Topping up Alipay or WeChat Pay for use in China

[boringLife-]

Very good move by WeChat!

(Published 28 June 2023)
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/wechat-extends-cashless-mobile-payment-to-tourists-in-china
We can now use WeChat Pay when we go tiongland, no need so ma fan liao.

Realiable a not? China known for double standards between foreigners and own people. I think i will apply burner card, use liao come back deactivate my card sia.

 

[hachi]

Last I went super duper dulan. Go small shop eat all pay by app. They don't keep small change.

Ya went fuzhou in 2019...give them 100rmb for street food... Ask me can scan anot... They are so advance... Basket in Singapore... I last time I counted 21 digit pay platforms...

 

[littlegrasshopper]

Ya went fuzhou in 2019...give them 100rmb for street food... Ask me can scan anot... They are so advance... Basket in Singapore... I last time I counted 21 digit pay platforms...

Next time u visit chicken they ask u to scan how? All details of customer payment recorded.

 

[Squeezer]

Visit cheekon recorded at Boon Tiong Kee chicken rice as lunch lah

 

[s_o_h]

go piak piak want to jiak cheekon rice now difficult cos got cap limit at night for those high amount transfer


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[Laneige]

With China opening up, I'm thinking of going China in second half of the year. Wondering whether there's any way of topping up Alipay or WeChat pay?

I buy things in tb they refund me in WeChat
I can’t even open acc because no china id
My money just likes that can’t see can’t touch

n I watched tw news some they said money freezed in the china bank because never go back n use so acc dormant
Sg also liked this but many yrs then will be so
eg citibank

 

[Laneige]

If your alipay or wechat is "real named" or 实名。 topping up is very simple.
Go people park, there are many remittance agents that can do this for a small fees of 15-20 SGD.
And the exchange rate they quote is much better than CC, cash or Bank remit like DBS remit.
Overall, this is cheapest compared with cash, CC etc.. by a fairly big margin.
And of course the most convenient.

It is even more convenient if you have a bank account in China.
Opening a bank account in China as a tourist was very simple previously.
Now more difficult but not impossible.

U update with sg nric ah
So brave ah
I read one of their apps the facial recognition will be stored in their big data
Surprised manz But they upright mentioned in t&c

 

[bertrande]

I buy things in tb they refund me in WeChat
I can’t even open acc because no china id
My money just likes that can’t see can’t touch

n I watched tw news some they said money freezed in the china bank because never go back n use so acc dormant
Sg also liked this but many yrs then will be so
eg citibank

I had a huge sum refunded to Alipay balance from Taobao. Cannot withdraw but can use to pay merchants outside of Taobao (eg Douyin merchants etc).

 

[wutawa]

I had a huge sum refunded to Alipay balance from Taobao. Cannot withdraw but can use to pay merchants outside of Taobao (eg Douyin merchants etc).

u can also transfer to other taobao acct and ask them give u sgd

 

[PaprikaSG]

The tourpass thing no longer can be used.

How to top up via credit cards? I do not want to use debit card.

 

[maggoth]

Dun use roaming. Get tourist sim card.

Yes, or you can get this SIM card at Changi Airport before you board your flight to China.

https://www.changirecommends.com/deal/China-Hong-Kong-Prepaid-SIM-card-7-days

I got China travel esim as well. Nothing is blocked.

If you purely use hotel WiFi, then u will see the difference

The registered mobile number for my Alipay and WeChat accounts is my SG number.
If I change to china SIM card when i am in china, will I still be able to use my Alipay and WeChat accounts ?

 

[0bserver]

The registered mobile number for my Alipay and WeChat accounts is my SG number.
If I change to china SIM card when i am in china, will I still be able to use my Alipay and WeChat accounts ?

Yes.

Everything was registered in sg using sg number.
My sg number did not have roaming.

Only China esim for data when I got there

I used alipay. Not sure about WeChat.

 

[260Wolskel]

I am currently in Beijing. Just tried out both my Alipay and Wechat which are linked to my OCBC Visa and YouTrip card respectively - BOTH WORK!!

The exchange rate for OCBC Visa is 5.18, for YouTrip it is 5.35. ( Money changer rate was 5.31 when I changed my RMB)

 

[bertrande]

I am currently in Beijing. Just tried out both my Alipay and Wechat which are linked to my OCBC Visa and YouTrip card respectively - BOTH WORK!!

The exchange rate for OCBC Visa is 5.18, for YouTrip it is 5.35. ( Money changer rate was 5.31 when I changed my RMB)

can I check, do you generate a QR code to make payment? So I activated my WeChat and Alipay and I have successfully paid for goods from merchants in China. However, I can’t seem to use either to pay for stuff in Singapore - cannot scan the merchant code at all in Singapore using WeChat and Alipay gave error after scanning and paying. Will be in China for about 2 weeks and hope there is nothing wrong with either payment app.

 

[260Wolskel]

can I check, do you generate a QR code to make payment? So I activated my WeChat and Alipay and I have successfully paid for goods from merchants in China. However, I can’t seem to use either to pay for stuff in Singapore - cannot scan the merchant code at all in Singapore using WeChat and Alipay gave error after scanning and paying. Will be in China for about 2 weeks and hope there is nothing wrong with either payment app.

Yes, I let the merchants scan my QR code.

Same here, I was not able to use both the Alipay and Wechat Pay in SG to make any payment. But once I am here in China, they both worked.


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[bertrande]

Yes, I let the merchants scan my QR code.

Same here, I was not able to use both the Alipay and Wechat Pay in SG to make any payment. But once I am here in China, they both worked.


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It’s a relief to know thanks!

 

[260Wolskel]

It’s a relief to know thanks!

Yea, you will be fine! I am now in Gansu Province. No problem in using it too. You can either let the merchants scan your QR code, or you scan theirs. If you scan theirs, you will need to enter your cvv before the transaction can go through. So you should either have your credit card handy or memories your cvv.


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[bertrande]

Yea, you will be fine! I am now in Gansu Province. No problem in using it too. You can either let the merchants scan your QR code, or you scan theirs. If you scan theirs, you will need to enter your cvv before the transaction can go through. So you should either have your credit card handy or memories your cvv.


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Recently attempts to pay online (eg Tencent) using WeChat pay via my YouTrip and Instarem cards keep getting the Risk of Theft error message. Very annoying and worrying. Hope I don’t get the same wayang in China. Flying in a week and staying there for more than two.

 

[bertrande]

Coming back to the topic, does anyone know of current ways to top up Alipay wallet balance other than using platforms that charge very high transaction charges and poor exchange rates? Thanks!

 

[niwde1980]

Coming back to the topic, does anyone know of current ways to top up Alipay wallet balance other than using platforms that charge very high transaction charges and poor exchange rates? Thanks!

Hi wonder if you have found the solution?