Uber was the most-expensed brand for North American businesses in 2018, according to Certify, marking the third consecutive year the ridehailing giant has taken the top spot in the expense provider's SpendSmart Year in Review report.
Drawn from more than 50 million reported expenses comprising $3.3 billion in total spending across Certify's North American corporate clients, the report found that Uber rides comprised 11 percent of all expensed transactions last year, followed by Starbucks, at 4.1 percent. Uber competitor Lyft made its debut in the yearly top 10, ranking sixth with 2.8 percent of all expensed transactions.
For the fourth quarter alone, Uber accounted for 11.9 percent of all transactions, making it also Q4's most-expensed brand. And after entering the quarterly top 10 at No. 6 in the third quarter, Lyft moved up one spot to fifth for the fourth quarter with a 3.4 percent share of all transactions expensed.
Uber and Lyft have grown rapidly as a share of business expenses over the past four years, Certify data shows. As of the beginning of 2015, the two providers together accounted for less than 50 percent of all ridehailing expenses; taxis comprised the majority of the remaining share. In 2018, the duo comprised 92 percent of expensed rides. Certify attributed that growth not only to the greater convenience but also to the digital services' lower cost. The average cost of a taxi ride in 2018 was $9 higher than a Lyft ride and $7.50 higher than a trip with Uber, according to the report.
Other travel sellers among Certify's most-expensed brands in 2018 included Delta, which ranked fourth with 3.6 percent of transactions, followed by American Airlines at fifth with 3.4 percent.
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