Pay like a local with Alipay and WeChat Pay (foreign cards)

Last verified 2026-10-14 · re-checked every 14 days

Alipay takes Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Diners Club and Discover; Weixin Pay also takes JCB and UnionPay. Bind a card and verify your passport, then pay by scanning the merchant's code or showing your own payment code.

Use the resources you need

You just landed and the taxi won’t take your home card. China runs on two mobile-payment apps, and both let you pay with a card you already own — once you bind it and verify who you are (Alipay+, 2026-10-14). Here is how to set it up on both, and the limits that will actually bite you.

Two apps.

• Alipay — Download it from the App Store or Google Play. It has an English version, and you register with your phone number (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21).
• WeChat (its payment service is called Weixin Pay) — Download or update the WeChat app and register. Weixin Pay sits under Me → Pay and Services → Wallet → Bank Cards (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14).

One card issued outside mainland China. Both apps accept cards issued outside the mainland, but they do not accept an identical list. Alipay takes Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club and Discover (Shanghai Government — Alipay guide, 2026-10-14), plus American Express, added on 2025-02-25 (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2025-02-28). Weixin Pay’s manual lists Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club, Discover and UnionPay international cards (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12). You cannot bind a card issued by a mainland bank as a single-label foreign-currency card (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Your passport. For most visitors the passport photo page is the ID used to verify, and the app may ask you to upload a copy of it (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14). Weixin Pay also accepts a People’s Republic of China Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card, and Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan travel and residence permits (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14).

A phone number that can receive SMS. Any home number works — you do not need a +86 Chinese number to register or bind a card (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14). On Alipay you can register with a foreign number before you arrive and change it to a Chinese number later (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21).

The hotlines, in case something jams. Alipay English service: +86 571 2688 6000 (dial 0571 2688 6000 from a mainland phone), daily 08:00–24:00 (Alipay, 2026-10-14). Weixin Pay: +86 571 95017 (dial 95017 from a mainland phone) (People’s Bank of China — Guide to Payment Services in China, 2026-10-14).

Steps

Step 1 — Install and register (phone number requirements)

Download Alipay and WeChat before you travel; Alipay has an English version (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21), and both register with a phone number rather than a mainland ID (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14).

Register both with your home phone number. Neither requires a mainland number — overseas users can register with any overseas number that can receive SMS verification codes (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14). On Alipay you can register with a foreign number before you arrive and switch to a Chinese number after buying a local SIM (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21).

If you registered WeChat with an overseas number and cannot see the Pay and Services entry, turn Weixin Pay on under Me → Settings → General → Auxiliary Functions, then go to Me → Services → Wallet → Bank Cards to add a card (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Step 2 — Verify your identity with your passport

Verification is the gate to paying, and it ties the account to your name.

• Alipay: after adding your card, tap “Verify now” and follow the on-screen steps to enter your identity data (Shanghai Government — Alipay guide, 2026-10-14).
• Weixin Pay: fill in your identity information when you add a card; if you verify with a passport, the app asks you to upload a copy of the passport photo page (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14). Documents submitted for review are checked manually and the result normally arrives the same way you were notified, within about one business day (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Weixin Pay also has a simplified path: you can add an international card first without uploading documents — through the Weixin Pay official account’s opening message, through Me → Services → Wallet → Identity Information → Real-name Verification → the FAQ link at the bottom, or during checkout (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12). Simplified accounts work, but they carry much lower limits (see Step 4) (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Accepted IDs for Weixin Pay: a passport or a PRC Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card; Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan residents use their mainland travel or residence permits (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14).

Step 3 — Bind your foreign card (which card networks work)

Which networks work. The two wallets do not accept an identical list, so match your card to the right one. From Alipay-facing official sources we can confirm that Alipay takes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club and Discover (Shanghai Government — Alipay guide, 2026-10-14), with American Express added on 2025-02-25 (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2025-02-28). That press release also says the addition took Alipay’s foreign-card support to seven major international card brands, but it does not name them — and we could not confirm from an Alipay-facing source whether Alipay also accepts JCB or UnionPay cards, so we make no claim either way. Weixin Pay’s official manual lists seven brands including JCB and UnionPay international cards (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12), so if you hold a JCB or UnionPay card, try Weixin Pay first. Whatever the binding page itself accepts is always the final word (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

How to add it.

• Alipay: tap Me → Bank card → add card, then enter the card number and the 4-digit security code from the back of the card; the card then shows in your wallet by its last four digits (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21).
• Weixin Pay: open Me → Pay and Services → Wallet → Bank Cards → Add a Bank Card, accept the user service agreement and privacy policy, fill in your identity information, then follow the on-screen steps to add the card (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14).

For Alipay you can also download the app and choose the “International Version” after signing up, then bind an international card (Alipay+, 2026-10-14).

Names must line up. Weixin Pay only allows binding a bank card that belongs to the account’s verified identity, and it flags failures such as “ID type does not match” or “name does not match” when the person’s name and ID details do not match what the bank holds (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Expect a small pre-authorization. Binding an international card may trigger a small pre-authorization transaction to check the card is valid; Weixin Pay says it immediately issues a reversal and the bank returns the funds within 30 days (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

How many cards you can hold. One WeChat account can hold up to 3 international cards; one international card can open only one WeChat Pay account and can be linked to at most 2 WeChat accounts (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Step 4 — Pay (scan vs. show payment code), know your limits and any fees

Two ways to pay. Scan the merchant’s QR code (the most common method), or show your own payment code for the merchant to scan (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21). In Alipay, tap Pay/Receive to show your code, or Scan to read theirs (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21); in Weixin Pay you can similarly scan the merchant’s code or present your own payment code (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14). When you pay with a linked foreign card, Alipay lets you choose between your wallet “balance” and your card (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21).

What you can and cannot buy. International cards cover everyday spending in the mainland — dining, fashion, transport, supermarkets, hotels, shopping malls, entertainment and tourist attractions (Shanghai Government — Alipay guide, 2026-10-14). They do not support personal transfers, red packets, wealth management, insurance or other financial services (Alipay, 2026-10-14), and Weixin Pay likewise does not support red packets and money transfers with international cards (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14).

Fees — the same rule on both apps. A single payment of ¥200 or less is free; a single payment above ¥200 carries a 3% service fee, and if you get a refund the fee is refunded in proportion to the refunded amount (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14). Alipay applies the same rule — free under ¥200 and 3% above ¥200, refunded proportionally (Shanghai Government — Alipay guide, 2026-10-14). Alipay’s own notice confirms that transactions paid with cards issued outside the mainland are charged a service fee, with the final amount shown on the checkout page (Alipay Help Center, 2026-10-14).

Limits — they differ by app and by how fully you have verified, so trust the number the app shows you:

• Regulatory ceiling for overseas visitors: up to US$5,000 per transaction and US$50,000 per year (PBOC Shanghai Head Office, 2026-07-24); the single-transaction cap was raised from US$1,000 and the annual cap from US$10,000 (Gov.cn, 2024-04-11).
• Weixin Pay: its help center lists ¥6,500 per single transaction, ¥50,000 cumulative per month and ¥65,000 cumulative per year (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14); a simplified (not fully verified) account is capped at ¥3,000 per transaction and ¥15,000 per year (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12). Weixin Pay has also raised verified users’ limits to up to US$5,000 per transaction and US$50,000 per year (Tencent, 2024-04-12).
• Alipay: its guide lists ¥3,000 per single transaction, ¥50,000 cumulative per month and ¥60,000 cumulative per year (Shanghai Government — Alipay guide, 2026-10-14).

Alipay’s own live help does not publish a limit or fee table, so the Alipay figures above come from the government-published Alipay guide; Weixin Pay’s figures come from its live help. Where they differ, the amount shown on the payment page is the one that applies (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

You can check your own card’s limit in Weixin Pay under Me → Services → Wallet → Bank Cards → select the card → Payment Limit (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Exchange rate. The rate for a foreign-card payment is set by your card organisation and issuing bank, not by Alipay or WeChat — check your card statement (Alipay, 2026-10-14); Weixin Pay likewise uses your card organisation’s and issuing bank’s rate (WeChat Help Center, 2026-10-14).

Also worth having ready: Alipay’s English version carries mini-apps for DiDi rides, public transport, train tickets and food delivery (Shanghai Municipal Government, 2026-07-21). Both apps can also buy high-speed rail tickets — see High-speed rail with a passport.

Common mistakes and failure cases

“Transaction declined by the bank.” During binding, Weixin Pay may send a small pre-authorization to your issuer; if the card is reported lost, stolen or expired, or your bank refuses the check, the card will not bind, and Weixin Pay’s advice is to contact your issuing bank (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Name or ID mismatch. Weixin Pay reports this as “ID type does not match”, “information does not match the bank’s records”, or “name does not match”; fix it by matching your verified record to your bank record, and if the account is not verified in your own name, cancel Weixin Pay and re-verify with your own documents (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12). A name with a middle dot, rare characters or special characters can also break the match, so enter it exactly as the bank holds it (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Payment over the single-transaction limit. Alipay’s help center tells you to split the order into several smaller payments (Alipay Help Center, 2026-10-14). In Weixin Pay, once a limit is reached you can switch to a different card or the wallet balance, and the limit cannot be raised (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

“Security verification failed” (Alipay error yw_1128). Alipay’s own advice is to change card, try again later, or pay through a different shop or merchant, and to re-check your billing address and card details (Alipay Help Center, 2026-10-14).

Your bank blocks or can’t finish the extra check. Some issuers require an added verification step or decline cross-border charges outright — approve the prompt in your banking app or call your issuer; if that fails, try a second card from a different bank (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

A merchant whose code only takes a mainland wallet balance. Some transfers, red packets, financial services and certain in-app or mini-program services need a mainland balance and will not accept an international card (Alipay, 2026-10-14); fall back to a merchant that reads your card, cash, or a UnionPay card (Gov.cn, 2024-04-11).

Face verification keeps failing. The account must be verified in the person’s own name, and poor light or a bad angle fails the selfie — move somewhere brighter, adjust the angle and retry, or use the “other verification methods” option (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).

Age limits set by the bank. Some banks will not let users under 18 or over 70 bind a card — this is the bank’s rule, so use a different card (Weixin Pay Official User Manual, 2026-06-12).