Since costly things can sometimes happen in one's life without much warning, Uber is now offering its drivers the option to obtain an interest-free cash advance of up to $1,000.

Those who take advantage of the offer, which is currently limited to Uber drivers in California and Michigan, will be able to repay the advance at any time they want—or they can simply have Clearbanc, Uber's partner for the Advance Pay program, extract a portion of their earnings. (Uber caps the payment plans at 50 percent of one's earnings, so it's not like you'll suddenly find yourself without a paycheck because you're paying back the advance.)

"Research by the Federal Reserve has found that 47 percent of people in the U.S. would struggle to handle an unexpected bill costing $400?—?with a third saying that they would be forced to borrow to pay. Oftentimes, people who face cash shortfalls have turned to payday loans at very high interest rates, or credit card debt," reads Uber's announcement.

"Uber offers flexible work opportunities, where people can drive as much or as little as they want to meet their own goals and needs. Many people drive with Uber to reach a specific goal?—?like a new computer or a vacation. Others may find they need extra cash when the unexpected happens. In response to feedback from drivers, we've been working to find new ways to have drivers have even greater flexibility in when and how they access their earnings from driving with Uber?—?so they can meet their needs, especially to help cover an unanticipated expense."

The move follows Uber's launch of its Instant Pay service last month for San Francisco drivers (and a those in a few other states as well). In the program, drivers apply for an Uber debit card from GoBank. If they're approved, they can access their earnings as soon as they want, rather than having to wait anywhere from three to five days for Uber to process and send their earnings.

Additionally, Instant Pay has no minimum withdrawal amount or transaction fees—you get your cash quicker, though you'll have to have at least some kind of direct deposit or Instant Pay at least once every six months to avoid a $9 monthly service fee from GoBank. According to Uber, the company is hoping to roll out the service to even more drivers soon.

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Separately, Uber was recently granted a patent for its surge-pricing system. Or, as Uber put it in the patent description: "In response to a request from the user for the on-demand service when the real-time price is equal to or exceeds the threshold price, an intermediate interface can be provided that the user is to correctly respond to before a service request can be transmitted to a service system."

It remains to be seen just what Uber might do with its patent, now that it has it. We'll be curious to see whether Uber will try to turn the screw on competing ride-hailing services like Lyft, which also employs a dynamic pricing setup, "Prime Time."

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