Hey guys
How do you guys pay for stuff in China nowadays when wechat and Alipay doesn't let you link AUS bank card for express payments? I know heaps places don't take cash and cards anymore..
Thanks
Wechat Pay and Alipay in China Using AUS Bank Card
sauce2k on 02/03/2019 - 09:36
Comments
Yeh I'm a bit worried with cash because I'm going to smaller cities like Chengdu and Xi An. I heard a lot of places don't take cash over there.
Only going to be in China for a week, no time to open a bank acct as well
I think you'll be fine.
I was in both those cities and Shanghai in September. Didn't have a problem with cash.
Though In Shanghai, seven eleven worker commented as I walked out "who still uses cash…"
Also, Chengdu is a big city.
smaller cities like Chengdu and Xi An
Chengdu's metro population is 18 million - that's almost four times the size of Sydney. Xi'an's metro is 13 million.
In some food markets in Shenzhen I did have issues with some vendors not accepting cash. Probably only 15% of the vendors and most of these had an identical stand ~four stalls down selling the same things and they did accept cash so there was a workaround.
Cash is not universally accepted. There are some vendors who only accept Alipay/WeChat Pay, even though it's technically illegal. If this happens to you and you have no such form of payment, you'll need to go to another vendor. As @jjjaar noted below, you might need to search around for a few minutes to find a vendor that accepts cash or credit cards. It might be awkward occasionally, but it's manageable.
Alternatively, if you're really keen to use something like WeChat Pay, you could ask a friend or relative who has WeChat to send you money via the app itself. Then spend from your balance.
It's probably not worth setting up your own bank account, unless you're planning to visit for more than a few weeks. By Australian standards, Chinese customer on-boarding can be a confusing and time-consuming process, and that's even if you speak Chinese (or have someone who can translate). Getting money in to your Chinese bank account will then pose a further hurdle.
You pay using WC/AP in 2 ways, linked to a Chinese bank account, or use the amount in ''change''. When someone transfers money to you on WC/AP, the amount normally goes directly onto your ''change'' account, and then you have to manually select to transfer to linked bank account as ''cash out''. When you pay someone using WC/AP, there is an option to use your linked bank or use the amount in ''change''. (Provided you have a linked bank account, if not it uses the amount in ''change'' by default). So, no Chinese bank account no problem, just make sure you have the amount needed in your ''change'' account. If you have finished all the amount and needed more, repeat the process.
Is it possible to open a bank account in China as a foreigner? I tried to open a bank account when I was there just so I could conveniently use WeChat Pay, I tried two different banks and both said no. In the end, I used cash instead. Had no problems using cash though just fyi, although I did the odd "who still uses cash these days" comment here and there.
Yes it's possible. The problem is that it's such an uncommon event for Chinese banks, that finding a staff member who knows the process will be the challenge. This is probably why they simply said no to you.
I opened a new bank account when I was in China in one hour. That was Bank of Communication I think, they gave me the key card after I filled in the forms and checked my passport. I deposited 5k RMB and I was able to link it to my wechat and alipay soon after that. Everything was done at the branch for less than an hour. I would recommend you to do the same at Bank of Communication branch in any of the big cities.
arctan do u mind to share which city and possibly which branch u opened ur account? I tried in chengdu at 13 banks last week, all said no as I need residency in china or work contract. I am going china again end of year, I do not want to give up about opening an account in china as yet!
@MAsider: I was at Nanjing and it's a branch next to the sofitel. That's all I can remember. It is Bank of Communication. I didn't try any other banks and that was the first branch I saw when I walked out of hotel.
Foreigners want to open a bank account in China need to be certain, long term visa in Bank of China, its better to go to smaller bank.
I was there for 2 weeks and I was able to open a new bank account with bank of communication. It's definitely not a small bank and with branches all over the big cities.
From lat week, Bank of China Hong Kong, launched a new service where allow any people who has their Hong Kong account can also open a China mainland account too in order to use the RMB to buy the stuffs directly from Mainland China.
In the Bank of China Hong Kong, anyone are free to in/out exchange any of the AUS. That service help to use the AUS more effective.That has a limit as far as I know.
good way to make things difficult for tourists. Would be great if we could use paypal to pay money into AlipayWecha
The following month I am heading to china to canton Fair on a business visa, However What I found out that it looks almost impossible to our Australian Banks or cards to be linked to Wechat or Alipay. However, I do found a lovely website that is peer to peer exchange and you can exchange your money there. First you must be able to have a USA bank and for that it is recommended to apply for Transferwise Platinum debit Mastercard which is available to Australia and will give you access for many Border-less account access around the glob. It's exchange rate are really great (What you can found on Xe.com and Google). Then You can link your Transferwise uSA bank Account to Swapsy exchange.
Swapsy is a peer to peer exchange rate that you can load your verified Wechat and Alipay wallets and use it in China for your purchases(As you know Wechat And Alipay Only accept link wallets to bank accounts in china OR a direct Peer to peer money transfer)
This is all my researches for a week hope that helps.
I will give you both the links for Transferwise and Swapsy as bellow to be able to register for them:Transferwiselink:
transferwise.com/u/shahins9Swapsy Exchange:
https://theswapsy.com/invitee-sign-up/S.S./5d80931ddd6610.62…This looks good but how trustworthy is Swapsy? I have never heard of this company and how much fees they charge for the exchange/swap between AUD to CNY?
I have worked with them. However their rates are not as much deerer than what you can find at transferwise.
How does it send money to my Alipay or Wechat account? Not 100% sure how this work.
I signed up with your referral link. Do they only accept US/UK photo ID? How about AU photo ID?
Can you use Paypal instead of Transferwise? I can see that option in USD.
Wanted to try your method as well but I can't have my Wechat wallet verified without a China bank card? :(
you create a chinese bank account. or you pay in cash, which is what I did and had no problems at any vendor in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin.