips on Wadeeny to get back their money by finding passengers who will ride with them,” ElGuezery concluded. “We also launched the service for the London 2012 Olympic Games, since transportation is a huge issue there at the moment, and it is easier for people to catch rides together.”
The application can be downloaded on Android and iPhone and gives each user 50 Wadeeny KMs for free post-download.
Know more about Wadeeny's history:
"The launch of the Egyptian carpooling innovation: Wadeeny"
http://www.egypt-business.com/News/details/The-launch-of-the-Egyptian-carpooling-innovation-Wadeeny/1109