US-based food and mobility service DoorDash has announced the support for customers to pay with cash for online orders, but not in the main app. The new capability from DoorDash comes with a catch.

The feature is only being rolled out to DoorDash’s white-label delivery solution for restaurants, DoorDash Drive, which allows restaurant owners to offer delivery from their own website or app while tapping into DoorDash’s courier network. The company says that, during tests, Chinese restaurants and pizza shops have been early adopters of the feature. In fact, when enabled, nearly 20% of pizza orders in the US fulfilled through its DoorDash Drive solution have been paid for using cash, the company said.

Cash options amid the rise of digital payments The pay-with-cash option is meant to cater to customers who aren’t necessarily comfortable sharing their payment card information online and prefer to use cash, as well as the underbanked who may not have access to online payment options. Despite the rise in ecommerce and digital payments, there’s still a sizable demographic that continues to use cash, when possible, as per the press release. Other tech giants and retailers in the US, like PayPal, Walmart, and Amazon, have similarly targeted this market in years past by offering ways to shop online, then pay with cash.

Cash payments are often preferred by drivers, as well, as they’re able to go home that night with tips that can be spent immediately, rather than needing to wait for a bank transfer. Plus, DoorDash says drivers can keep the full tip amount — they don’t have to engage in any tip-sharing with the restaurant or the delivery company itself. For this reason, some customers prefer to tip in cash, too, as they know their driver will get the full tip amount — something that’s not always the case with online ordering and delivery services.

DoorDash says Dashers will be required to opt-in to begin accepting the new Cash on Delivery option but will be able to opt out at any time without that impacting their ratings. Ahead of the announcement's debut, 75% of DoorDash’s US Dashers chose to accept cash orders and nearly 500,000 completed at least one cash delivery in 2022. The service was tested for more than a year before this official nationwide launch.

The option is not integrated in the main app Despite the interest in cash payments, DoorDash said that it’s not enabling a cash option in its own app, noting that customers expect to pay with a credit card when ordering directly from DoorDash itself. While DoorDash Drive charges a flat delivery fee per order with no commissions, Cash on Delivery orders may have an ‘incremental’ per-order cost. The changes follow a number of other new features for DoorDash customers and drivers on its main apps, including safety features, an option to return packages, bundled orders plus an expanded partnership with Starbucks, among other things.

.