Uber’s Manhattan Invasion Is Killing the Loan Market for Taxis
A medallion is a license to drive a New York City taxi. Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg
Cabbies aren’t the only ones feeling the heat from Uber Technologies Inc.’s incursion into New York City. Their lenders are, too.
Taxi companies typically borrow against the value of medallions -- licenses to carry passengers -- and then refinance the loans before they come due. Citigroup Inc. is trying to foreclose on 89 medallions, New York Community Bancorp Inc. put its taxi-loan portfolio up for sale, and credit unions with a combined $2.5 billion in medallion loans are suing the city for failing to stop Uber from stealing customers. Amid the turmoil, the value of a medallion has sunk to $770,000 from $1.1 million in 2013, according to data from the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission.