THE shared power bank business has entered harvest season. However, problems around returning the devices are on the run at the moment, according to the Shenzhen Evening News.

As the enthusiasm for the sharing economy gradually fades, shared power bank services, which once seemed unpromising, have entered harvest season with a low profile.

Recently, the mobile Internet big data monitoring platform Trustdata released a report showing that the overall power bank rental market has achieved steady growth in 2019, with the number of customers reaching 150 million a year.

Chen Liteng, an expert in sharing economy, believes the power bank rental industry has transformed from paying a deposit to using a credit score, which solves the concerns raised by the controversial deposit and provides a more transparent operation and steady customer growth.

Unlike most sharing-economy models, the shared power banks meet people’s need of charging outside and have a huge market potential. A number of Shenzhen residents interviewed said that they all had the experience of renting a shared power bank and some even said they are more useful than shared bikes, according to the report.

“The business model of shared power banks is more secure than shared bikes in terms of costs and repair fees,” a staffer in the field said. With the launch of renting via Sesame Credit Score, the deposit problem has been addressed, and the shared power bank industry is only one step from large profits.

“The wave of price increases began in the second half of 2018, and the overall billing price of the entire industry has risen. The billing standard in first-tier and second-tier cities doubled from 1 yuan to 2 yuan per hour. The business model becomes simpler as the rental fee rises,” he added.

Most of the residents interviewed said that the rental price was a little bit high but still within a reasonable range. However, what the customers really care about is the process for returning the power bank.

“I have had a 99-yuan deposit deducted on two occasions for not returning the power bank in time. I thought the deposit would be returned to my account after I returned the power bank, but it wasn’t. I’m just worried that my Sesame Credit score will be affected,” a resident surnamed Wang said.

Additionally, a staffer at a restaurant said that power bank collectors nearby in the shopping mall were often full, so customers could not return them.

Guaishou, a power bank provider, has offered an option to address this problem: buy the power bank for 99 yuan. However, most users do not like this option because they already have a power bank.

(Zhou Ting)