China’s leading bike-sharing startup ofo is coming up with a new solution to unlock their bikes—near-field Communication (NFC) locks. Ofo announced today that their new NFC-enabled locks have been put into mass production (in Chinese) and will be placed on the streets most likely in October.
With the first electronic locks that support NFC, users can pay for and unlock a bicycle within seconds simply by bringing their smartphones near the bikes. This means that ofo riders will no longer have to solely rely on QR codes which are insecure and easy targets for scammers.
Wireless NFC technology has been widely implemented in China. Just last week, Beijing Metro announced that all Beijing subway lines are supporting NFC-enabled mobile phones. Passengers no longer need to purchase transport cards or tickets but can simply swipe their phones to enter the station.
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