How to set up Alipay and WeChat Pay with an Australian card before you land

Cash is accepted in China but almost nobody uses it. Taxis, street food, museums, the metro, vending machines and most small shops run on Alipay or WeChat Pay. International credit cards work at hotels and big stores and almost nowhere else. The good news is that since 2023 both apps accept foreign cards, so an Australian traveller can pay like a local.

Do this at home on wifi, not at the airport.

Alipay (the easier one)

1. Install Alipay from the App Store or Google Play. Pick English in the first screen.
2. Register with your Australian mobile number. You will get an SMS code.
3. Go to Account → Bank cards → Add card and add a Visa or Mastercard. Debit or credit both work. Amex is hit and miss.
4. Verify your identity when prompted: passport photo page and a selfie. It usually clears in minutes.
5. Done. Scan a merchant’s QR code with the Scan button, or show your own payment code from Pay.

Fees: no fee on transactions under about RMB 200 (roughly A$45). Above that, a 3% foreign card fee applies, which is close to what your bank charges on an overseas card anyway.

WeChat Pay

Same idea, more steps, and you need WeChat itself, which is useful for messaging anyone in China.

1. Install WeChat, register with your mobile number.
2. Me → Services → Wallet → Add card. Add a Visa or Mastercard.
3. Identity verification with passport.

Some older merchants only take WeChat, so it is worth having both. Most clients use Alipay nine times out of ten.

Things that trip people up

• Your Australian bank blocks the first charge. Alipay does a small verification charge. Have your banking app open to approve it.
• No Chinese mobile number needed. Both apps accept +61 numbers. You do not need a local SIM to register, though you need data to use them.
• Didi (China’s Uber) is inside Alipay. Open Alipay, search “Didi”, and you can order a taxi with the app translating the destination. Pay through Alipay.
• Metro: search “Transport” in Alipay for a QR code that opens the gates in Shanghai and Beijing. No ticket queue.
• Splitting bills, red packets, sending money to a person generally do not work from a foreign card. Pay the merchant, not your cousin.
• Taobao and JD deliveries to your hotel work with Alipay and are a cheap way to buy a power bank or charger on day one.

If you are on one of our trips

Your guide does this with you in the first hour after pick-up, along with a local eSIM, so you do not need to get it right alone. But doing it at home means you can pay for a coffee at the airport before we have even met you.