Not to mention not mess around with cards or cash. No cash is a distant dream for me using non Uber rides. Innovation I do not know but all things you mention work conveniently well in Uber and badly or not at all in most half baked attempts by (for instance the city of Barcelona) taxi service apps.
I think where innovation is poor it's typically because there is a monopoly that simply removes incentives of operators to innovate, and a lack of good regulation, such as what the service must provide (payment options, safety, insurance, apps, ...).
If the regulation says "there can only be one company and they can charge cash only if they want" then the regulation is poor. The regulation should say "Anyone who fulfills the criteria on safety/insurance/skill can operate a taxi business. And oh, they must accept credit cards".
