Alipay
Alipay
Alipay (Ant Group) is one of China’s two dominant mobile-payment platforms. It covers payments, lifestyle services, and transportation.
Set up before you arrive — SMS verification works on a foreign carrier; in-country setup is unreliable due to the GFW and a fresh Chinese SIM may not receive verification codes.
How do foreigners set up Alipay?
- Download the Alipay App (App Store / Google Play).
- Register with a foreign mobile number.
- Complete passport-based identity verification.
- Under Me → Bank Cards, bind a Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club, or Discover card. AMEX is bindable but has limited merchant acceptance — use Visa or Mastercard as primary.
- You can now scan to pay anywhere Alipay is accepted.
What are Alipay’s fees and limits for foreign cards?
| Situation | Fee |
|---|---|
| Single payment under ¥200 | 0% Alipay surcharge |
| Single payment ¥200 or over | 3% surcharge on the full amount |
| Card FX fee | 1–3% (set by your bank, separate) |
PBOC regulatory cap: ~¥36,000 per transaction for verified accounts; ~¥360,000 annual. Check your current in-app limit after completing ID verification.
What is Alipay Tour Pass, and do I need it?
Update (2026): The original Tour Pass mini-program has been deprecated (its official URL returns 404). As of 2024, Alipay allows foreigners to directly bind international credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club, Discover) to their main Alipay account. Transaction limits: ¥10,000 per transaction, ¥50,000 annual (unverified accounts) or ¥200,000 (passport-verified accounts). The ‘Tour Pass’ and ‘TourCard’ product names are no longer active — direct card binding is the current method.
Tour Pass (prepaid wallet) is no longer necessary for most visitors — direct card binding (added in 2024) is simpler and has higher limits. If the Alipay app shows a Tour Pass prompt during onboarding, dismiss it and use the standard Bank Cards flow instead.
Tour Pass charges a 5% fee per transaction (vs 3% for direct card binding). It auto-refunds unused balance to the original card after 90 days; no fee on refunds. (Source: realchinaguide.com 2026)
TourCard (top-up balance variant): A prepaid balance option within Alipay. Load ¥500 at a time to minimize fee frequency. Top-up takes ~10 seconds from a foreign card. (Source: realchinaguide.com 2026)
Alipay+ allows payment via foreign e-wallets (GCash, Kakao Pay, GrabPay, TrueMoney, and others) — useful if you already use one of those apps.
What can I do with Alipay?
- Scan to pay / receive: restaurants, supermarkets, attractions
- Ride-hailing: integrated DiDi entry
- Food delivery: integrated 淘宝闪购 (formerly 饿了么/Ele.me, Alibaba-owned, seamless Alipay integration)
- Tickets: flights, train, attractions
- Bike-sharing: Hello Bike (also shows bike options on Alipay homepage)
- Metro mini-programs: Access city metro QR codes (Yitongxing, Metro Daduhui, etc.) directly through Alipay
Practical Tips (Source: realchinaguide.com 2026)
- Download before arriving in China — app stores in China may require Chinese payment methods for downloads.
- Set phone language to English before opening Alipay for the first time — affects the interface language.
- Use your home-country phone number for registration; the account is not tied to a Chinese SIM.
- Test with a small purchase at the airport upon arrival to confirm everything works.
- Alipay shows all payments in real-time — useful for tracking spending and verifying charges.
- Long-stay option: With a residence permit (3+ months), open a Bank of China account and link to Alipay for zero platform fees.
See Also
- Mobile Payment — full setup guide, PBOC policy background, fee tables, limit tiers, common failure modes
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I use Alipay without a Chinese bank account?
- Yes. Bind a foreign Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club or Discover card directly since the April 2024 PBOC policy — no Chinese bank account needed.
- Do I need to verify my passport on Alipay?
- For larger or cumulative spending Alipay asks for passport verification; small spending often works right after binding a card. Complete verification before your trip to avoid limits.
- Why is my Alipay payment failing?
- Common causes: paying to a personal QR code (foreign cards can only pay merchant codes), having a VPN switched on, or hitting a per-transaction limit. Turn off the VPN and ask for a merchant code.
- What is Alipay Tour Pass and do I need it?
- Tour Pass is a prepaid mini-wallet for short visits, but since direct foreign-card binding launched it's usually unnecessary and can carry fees. Most visitors just bind a card directly.