Ziroom relies on credit ratings to vet long-term tenants

Ziroom, a Chinese app similar to Airbnb but for long-term rentals, is planning to use individual credit ratings of users, rather than cash deposits, to authenticate leasing transactions.

The company, which is China's fourth-largest online residential leasing app, will also use smart technologies and built-in smart furniture in the rooms they are hiring out.

"We will make use of our alliances with other financial technology companies such as Zhima Credit, a unit of Alibaba subsidiary Ant Financial, to gauge the creditworthiness of our future tenants," said Xiong Lin, chief executive officer of Ziroom. "Clients with good credit records can rent places without paying any deposit."