Bike-hire services unlikely to go further

CHINESE BIKE-SHARING COMPANY OFO is running a trial to exempt users from paying a deposit in Shanghai, a move that will likely intensify the competition in the sector. Beijing News commented on Monday:

Teaming up with Sesame Credit, a credit rating agency that is part of the Ant Financial Services Group owned by commerce giant Alibaba, Ofo is allowing users in Shanghai that have a credit score of 650 or higher to use its bike-hire service without paying the 99 yuan ($14.4) deposit.

Since the rise of the station-less bike-sharing services last year, governments at all levels have sought to jump on the bandwagon by doubling their financial support to the promotion of bike-sharing.