In message
,
Mizter T writes

What's not clear is whether or not a potential user will need £300 (or
£150 or whatever) in available funds in their account (via their
credit/debit card) to be able to rent a bike

I suspect they will. According to a rather old BBC article on the scheme
....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/h...00/8293273.stm

.... "You'll use credit cards to place an automatic refundable deposit on
the bike".

In other words, pax won't be able to hire the bike (even for the free 30
minutes) unless they have enough credit to pay the deposit. Once the
bike is returned, the deposit is then refunded to the card by means of a
charge back.

Those with limited funds might therefore be disappointed if hiring a
bike to go on a shopping trip
--
Paul Terry