London’s bright blue ‘Boris Bikes’ will soon be painted red under a new £51 million sponsorship deal with the Spanish bank Santander.
The deal saw Santander outbid Coca-Cola to replace Barclays as the sponsor of the capital’s cycle-hire scheme, which will be renamed Santander Cycles from April.
Under the seven-year sponsorship deal, a new smartphone app will be introduced to make it easier to find available bikes and docking stations, and the number of bikes will also be increased.
Part of the agreement will also see Santander offering users of its “cash back” credit card discounts on the £2-a-day or £90-a-year hire charge.
Santander UK chief executive Nathan Bostock, a keen amateur cyclist, said:
“We are committed to making the experience of using Santander Cycles as simple, personal and fair as possible.
“It is why we will launch a world-first app to enable users to engage with the scheme from the palm of their hand – offer a more rewarding experience with cash back on every journey for customers of our 1|2|3 Credit Card – and why we will be looking to have cycle champions in all of Santander’s London branches to help users make the most of the scheme and their city.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson said:
“With my Cycling Vision about to bear fruit in new Superhighways, Quietway cycle routes and better junctions, there will be more opportunities than ever for Santander Cycles. It couldn’t be a better time to get involved in cycling”
Despite the deal’s doubling of the £25 million paid by Barclays for the 2010-2015 sponsorship rights, the scheme will still need a substantial subsidy of around £5 million per year by Transport for London (TfL).
London’s cycle hire scheme is currently the second largest in the world with 163,205 members and more than 10 million journeys made last year.