Compared with Wechat, Alipay shares more?!
Alipay, the online and mobile payment
platform operated by Ant Financial, has teamed up with six bike-rental apps to
allow users to rent 6 million bikes in 50 cities across China directly through
the app’s new “scan and ride” function.
Users can unlock any ofo, YouonBike,
Bluebike, hellobike, Ubike and funbike vehicle simply by scanning its QR code
through the Alipay app starting from today, the company announced.
Bike-rental has exploded in China over the
past year, with tens of millions of users taking millions of rides every day
across the country. However, users are facing with an increasingly bothering
problem of choosing between a “rainbow” of different bike rental services. For
users, new service eliminates the need to download individual apps for each
service. For the companies on the other hand, the partnership helps both
parties to drive more traffic.
Bike-rental apps are no longer the only
place where urban commuters can borrow a bicycle. Behind the heating
competition, there’s an increasing presence of internet giants, who are
entering the battle field through capital injection or product line-up, or
both.
Mobike’s service was integrated this March
into WeChat, a popular messaging app developed by Mobike’s investor Tencent.
Didi also added ofo to its app earlier this week in a similar move.
Although Alipay’s cooperation comes a bit
late, it has certain advantages. The sheer number of partners, which indicates
more bikes, is a plus in a market where bike availability is the top priority
for users. When Alipay users scan the QR code, no user registration for
separate bike-rental apps is needed for renting the bike. In addition, any user
that rents a bike through Alipay automatically receives comprehensive accident
insurance.
Comments
Post a Comment