Alipay in China

[quekkb]

No.
But need to go through financial knowledge and risk assessment check list on the App.

I try and it says I need to go to branches to activate the service with my documents.

 

[froztheart]

Each bank gives me a limit and there are times where I need to make payment to service providers (eg hotels, tour guides) which in the aggregate will exceed the daily limit if I only have one bank account. The problem is bypassed by having a few accounts. But that means I have to do a lot of Trust withdrawals and deposits back into the various accounts when I am there. I don’t actually recharge or top up to Alipay or WeChat balance if that’s what you are thinking, reason being if they freeze the account the money in the balance is frozen (I had a temporary freeze for a week before and it left a real bad taste in my mouth). I much prefer my money still being in a bank.

Yes, best to have multiple accounts since there's limits to transfers daily and monthly for CN accounts.
Added with the increased scrutiny and tightening of policies and regulations with bank accounts due to AML, it's wiser to have multiple accounts.

 

[quekkb]

Yes, best to have multiple accounts since there's limits to transfers daily and monthly for CN accounts.
Added with the increased scrutiny and tightening of policies and regulations with bank accounts due to AML, it's wiser to have multiple accounts.

haha.... year end have to try opening HSBC China account.

 

[bertrande]

My ICBC union debit card is bind to alipay. Have not tried WeChat pay. I suggest that u go to ICBC branch to check your card. HV branch gave me a new union card last year and was told my old card do not have this link facility. This was during the time when it was announced that we could use union pay. New card was issued immediately to me over the counter. U can also ask bank to help you bind the card. I did it on my own cos in a rush. Hahaha, now u know why the q move so slowly cos a lot of customers ask them to do such stuff.

Just collected my ICBC debit card, managed to bind to WeChat pay but not Alipay. The counter staff also tried and could not and did not know why. Said maybe Alipay doesn’t accept.

 

[quekkb]

Just collected my ICBC debit card, managed to bind to WeChat pay but not Alipay. The counter staff also tried and could not and did not know why. Said maybe Alipay doesn’t accept.

Ok. So I am not the only one. I also apply BOC Singapore debit card (unionpay) and I can't bind to Alipay either. I have no issue with Wechat as well.

 

[bertrande]

Ok. So I am not the only one. I also apply BOC Singapore debit card (unionpay) and I can't bind to Alipay either. I have no issue with Wechat as well.

Hi, try again, perhaps recently the addition of accepting internal Visa cards caused the system to glitch. I tried again this morning and was able to add my ICBC UnionPay debit card to Alipay

 

[quekkb]

Hi, try again, perhaps recently the addition of accepting internal Visa cards caused the system to glitch. I tried again this morning and was able to add my ICBC UnionPay debit card to Alipay

I need to convert SGD to CNY before I can bind to Alipay. It works now.

 

[Bigbird00]

Hey, am traveling to SZ & GZ last week Jan. Its been 10 years since i was in China.

So appreciate some tips here.

Alipay.
I downloaded and linked my debit card to Alipay. Not sure if it actually works when in China.
1) is it possible to link more then 1 debit card to Alipay?
2) or is it better tio use 1 card on Alipay and another on wechat?

3) Loading CNY, is to avoid the 3% charge above CNY200 payment right?
4) is it possible to ask the casher to armotize the amount? eg CNY550 -> 200+200+150? Anyone tried doing this before?

I dont have any CNY cash (am hoping i dont need to)with me, do i need to bring any? IS there any money changer or do i need to go to a bank in GZ?

 

[froztheart]

Hey, am traveling to SZ & GZ last week Jan. Its been 10 years since i was in China.

So appreciate some tips here.

Alipay.
I downloaded and linked my debit card to Alipay. Not sure if it actually works when in China.
1) is it possible to link more then 1 debit card to Alipay?
2) or is it better tio use 1 card on Alipay and another on wechat?

3) Loading CNY, is to avoid the 3% charge above CNY200 payment right?
4) is it possible to ask the casher to armotize the amount? eg CNY550 -> 200+200+150? Anyone tried doing this before?

I dont have any CNY cash (am hoping i dont need to)with me, do i need to bring any? IS there any money changer or do i need to go to a bank in GZ?

1. Yes, more than 1 debit card can be linked but there's a limit to international cards IIRC. Suggest to add Travel cards like YT/Trust etc. for best Forex.
3. Yes, if you are able to have people load your wallet/have contacts to load then you can effectively avoid the 3% transaction fee.
4. Possibly, subjected to whether the cashier/POS/system accepts. Otherwise, just pay the fee if it's not a huge amount since constantly doing this runs the risk of your account being flagged for suspension/bans.

If it's your first time since a while, best to have some in the event your e-Payments/network/banking etc. fails.
There's money changes but not a plenty around otherwise, if you have travel cards like YT/Trust etc. you will be able to withdraw RMB instead from the ATMs instead of visiting money changes.

 

[quekkb]

Just collected my ICBC debit card, managed to bind to WeChat pay but not Alipay. The counter staff also tried and could not and did not know why. Said maybe Alipay doesn’t accept.

Did you have ICBC China account? I saw the APP can connect ICBC Singapore to ICBC China.

 

[Bigbird00]

1. Yes, more than 1 debit card can be linked but there's a limit to international cards IIRC. Suggest to add Travel cards like YT/Trust etc. for best Forex.
3. Yes, if you are able to have people load your wallet/have contacts to load then you can effectively avoid the 3% transaction fee.
4. Possibly, subjected to whether the cashier/POS/system accepts. Otherwise, just pay the fee if it's not a huge amount since constantly doing this runs the risk of your account being flagged for suspension/bans.

If it's your first time since a while, best to have some in the event your e-Payments/network/banking etc. fails.
There's money changes but not a plenty around otherwise, if you have travel cards like YT/Trust etc. you will be able to withdraw RMB instead from the ATMs instead of visiting money changes.

Thanks for helpful reply.

1. Yes i did that. Was thinking of backup. Youtrip doesnt have CNY wallet. So i was think of including Revolut too! REvolut can buy CNY and store, since CNY is getting stronger now.
3. Unfortunately I dont have any.
4. Good advice. Getting my Alipay account ban is catastrophe!

Good idea. I forgot about withdrawals from Youtrip! Yeh.....

Thanks mate!

 

[froztheart]

Thanks for helpful reply.

1. Yes i did that. Was thinking of backup. Youtrip doesnt have CNY wallet. So i was think of including Revolut too! REvolut can buy CNY and store, since CNY is getting stronger now.
3. Unfortunately I dont have any.
4. Good advice. Getting my Alipay account ban is catastrophe!

Good idea. I forgot about withdrawals from Youtrip! Yeh.....

Thanks mate!

1. Yes, YT doesn't have wallet feature but provide good rates. Just have to top up with SGD and it will convert accordingly and the rates are good or decent minimally. Revolut etc. are options too if you prefer them.
2. Then possibly break the transactions whenever possible, but as mentioned bear in mind you run a risk. Take your pick!

Yup, withdrawing there is a good option to reduce risk of misplacing your cash/carrying too much cash around and only having them when you need, which to me is much more ideal.

 

[Moowoow]

Did you have ICBC China account? I saw the APP can connect ICBC Singapore to ICBC China.

Icbc china one must be own name or a 3rd party beneficiary in china

 

[Moowoow]

U need to have icbc cn activate your cn account into a multi currency ac before it can accept sgd transfers. My query is to confirm that it cost only 100 rmb per txn to transfer RMB from icbc sg account to my icbc cn account. Thereafter I can bind my cn account to alipay etc and send individuals rmb.
suggestion for those who are going to set up bank accounts in china, to request for your account to be able to receive sgd (if possible like icbc). Can save a lot of trouble as such changes can only be made where you open the account.

Why do u want to remit sgd to your china account

 

[Moowoow]

Ok. I need to update my passport year end after I renew my passport this coming July/Augst. I will go to Guangzhou to update my CCB account although I open in Fuzhou.

I use Wise to transfer the fund to CCB.

Is wise transfer fee cheaper than icbc express remittance?

 

[quekkb]

Is wise transfer fee cheaper than icbc express remittance?

It depends on how much you transfer.

 

[vaxvms]

1. Yes i did that. Was thinking of backup. Youtrip doesnt have CNY wallet. So i was think of including Revolut too! REvolut can buy CNY and store, since CNY is getting stronger now.

imo unless u season traveller than store in e-wallet if good rate spotted else money changer get CNY to keep
since cash still widely acceptable in china ...

 

[bertrande]

Did you have ICBC China account? I saw the APP can connect ICBC Singapore to ICBC China.

Yes I have ICBC account opened in Shanghai a couple of years ago. Transfer from ICBC SG account to ICBC CHN account (in SGD) is free. Then I can convert to RMB in the Chinese app. Procedure is similar to SGD to RMB conversion in our local multi currency account.

 

[quekkb]

Yes I have ICBC account opened in Shanghai a couple of years ago. Transfer from ICBC SG account to ICBC CHN account (in SGD) is free. Then I can convert to RMB in the Chinese app. Procedure is similar to SGD to RMB conversion in our local multi currency account.

That's very handy. Can you transfer from ICBC CN to ICBC SG?

 

[vaxvms]

That's very handy. Can you transfer from ICBC CN to ICBC SG?

no reason to trsf from CN to SG leh

anyway short answer is YES

for me i just deposit cash to china bank acc when i am there