Deals
Uber's Chinese Rival Lines Up Bank to Help Drivers Buy Cars
- Merchants Bank joins Alibaba, Tencent as investor in Didi
- Uber plans to expand to 18 more cities in southern China
A man drives through an intersection in Beijing.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Didi Kuaidi, the ride-hailing service slugging it out in China with Uber Technologies Inc., is partnering with China Merchants Bank Co. to provide automobile financing and help its 14 million drivers with car payments.
Merchants Bank, which is making a strategic investment in Didi, will provide loans and payment plans to qualified drivers. The pair are also working together on bank cards and in-app credit card payments, Didi President Jean Liu told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.