Alipay, WeChat Pay and TenPayGo let you pay merchants in mainland China with an overseas bank card. TenPayGo also supports Apple Pay and overseas e-wallets. A Chinese bank account is not required for these purchases.
TenPayGo checked October 4, 2026; Alipay and WeChat Pay guidance checked September 5, 2026.
All three offer merchant payments with overseas cards. Choose based on how you want to register and which other services you need.
A payment app with local services such as ride-hailing. Register with your phone number; an overseas number works.
Register or sign in, then open Me → Bank Cards → Add Bank Card. Follow your bank’s verification prompts and complete passport checks when requested.
Card networks include: Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club, Discover and UnionPay International.
Payments within WeChat, alongside chat and mini programs for services such as restaurant ordering. Use your existing WeChat account or register with an overseas phone number.
Open Me → Services → Wallet → Add a Card. Follow the card and identity-verification prompts, with your passport ready. Menu labels can vary by version.
Card networks include: Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club and Discover.
Tencent’s standalone app for paying Weixin Pay merchants. No Chinese phone number or WeChat account is needed. You can use an international card, Apple Pay or a supported overseas e-wallet.
Register with your email address and its verification code, then set your login pattern. Choose Bank Card, Apple Pay or E-Wallet and complete the checks requested. Apple Pay lets you use an eligible card without entering its details manually.
Card networks include: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club, Discover and UnionPay issued outside mainland China.
Use a card or e-wallet in your own name. Card acceptance depends on the issuer as well as the app. TenPayGo may also request identity verification. Setup and card sources.
Screenshots: Hainan government’s Alipay guide (June 2025). Menu examples, not a list of features available to overseas-card accounts.
Two ways to pay. The difference is who scans whose code.
Open Scan, point your camera at the merchant’s QR code, then enter the amount if asked and confirm the payment.
Open your live payment code in the app and hold your phone towards the cashier’s scanner. In TenPayGo, open Pay codeand confirm the payment on your phone after the cashier scans it.
Illustrations only. App screens and menu labels vary by version.
Before paying: Pay and Receive are different. In Alipay and WeChat, Pay / 付款 is for paying a shop;Receive / 收款 is for receiving money. TenPayGo’s merchant code is labelled Pay code.
After paying: check the success message and amount. In TenPayGo, you can also find payments in Transactions.
A menu, order confirmation or payment QR code alone does not confirm payment. If you are unsure, ask the cashier to confirm they received your payment.
Not with the overseas card linked for shopping. Alipay’s international-card service excludes personal transfers; Shanghai’s WeChat Pay guidance also excludes transfers and red packets funded by overseas credit cards. TenPayGo also excludes personal transfers, receiving money and red packets. Sending money to a friend requires a separately supported transfer method or funding source.
Look at what the cashier or table is showing you. If you get stuck, show the staff the matching Chinese phrase below.
Cashier ready with a scanner?
Have your app’s payment code ready for the cashier to scan.
请扫我的付款码。
Please scan my payment code.
The QR code opens a menu?
Follow the restaurant’s checkout instructions, then look for a payment-success confirmation. If the menu needs a WeChat mini program, open it in WeChat or ask staff for a merchant payment code to use with TenPayGo.
请问在哪里付款？
Where do I pay, please?
A printed payment code on the counter?
If your overseas card is unavailable, the code may be for a personal transfer rather than a merchant payment. Ask about another payment method.
可以用现金吗？
Can I pay in cash?
Still stuck? Find your payment problem or see our translation tips.
For purchases funded by a linked international card, the standard Alipay and WeChat Pay fee schedule in the Ministry of Commerce guide is:
| Purchase amount | App service fee |
|---|---|
| RMB 200 or less | No service fee |
| Over RMB 200 | 3% of the full purchase amount |
For example, a RMB 300 purchase carries a RMB 9 service fee under this schedule. Your bank's foreign-transaction or currency-conversion charges are separate—even a card with no foreign-transaction fee does not remove the app's charge. The fee shown by the app applies to your particular payment. Official fee guidance
Payment limits: Shanghai's July 2026 guidance lists ceilings of US$5,000 per transaction and US$50,000 per year for linked international cards. Your account or bank may set a lower limit. Official payment limits
International-card and Apple Pay payments may carry a service fee, shown before you confirm. Use TenPayGo’s own fee and limit screens: its published terms do not specify a fixed rate or numeric cap. The Alipay and WeChat Pay figures above are specific to those apps.
Overseas-wallet payments are excluded from TenPayGo’s international-card service fee; the wallet may charge its own fees. Payment limits also depend on verification and your bank or wallet. TenPayGo payment terms.
Ask the merchant to arrange a refund. It can return to the original card or e-wallet; TenPayGo’s terms also provide for returning the user handling fee charged for that payment. Check payment and refund details in Transactions. Arrival time depends on the merchant and payment providers.
Linking a card requires your issuer's approval as well as the app's checks. If the details are correct but verification is rejected, ask your bank whether it declined the authorization; app support handles identity-verification issues.
Look for an authorization request or international-payment block in your bank app. Switching payment apps with the same declined card may leave the bank block unresolved.
If your card works elsewhere, this may be a merchant or QR-code issue. Ask the cashier to scan your payment code if scanning theirs fails, or vice versa. If neither works, ask about another payment method.
TenPayGo support: [email protected] or +86 571 95017, daily 09:00–21:30 China time (UTC+8).
Linking your card to a payment app does not mean a shop can accept that card directly at its terminal. Look for your card network's logo at the checkout.
Keep some cash. You can exchange it for RMB after arrival or withdraw RMB at an ATM displaying your card network. A second card from another bank is an optional backup.
TenPayGo sources checked October 4, 2026; Alipay and WeChat Pay sources checked September 5, 2026. No live TenPayGo transaction was tested. App menus and account-specific fees or limits may differ from the published guidance.
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