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CreditEase promotes 'exercise for money' with sports app

china.org.cn / chinagate.cn by Chen Boyuan, January 13, 2017 Adjust font size:

Jiang Weihang (L) and Liu Chao demonstrate how the "exercise for money" scheme works through the Ledongbao 2.0 app at its launch in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

China's leading inclusive financial solution provider CreditEase and its partner Ledongli (joyful motivation), developer of trendy mobile apps for personal fitness plans, on Wednesday jointly launched their latest version of an app allowing users to "exercise for money."

Ledongbao (fitness treasure) 2.0 provides exercise or fitness plans for users, urging them to keep up with own workout schedules, and also contains a small collection of personal financing plans, whose return rates are flexible according to the daily amount of exercise the users undertake. In other words, the more exercises you do, the higher interest rate for a deposit with CreditEase.

The feature may seem novel and fanciful, but Ledongbao 2.0, seen from the name itself, is already an upgrade from its earlier version, which only featured "walk for money;" the new app has expanded the sports activities to include rhythmic exercises and aerobic dance, among others.

It's not clear yet how exactly different amounts of the newly added exercises will raise the interest rate. The earlier Ledongbao 1.0 version offered a benchmark deposit rate of 5.2 percent for users walking under 4,000 steps (approximately 3 km) a day, rising to 5.6 percent for between 4,000 and 10,000 steps a day. The rate goes up to 6 percent and 6.5 percent for those whose daily steps exceed 10,000 and 18,000.

"The more you exercise, the more you make," said Liu Chao, founder and CEO of Ledongli, a sporting man himself. "Incorporating financial features in our sports app has been a cross-industry innovation we managed to bring to life."

He continued: "The new Ledongbao app will help more people grow their assets while encourage them to engage in sports and fitness exercises more regularly."

He said the team-up with CreditEase meant more than unveiling a wealth management product in itself, as it also is meant to provide more value-added services for its users.

At the product launch, Jiang Weihang, vice manager of CreditEase Big Data Innovation Center, said that the app embodies "one-stop easy financing," a key for popularity among entry-level users who seek personal financing plans.