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Public bike-share company Mobike launches its new red envelope service at a press conference in China's capital Beijing on March 23. [Photo provided to China Daily] |
Since launching in the city of Wuxi earlier this month, Mobike has seen its users grow, and now the public bike-share company is giving hongbao, red envelopes for its riders.
The creative idea was announced at a press conference in China's capital Beijing on March 23. The new function is being applied to more than 30 cities serving its millions of users.
Riders that find bikes with a red envelope icon on the Mobike app will be in with a chance to win a money prize. Unlocking and riding the bike for more than 10 minutes, but less than two hours, will come in at no cost. Furthermore, riders will receive a red envelop worth between 1 and 100 yuan ($15).
All the red envelopes users collect will be saved in their Mobike app account. Once the sum exceeds 10 yuan, users can withdraw the money via Alipay, the leading third-party payment platform in China. Mobike says withdrawal through the popular Chinese social media platform WeChat will be available soon.
It should be noted that red envelope bonuses will not be mixed with users' account balance.
The red envelope idea takes cues from the popular mobile game "Pokemon Go". Using Internet of Things (IoT) technology and the Location Based Service (LBS) technology, Mobike intends to "gamify" its bike-sharing service to attract more users.
