(Yicai Global) Dec. 1 -- As a number of Chinese bike sharers face cash troubles, Hellobike, run by Shanghai Junzheng Network Technology Co., is teaming up with Sesame Credit, the personal credit-rating agency run by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA], allowing users with a score of 650 or more to enjoy deposit-free bike sharing across 10 cities in the country.

The cities include Changsha and Zhengzhou in Central China; Nanjing, Yangzho, Wuhu and Ningde in East China and Zhuhai, Shantou, Zhongshan and Dongguan in South China.

Users with suitable scores can use Alibaba's financial services app Alipay to scan the QR codes on Hellobike's shared bicycles and ride them without paying a security deposit.

Most of China's bike-sharing operators adopt a deposit system, under which customers must commit a security pledge to the company in case of damage to or loss of bikes. However, users at a number of companies have struggled to get these deposits back when they decide to stop using the service, making them uneasy about signing up to new operators.

There has been CNY1.5 billion (USD227 million) worth of unreturned deposits in China over the last six months, leading not only to customer losses but also to a negative reputation across the bike-sharing industry.