China's sharing economy has just been taken to a whole new level by Zhima Credit of Ant Financial, Alibaba's finance arm, making it even more citizen-friendly.
Users of apps that provide shared bikes and rental housing no longer need to pay any deposit upfront to avail the services, as long as their personal credit score is reasonable.
Trustworthy bike riders, defined as those whose credit score is above 650, can use the service without paying any deposit, which is usually 99 yuan.
Similarly, such users can rent homes without paying any deposit. This is expected to not only help more people to reap the benefits of sharing economy but expand user base of service providers.