Chinese ride-hailing service Didi expands into financial services

Dominant Chinese ride-hailing service, Didi Chuxing is rolling out a variety of financial services aimed mainly at its drivers. The offer:  Didi just launched car and health insurance for the 30 million people registered as drivers on its platform. Didi tested these services in ten markets before taking them nationwide. Available on the firm's app, the financial offering also includes crowdfunding products for critical illnesses, credit and lending, wealth management and auto-financing services. Everyone is into fintech: The Chinese car-hailing industry is going through changes as regulations make it harder to register new drivers. This fintech offering is a way to encourage and protect Didi's driver base. Didi isn't the first ride-hailing service to get into finance. Uber used to offer its own auto financing aimed at helping drivers buy new cars, but ultimately shut it down after accusations of predatory lending. Uber now encourages drivers to seek financing from partner lenders and dealerships. Finance is everywhere: As financial services become more distributed, it's become much easier for firms to provide different financial products and services to their ecosystems. Through partnerships with fintech firms, retailers can offer purchase financing to their customers. Ecommerce platform, Shopify finances its users' credit card receivables through its Shopify Capital arm. Amazon and Paypal both offer financing options to merchants using their services.   Image source