How to Set up Alipay for Mobile Payments before Traveling to China

Alipay and WeChat are two of the most widely used mobile payment apps in China. This article will guide you to set up Alipay for mobile payments before traveling to China.

Step 1: Download & Install Alipay

Search and install Alipay from your app store.

Step 2: Signup Alipay

On the login page, click "Signup" and enter your mobile number and the verification code you received to sign up Alipay.

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Step 3: Add a credit or debit card

On the home page, click "Add Credit or Debit Card" to input your bank card information. Alipay accepts bank cards such as Visa, Mastercard, JCB, etc.

Step 4: Scan to pay

After adding a bank card in Alipay, you can pay like a local Chinese!

Click "Scan" to scan a merchant’s payment code to pay, or click "Pay" to show your payment code to a merchant.

Note:

1. Alipay charges a 3% transaction fee for any payment over 200 RMB. Payments under 200 RMB are exempt from the transaction fee.
2. Foreigners can only pay to merchant accounts. Person-to-person transfers are not allowed.
3. If your payment fails, one of the reasons may be that your bank rejected the transaction. If this is the case, you can call your bank to resolve.

Step 5: Identity Verification

Alipay allows new users to make payments totaling up to $500 without verifying their identity. After the cumulative payment exceeds $500, Alipay will ask users to upload their passport information page for identity verification.

To avoid being caught by identity verification after arriving in China, you can also initiate the verification process before Alipay asks you to do so.

To verify your identity, go to "Settings", "Account and Security", and then select "Verify Now" to enter your information and upload your passport information page to complete identity verification.

Step 6: Get Your Alipay Ready Before Traveling to China

If you plan to do a tour with us, we can send you our payment code, which you can scan to pay all or part of your deposit. This way you can make sure your Alipay is working properly before you travel to China.