Frequently Asked Questions

Empower is a peer-to-peer alternative to Uber/Lyft, where drivers set their own rates, get 100% of the fare, and are paid directly in-app by riders. In exchange, drivers pay Empower a subscription fee, which is significantly less than Uber/Lyft are withholding from drivers in taking over 40% of the fare on average from each ride. Empower takes ZERO commission from rides.

Empower is currently available in Winston-Salem / Greensboro, North Carolina, Washington D.C., and New York City.

Empower is looking forward to expanding across the country! If we are not in your city, please go to 'Contact Us' and select 'Bring Empower To My City' and tell us which city you would like Empower to be in.

Please go to 'Contact Us' and select 'Bring Empower To My City' and tell us which city you would like Empower to be in. Also, let drivers in your area know about Empower and have them download the driver app and create their account.

Empower takes safety very seriously, and riders have made clear they prefer to book their rides with drivers who have passed a background check. Accordingly, for both the benefit of drivers and riders, all drivers who wish to provide rides using Empower’s software and services must pass a criminal and department of motor vehicle background check. Please note, Empower is not a transportation provider like Uber or Lyft. Empower is a booking platform like Expedia. As a result, while Empower takes safety matters very seriously and takes steps to promote safety in our community, including requiring drivers to pass a background check and enabling riders to select a same-gender or favorite driver, Empower is not legally or financially responsible for issues that arise in connection with the services provided by drivers booked through Empower, anymore than Expedia is legally or financially responsible for the services provided by airlines or hotels booked through Expedia.

If you have any concern regarding a driver using Empower’s software and services, please immediately call our support team through the help button in-app or email us at info@rideempower.com.

If a rider cancels more than 3 minutes after their driver accepted their ride request, the rider will be charged a $2 cancellation fee by their driver. If a rider cancels more than 6 minutes after their driver accepted, the rider will be charged $4. Also, if a driver arrives at the pickup location and waits for their rider for 5 minutes or more and their rider does not show up, the rider will be charged a $4 “no-show” fee.

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Yes. Your first month using Empower is FREE! After that, subscription options are dependent on where you drive. Please see "How much does Empower cost" for more details.

Whether you are a part-time or full-time driver, you can make more money driving for yourself using Empower compared to driving for Uber/Lyft. Click here to find out how much more you’ll earn!

Empower Monthly Platinum drivers receive higher instant payout limits, guaranteed car mess reimbursement, dedicated Platinum Team support, exclusive Platinum Earnings Guarantees, VIP access to all Empower virtual and in-person events, guaranteed representation on Empower’s new Driver Advisory Council, and additional Platinum Member benefits!

Customers can pause or cancel their current plan at any time.

1. Click ‘My Driver Account’ in the top right corner of your screen and log-in to the Driver Subscription Manager.
2. Click on ‘Change plan’.
3. Choose your plan.
4. Click ‘Update plan’.

Check out this video to learn more about changing your subscription plan!

1. Click 'My Driver Account' at the top right corner of the screen.
2. Log in using the phone number associated with your account.
3. Enter the 6-digit verification code texted to you.

Empower does not receive any of the amounts paid by riders. Drivers using Empower get 100% of the fare, and in turn pay Empower a subscription fee. Instead of paying with a credit/debit card, this fee is paid automatically from your gross bookings.

To see your remaining balance on your subscription plan, you can go to the ‘My subscription’ page on the Empower Driver App or log in to the Driver Subscription Manager!

Pausing your plan doesn't go into effect until the end of your current subscription period. You can continue to use the platform while your status is still Active.

Yes. Tap the ‘Cancel pause’ button located below your subscription status.

Drivers can adjust their plan at any time and have the ability to indicate that they would like the change to go into effect either immediately or at the end of their current subscription period. Check out this video to learn more about changing your subscription plan.

Yes. To pause your subscription, tap ‘Pause plan’. You can continue to drive until the end of your current subscription period, at which point your subscription will be paused. You can reactivate your subscription at any time and start a new subscription period by tapping ‘Reactivate’, below your status.

Yes. Drivers can adjust their plan at any time. Check out this video to learn more about changing your subscription plan.

Drivers can adjust their plan at any time. Please note that any payments made toward your current subscription plan are not applied to your new plan. Check out this video to learn more about changing your subscription plan.

The rider’s fare is transferred directly in-app from their payment card to your account. Rider fares never touch Empower’s bank account!

By default, Stripe will automatically transfer amounts in your Stripe account to your connected bank or debit accounts once per day, Monday-Friday. If you would like Stripe to limit transfers to once per week, please reach out to our customer support team, and we can make that adjustment on your behalf. 

Need to update your Stripe information? Take a look at this tutorial video: Check out this video to learn more about updating your Stripe information!

Yes. Stripe instant payout is now available through the driver app. If you would like to take advantage of the instant payout feature, please select ‘Instant Payout’ from the menu in the driver app.

No. Empower does not take any portion of the fees charged by Stripe. Empower however, successfully negotiated with Stripe to lower the fees that drivers are charged by Stripe and will continue to negotiate on behalf of drivers in the future.

Through the Empower Driver Rewards Program, drivers can earn up to $350 in subscription credit or up to $175 cash for every paying subscriber referred.

To refer a new driver, simply open the Empower app, select 'Refer a driver' in the menu, and tap 'Refer a driver' to share your unique referral code by text, email, Facebook, etc.

Empower provides drivers with a suggested rate card; however, with Empower, drivers control and can adjust their rates. The suggested rates are set so that drivers make 20% - 25% more on average than they would if they were driving on behalf of Uber/Lyft instead of for themselves. With the suggested rate card, riders also save 15-20% on average. With Empower, everyone wins. Check out this video to learn more about adjusting your rate card(s)!

Empower does not currently provide insurance to drivers; however, we are working on establishing relationships with insurance carriers to help provide drivers with the most affordable options. If you do not feel that your existing coverage will properly cover you, we suggest that you purchase additional coverage.

Using Empower, drivers keep 100% of the fare. With Uber and Lyft, drivers get 60% on average. Many drivers are making thousands of dollars more per month driving for themselves using Empower. With increased earnings, drivers can now afford to run their own businesses, and we are working hard to provide additional services to assist you.

Check out this video to learn how to upload your documents during onboarding!

With Empower, you are a customer, not our employee or independent contractor, so you do not receive a W-2 or 1099 from Empower. With Empower, you are your own boss. You set your own rates and get 100% of the fare. Empower's mission is to support and assist you and other hard working professionals who want to run and grow their own business. As part of our effort to do that we provide all customers with a concise summary of their earnings, expenses, and mileage in late January or early February of each year. If you have any additional questions, we recommend that you speak to a tax professional.

We know the rating system for Uber/Lyft can create problems. We think we’ve fixed this by having riders simply give a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” (or no rating) at the end of the ride. We think this avoids a rider giving a driver four stars and thinking that’s a good rating when in fact that’s a bad rating on Uber/Lyft.

Riders can also favorite a driver and then request that they only be matched with their favorite drivers. If you have a lot of riders that have favorited you, we’ll likely suggest you increase your rate card a bit as riders are typically willing to pay a bit more for their favorite drivers.

When a ride is booked there is an initial hold placed on your account that is more than the estimated fare to ensure that your payment method has sufficient funds to pay for your fare plus any tolls, tips, or applicable government taxes ("Total"). Any amount in excess of the Total will not be charged to your card.

Rest assured, once your ride is completed the amount of the hold in excess of the Total will be released back to your payment method. The hold may take a few business days to visibly disappear from your bank statement, depending on your bank. If the Hold is still present 3 business days after your ride, or in the case of a prepaid card 10 business days after your ride, please let us know and we will investigate further.

Yes. For each rider you refer you’ll receive $5 in ride credit in the DC and Piedmont-Triad markets and $10 in ride credit in New York.

When you enter a destination, Empower’s software provides an estimated fare based on the rates of the drivers most likely to accept your ride request. Because each driver sets their own rates, the estimate provided by Empower’s software may be slightly higher or lower than the actual fare which is based on the rate card of the specific driver who ultimately accepts your ride request. Estimated fares are typically identical or very close to the actual fare; however, during very busy times when there are fewer drivers available, actual fares may vary a bit more (often they are less expensive) than the estimated fare.

Please note that when your driver accepts your ride request, you will be presented with the actual fare at the bottom of the screen. You can cancel any ride without penalty for up to 3 minutes from the time your driver accepts your ride request.

Yes. Riders can request drivers of the same gender by toggling on the “same-gender” filter after they enter their pickup and dropoff locations.

Riders are charged cancellation fees by drivers in some circumstances to account for the time drivers spend driving towards the pickup location or waiting for the rider at the pickup location. Specifically, if you cancel a ride more than 3 minutes (but less than 6 minutes) after a driver has accepted your ride request, you will be charged a $2 cancellation. If you cancel your ride more than 6 minutes after your driver has accepted your ride request, you will be charged a $4 cancellation fee. If you do not show up to the pickup location within 5 minutes of the driver arriving, the driver may cancel your ride and you will be charged a $4 “no-show” fee.

There are no cancellation fees for rides that are canceled within 3 minutes of your driver accepting your ride request.

If you believe you have been incorrectly charged a cancellation fee by a driver, please reach out to our support team via the “help” button or at info@rideempower.com and we will be happy to review the charge.

Please reach out to our support team at info@rideempower.com with details about when the ride occurred, a description of the item left, and consent for us to share your contact information with the driver. Once we have all the information, our team will gladly reach out to the driver on your behalf.

Riders have 30 minutes to tip and rate their driver in the app after a ride. If you forget to leave a tip, our team would be happy to add one for you if you contact our support team via the “help” button in the passenger app.

No, riders do not pay a subscription fee to book rides using Empower’s software. Riders are not Empower subscribers.