A bicycle is one of the simplest and most accessible forms of transportation there is. You find a bike, get on and go. At least, that is how it should work. Yet, before the first pedal stroke, people often face a string of obstacles: registration, a mandatory credit card, a hold on their credit limit, a minimum balance, an unlocking fee, subscriptions, monthly plans and minute-by-minute rules that demand far too much attention.
People do not want to sign up for a financial product just to ride a bicycle. They do not want to tie up their credit limit for a ride that costs a few dollars. They do not want to calculate what each additional minute will cost.
They just want to ride.
When protection becomes a barrier
There is a very fine line between protecting an operation and creating obstacles for its own customers.
Brazil is a great example. According to the Central Bank, 96.4% of adults have a relationship with a financial institution, but only about half use a credit card.
In other words, someone can have a bank account, money, use Pix every day, carry a debit card and be perfectly able to pay for a ride.
But when an operator requires a credit card and available credit before allowing that person to ride a bicycle, it creates an artificial barrier between them and mobility.
Having the money to pay for a ride and having credit available to secure that ride are two completely different things.
We live in curious times. Today, food delivery apps already let customers pay for certain orders in installments. You can order a pizza today and finish paying for it over the coming months.
Now imagine that trend reaching bike sharing.
You want to cycle a few miles and discover you need to sign up for a plan, pay a monthly fee, tie up your credit limit and, before long, finance the right to ride a bicycle in three or four installments.
No one wants to finance a bike ride.
People want mobility.
Pricing is part of the experience, too
Once, the sister of a famous Brazilian model told me a story I have never forgotten.
During a trip to New York, she used bike sharing to explore the city. SoHo, Tribeca, Chelsea. She rode for hours.
She had not fully understood the fare structure.
She only realized how much it had cost when she returned to Brazil and received her credit card statement:
around US$550 in bike-sharing charges.
I am not debating whether the charges were covered by the terms. That is not the point.
If someone can use a product for hours without realizing they are building up a bill of that size, there is an experience problem. A fare can be correct under the contract and still be wrong for the customer experience.
People do not want to study unlocking fees, initial minutes, additional minutes, overage charges, plans, subscriptions and payment holds before getting on a bike.
Nor do they want to open a calculator to figure out what it will cost to reach the other side of the city.
If the price needs that much explaining, it has already become friction.
Payment is part of the experience
Payment should not simply be a financial step at the end of the journey.
Payment is part of the mobility experience.
It needs to be simple, fast, transparent, secure and easy to understand.
People should know what they are paying, choose how to pay and complete the transaction with confidence — without having to understand payment gateways, acquiring banks, settlement or the entire financial infrastructure behind that screen.
That complexity belongs to us, not to the customer.
In Brazil, that may mean Pix, debit cards, credit cards or a digital wallet. In the United States, cards and options such as Apple Pay. In London, Los Angeles, Barcelona or any other market, habits may be different.
MYKE’s role is to respect those differences without turning each country into a different experience for the customer.
A global platform needs global infrastructure
If we want to build a global mobility platform, it makes no sense to turn payments into a patchwork of independent integrations.
One solution for Brazil. Another for the United States. Another for the United Kingdom. Another for Europe.
And in every new city, practically rebuild the technology, reconciliation, security and experience from scratch.
That is not global scale. It is global complexity.
MYKE was born with a global vision. That is why one of our ambitions is to work with a Global Payment Partner that can support the platform’s expansion while respecting the financial realities of each market.
That does not mean forcing the entire world to pay in the same way.
Quite the opposite.
It means having global infrastructure that can deliver a local experience.
Pix in São Paulo. Apple Pay or a card in New York. Different habits in London, Barcelona or Los Angeles.
The currency can change. The method can change. Regulations can change.
The quality of the experience should not.
And there is an important distinction:
Payment does not have to be invisible. Friction does.
People need to know they are making a secure payment, understand the amount and trust whoever is processing the transaction. But it should all happen naturally as part of the journey.
Found it. Chose it. Paid. Unlocked. Rode.
The easier a service is to use, the more people can use it.
Sometimes we do the opposite: we create five barriers to protect the operation, then spend millions on marketing to convince people to cross them.
I prefer to think differently.
Remove the barrier first.
Simple pricing. Simple payments. More options. Fewer unnecessary requirements.
Because in the end, it does not matter how many APIs, banks, currencies and systems sit behind the scenes.
People still want exactly the same thing:
get on a bicycle and ride.
And our job is to make everything between those two things as simple as possible.
MOVE QUIETLY.