Chinese ride-sharing company teams up with CITIC Bank

Y！plus, one of the earliest Chinese ride-sharing service providers formerly known as Yidao Yongche, signed a strategic agreement on Thursday with China CITIC Bank in Shenzhen, aiming to jointly explore new business models.

So far, most of the ride-sharing service providers make a profit from taking a commission of 10 to 20 percent from driver income, but this month Yidao scrubbed such fees in 47 domestic cities.

Wen Xiaodong, chief executive officer of Yidao, said at the agreement signing ceremony that depending on commissions should not be an ideal business model. He expects the cross-industry collaboration between financial services and business trip transportation could create value and many new opportunities.

After teaming up with the financial corporation, the Beijing-based startup will promote the CITIC credit card to its drivers and passengers. It also pledges to launch Yidao Pay in a bid to provide a comprehensive auto financial service for drivers, such as paying fees for parking, expressways and gasoline.

Sun Deshun, president of the bank, noted the cooperation will also expand to the whole chain of business trips, such as flight and accommodation reservations, as the bank has partnered with many airlines, hotels and booking service providers.

The bank invested in the ride-hailing firm and now owns 18.18 percent of its shares after its former controller LeEco withdrew their investment. Established in 2010, Yidao serviced more than 7 million users by the end of 2017 and pledges to achieve 1 million orders each day on average in 2018.

But it also faces fierce competition with the recent entrance of the large group-buying and dining information platform Meituan-Dianping, which provides direct subsidies to drivers, bringing the ride-hailing industry into a new round of price wars.