Mobike, one of the world's biggest smart bike-sharing companies, said it would refund all its Chinese users' deposits -- Rmb1billion ($150million), according to an industry insider -- heightening competition with rival ofo.
据一位业内人士透露，全球最大的智能自行车共享公司之一摩拜单车将退还所有中国用户的押金，押金规模约为10亿元人民币（合1.5亿美元），这标志着它与对手Ofo的竞争正在加剧。
The refund was aided by Meituan's acquisition earlier this year of Mobike, a deal valued at $3.7billion including debt.
这次退款得益于摩拜今年较早时被美团收购。包括债务在内，此项并购交易的价格达到37亿美元左右。
Meituan, the food delivery and online services platform, is the world's fourth most valuable private technology company.
食品外卖和在线服务平台美团是全球价值第四大的非上市科技公司。
"The move is designed to establish a no-threshold, zero-burden and zero-condition deposit-free standard for the entire bike-sharing industry," Mobike said in a statement.
摩拜在一份声明中表示：“此举旨在为整个共享单车行业建立一个无门槛、零负担、零条件的免押金标准。”
However, such a standard would pile pressure on smaller players who do not have the large balance sheets to absorb the risks of theft or vandalism to bikes.
不过，这样的标准将消灭那些规模较小的公司，因为它们没有庞大的资产负债表来吸收单车被破坏或盗窃的风险。
"By refunding deposits and going deposit-free we are making it easier to Mobike than ever before," said Hu Weiwei, company founder.
摩拜创始人胡玮炜表示：“通过退还和免除押金，我们将使摩拜比以往任何时候更容易被人们接受。”
Mobike has 200 million registered users across the world, although the deposit-free scheme will only apply in China, where users have paid up to Rmb299 for their deposits.
摩拜单车目前在全球已经拥有2亿注册用户，不过这项免押金计划将只适用于中国。中国用户向摩拜支付的押金高达299元人民币。