Alipay and Didi Chuxing leap into China’s bike-sharing craze

Allipay has announced a major partnership with six bike sharing companies, including ofo, youon, bluegogo, hellobike, funbike and U-Bicycle, reports Beijing Daily.

Alipay, a Chinese third-party online payment platform launched by Alibaba Group, unveils a partnership with six bike-sharing companies, including ofo, youon, bluegogo, hellobike, funbike and U-Bicycle, April 27, 2017. [Photo: sohu.com]

From Saturday, China's largest third-party payment platform is allowing users to unlock and pay for bike-sharing service by using the scan facility in the home section of the Alipay App.

The move cuts out the need to download and register on the bike sharing apps themselves.

The new move will involve 6 million bicycles, across 50 cities. 

The Chinese cashless payment giant will also offer free Insurance Services for users who scan for bikes offered by ofo, youon, bluegogo, funbike and U-Bicycle.

In another major development, Didi Chuxing, China's leading mobile transportation platform, has also announced a nationwide cooperation with ofo, which will see its bike-sharing service made available via Didi's own App. 

It follows the tie up of Tencent's ubiquitous social media app Wechat with Mobike on March 29, 2017, to provide shared bikes to its users through a mini-app located in the Wallet section of WeChat.

The massive number of subscribers for the bike sharing companies is a major attraction for the large players such as Alipay and Didi Chuxing. 

Analysts also suggest the big companies will be able to bring their own expertise to the burgeoning bike sharing industry to help improve the user experience and update the sector.