How to Use Alipay with Foreign Cards: Setup, Fees and Fixes

Yes, you can use Alipay (支付宝, Zhīfùbǎo) in China with a card from home. Alipay accepts credit and debit cards issued outside mainland China on the major international networks, and its App Store listing tells foreign visitors they can add a credit card and pay at tens of millions of merchants across China. Setup is six short steps: download the app, register with your own phone number (a foreign number works), choose the International Version, add your card, enter your passport details when the app asks, and pay. On cost, payments of 200 yuan or less carry no Alipay service fee, larger ones cost 3% of the whole amount, and the exact fee is shown on the payment screen before you confirm. Below are the cards that work, the setup screen by screen, the fees and limits, what to do when a card won't bind, and your options if it never does.

Which cards you can add

Two things decide whether you can use Alipay with a foreign card: who you are, and which card you hold.

The person first. Alipay's foreign-card service is for people with a non-Chinese passport, and for residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. If you are a tourist with a foreign passport, you qualify.

Then the card. It has to be issued outside mainland China and belong to one of the main international card networks, and both credit and debit cards are accepted. China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, lists UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club and Discover in its December 2025 payment guide for visitors. UnionPay cards issued outside mainland China have been fully bindable to Alipay since UnionPay International announced it in November 2024.

American Express is the one with a condition. Since 25 February 2025, Amex cards issued by American Express itself can be added to Alipay, but Amex cards issued by partner banks outside mainland China are not supported yet. So if your Amex came from your own bank rather than from American Express directly, plan on a different card for Alipay, and check the add-card screen if you want to try it anyway. The central bank's list above does not mention Amex at all, so treat the add-card screen as the final word.

Our advice: make a mainstream card from one of the networks on that list your first card, and bring a second card on a different network as a backup. The official pages talk only about credit and debit cards, so a standard credit or debit card from an established bank is the safest choice for the card you rely on.

How to register and add your card, step by step

Do this at home on Wi-Fi a few days before you fly. You can register before you arrive in China, and you will want your card's bank on the phone, in your own time zone, if anything goes wrong.

1. Download Alipay. Get it from the App Store or Google Play; the app has an English interface. To be sure you have the real app, check the developer name: on the US App Store it is Alipay (Hangzhou) Technology. The listing also says Alipay is not built for foreign users to pay in their own country or anywhere outside China, so don't expect to use it at home.
2. Register with your phone number. Enter your mobile number, tap "Next" and follow the prompts. You do not need a Chinese number: any foreign number that can receive SMS verification codes works, and if you later get a Chinese SIM card you can switch the account to that number in the app. American Express's Alipay user guide also mentions signing up with an email address or Apple ID, but the phone number is the main route.
3. Choose "International Version". After registering, pick the International Version (国际版, guójì bǎn). This is the version Alipay offers to visitors, and it adds an in-app translator and a currency converter.
4. Add your card. Tap "Add Now" (立即添加, lìjí tiānjiā) on the home screen, or go to "Me" and then "Bank Cards". The app asks you to enter or confirm your name, card number, expiry date, security code (CVV) and billing address; follow the fields on the screen, since they can differ. The card network then checks the details before the card is switched on, and Alipay states that it uses the CVV only for this check and for payment verification and does not store it.
5. Enter your passport details before the first payment. Before you pay with the card for the first time, the app asks you to enter your passport details (or your Mainland Travel Permit details if you live in Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan). Fill them in when the prompt appears.
6. Pay. Tap "Scan" (扫一扫, sǎo yī sǎo) to scan a shop's QR code, or open "Pay/Collect" (付钱 / 收钱, fùqián / shōuqián) to show your own payment code to the cashier. The section on what works, further down, covers both in more detail.

There is a second passport step, separate from step 5. Once your spending for the year reaches 2,000 US dollars, the app asks you to upload your passport for identity verification, and after that the limits rise to 5,000 US dollars per payment and 50,000 US dollars a year. Most short trips stay below 2,000 dollars, but a few hotel bills can get you there, so expect the prompt if you plan big payments and keep your passport with you.

SMS codes are where most people get stuck. Your home SIM has to be able to receive texts when you register and whenever the app sends a code. If you plan to use a Chinese SIM or a travel eSIM for data, keep your home line switched on alongside it; our guide to China SIM cards and eSIMs explains how dual-SIM phones handle this.

Fees and limits

Alipay's service fee. A single payment of 200 yuan or less carries no fee; a payment above 200 yuan is charged 3% of the whole amount, not just the part above 200, and the exact fee is shown on the payment screen before you confirm. So a 300-yuan dinner costs 9 yuan extra, while a 150-yuan dinner costs nothing extra — check the figure on the payment screen each time. If you get a refund, the fee is refunded in the same proportion as the refund. This rate covers Visa, Mastercard and the other international networks; if you add a UnionPay card, check the fee on the payment screen too.

Alipay's user agreement says it may charge a reasonable service fee and may change it, with the current rate set out in the fee notice on its service pages. In practice, the payment screen is the place to read the number that applies to you.

For everyday spending this fee rarely matters. Street food, coffee, metro rides and most taxi trips stay below the threshold. Where it adds up is on big single payments, such as a hotel bill. For those, compare with paying by card at the front desk; our guide to using international cards in China covers where card terminals take foreign cards.

Limits. There are two levels:

• Before you upload your passport for identity verification: up to 2,000 US dollars in total per year.
• After you upload your passport for identity verification: up to 5,000 US dollars per payment and 50,000 US dollars per year. These are the higher caps China's central bank set for foreign visitors using mobile payments, up from 1,000 US dollars per payment and 10,000 US dollars per year.

Alipay sets its limits based on its business and can adjust them, with the current limit shown in the app. Your own bank's limits also apply on top: its maximum per payment and its daily and monthly totals. If a large payment fails while small ones go through, one of these limits is the likely reason.

The exchange rate. Alipay does not set the rate. Your card network and the bank that issued your card decide it, the final amount is whatever appears on your card statement, and any exchange-rate loss is yours.

Your bank's own fee. Separate from anything Alipay charges, your bank may add a foreign transaction fee, often in the range of 1–3% depending on the bank, so check your card's terms before you travel. If your everyday card has one, many travelers bring a card made for spending abroad, such as Wise or Revolut. A regular physical debit card from either is added like any other debit card, so check that the add-card screen accepts it, and compare their current fees with your bank's before you choose.

When your card won't bind: causes and fixes

A refused card is common and usually fixable. The official guidance points to a few clear causes; work through them in this order.

1. Your bank blocked or did not approve it. Adding a foreign card to Alipay has to be verified and approved by the bank that issued the card, and some banks' systems do not recognise the connection and refuse the request. Fix: call the number on the back of your card, say you are adding the card to Alipay for a trip to China, and ask them to approve it. Then try again.
2. Your card or bank isn't supported. Whether a card can be added also depends on the card network and on the bank that issued it. One known case is an Amex issued by a partner bank rather than by American Express itself, which Alipay does not accept. Fix: try another card, ideally on a different network.
3. The name doesn't match. The name on the card has to match the name registered on your Alipay account. Fix: check spelling, middle names and the order of first and last name, then re-enter the card.
4. A detail was typed wrong. The card network checks the number, expiry date, CVV and billing address you enter. Fix: re-enter them slowly, and type the billing address the way your bank has it on file.
5. The card was added, but payments fail. Often this is a limit: your bank's own per-payment, daily or monthly limit, or the 2,000-dollar yearly total that applies until you upload your passport for identity verification. Fix: upload your passport for identity verification when the app asks, and ask your bank whether it is blocking the payment.

If none of that works, contact Alipay customer service or your bank, or switch to another card. Alipay's phone line is 0571-2688 6000 from inside China and +86 571 2688 6000 from abroad, open 08:00–24:00 China time every day.

What you can do once your card is added, and what you can't

There are two ways to pay:

• You scan the shop's code. Tap "Scan", point the camera at the QR code on the counter or the wall, type in the amount if asked, and confirm. This is what you'll do at small shops, food stalls and market stands.
• The cashier scans yours. Open "Pay/Collect" to show your payment code, and the cashier scans it. Supermarkets, chain stores and cafés with a scanner usually work this way.

Look at the logo on the QR code before you scan. The central bank's advice is to use the app whose logo is on the code, which means Alipay for codes with the Alipay logo. Many shops display both an Alipay and a WeChat Pay code side by side.

With a foreign card attached, Alipay works for shopping in stores, taxis and ride-hailing, buses and metros, and booking flights and hotels. Inside the app there are mini programs (small apps that run inside Alipay): DiDi, China's main ride-hailing service, has one with an English interface in the international version of Alipay, and some cities, such as Shanghai, offer a virtual transit card that lets you ride with a QR code, though this varies by city. The "Transport" (出行, chūxíng) services in the app also sell train tickets and plane tickets and find shared bikes. For more on these, see our DiDi guide and our guide to China's metro systems, which covers the cities where you can also tap a bank card at the gate.

Now the limits. A foreign card on Alipay is for paying merchants in mainland China only. It does not work in Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan, and it cannot be used for personal transfers, sending or receiving red packets (红包, hóngbāo, the digital gift money people send each other), topping up a balance, withdrawing cash, investment products or insurance. Think of it as a way to pay shops, taxis and tickets, not as a full Chinese bank account.

If Alipay never works for you: other ways to pay

You can still get through a trip without Alipay. Your main options:

• WeChat Pay. Its list of accepted cards covers UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club and Discover, so it is worth trying if Alipay refuses your Amex. Setup is covered in our guide to WeChat Pay with foreign cards.
• Your card at the till. Where a shop shows your card network's logo, you can pay with the card itself, and if there is no logo you can ask the cashier.
• Cash. Bring some yuan as a backup; our guide on whether you need cash in China covers how much and where to get it.
• Nihao China. UnionPay's app for visitors lets you register with an email address or phone number and top up its Tour Wallet with a Visa or Mastercard, or link a card directly.

If you fly into Shanghai, the one-stop service centres in the international arrival halls of Pudong Airport Terminals 1 and 2 and Hongqiao Airport Terminal 1 can help you set up mobile payment and install common local apps. For how all these options fit together, see our overview of Chinese payment systems.

Frequently asked questions

Before you fly: three things to do

First, download Alipay at home, register with your own phone number, and choose the International Version. Second, add a mainstream card from a major network, keep a second card on another network as a backup, and enter your passport details when the app asks; if you hold an Amex, check whether American Express or a partner bank issued it. Third, call your bank before you travel: ask about foreign transaction fees and tell them you will be using the card through Alipay in China. For WeChat Pay as a second wallet, see our WeChat Pay setup guide.

Official sources: Alipay's guide to paying in the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai government's guide to mobile payments in Shanghai, and the People's Bank of China payment guide for visitors to China.

Last updated: November 2026