News

Yango Ride Introduces In-Chat Trip Planning In ChatGPT

Users in the UAE and 25 more countries can check fares, routes and ETAs inside the popular chat platform as transport apps test AI-led customer access.

Published

5 months ago

April 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

Yango

Yango Ride has launched an app inside ChatGPT, letting users in the UAE and more than 25 other markets plan trips and move toward booking without ever leaving the chat window.

The rollout spans Yango markets across the Middle East, South Asia, Africa and Latin America. It’s an early signal that ride-hailing groups see AI assistants as a new front door for everyday services.

Users can check the exact fare for a route, compare journey times, view the trip ETA and see how long a driver would take to arrive. The tool also suggests pickup points aimed at cutting wait times. When ready to book, users are redirected to the Yango app or web version to complete the ride.

The feature is available through ChatGPT on web, Android and iOS. Yango said it uses live traffic data and routing systems that refresh estimates as road conditions change.

The timing matters in the UAE, where public and private sectors have tied growth plans to AI under the National AI Strategy 2031. App-based mobility is also growing. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority says shared services, including on-demand ride-hailing, rose from 7.5% to 9% of total transport usage between 2024 and 2025.

That leaves room for a simpler model: users ask an AI assistant for transport while planning the rest of the day in the same conversation. For tourists and business travelers, fewer app switches may be the real selling point.

Also Read: Basatne Debuts ORBT Platform For Digital Refunds In UAE

In a recent press release, Yango said it plans to expand its ChatGPT presence beyond ride-hailing into delivery, public transport and food ordering.

The recent moves by Yango are part of a wider shift, as platforms seek placement inside generative AI products before those interfaces become a default layer for search, booking and payments.

Yango Ride is available in the ChatGPT app store by following this link.

News

Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

Egypt’s telecom regulator says $57.6 billion moved through more than 57 million wallets in six months. And one operator handled 77% of the value.

Published

4 days ago

September 12, 2026

Nour Nasir

egypt's mobile wallets are booming but cash still has power

Egypt’s mobile wallets handled EGP 2.96 trillion ($57.6 billion) in transactions in the first half of 2026, according to the National Telecom Regulatory Authority – a 56% rise on the EGP 1.90 trillion ($36.9 billion) recorded a year earlier. Transactions grew faster still, up 62% to 2.22 billion, while registered wallets climbed 23% to 57.01 million.

On one reading, that is exactly what Egypt’s regulators have been pushing for: a payments system that runs through telecom-linked wallets rather than banknotes. But the same data shows how far cash still reaches into it. Cash withdrawals made up just 12% of the transactions taking money out of wallets, yet 75% of the value withdrawn or spent.

Money arrives mostly from bank accounts: transfers through InstaPay accounted for 78% of deposit transactions and 58% of the value deposited, while incoming remittances from abroad made up 3% of deposit transactions but 10% of their value. Once inside, it largely moves between wallets – wallet-to-wallet transfers accounted for 54% of all transactions and 67% of total value, with mobile and internet top-ups a distant second at 25% of volume. In effect, the wallet is serving as a transfer layer: the place money passes through between the bank account and the banknote.

That layer also runs predominantly through one operator. Vodafone Cash held 53% of registered wallets and 57% of active ones, but handled 69% of transactions and 77% of their value. Its nearest rival, e& money, held 23% of registered wallets but 14% of transaction value; Orange Cash 20% and 8%; WE Pay 4% of wallets. How many of the 57.01 million are active is not stated.

Also Read: Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Adoption is rather uneven in other respects. Men held 38 million wallets, or 67% of the total, against 19 million held by women. Users aged 26 to 45 accounted for half of all wallets, and Cairo alone had 10.6 million, or 19% of the national total, with Giza next at 6.5 million.

The NTRA says it is continuing to work with telecom operators on the regulatory framework for wallet services, part of a wider effort to expand electronic payments and financial inclusion. Its own figures show that effort succeeding on the way in. On the way out, three-quarters of the value still leaves as cash.