What is Alipay?
Alipay is a leading open platform for payments and digital services in China, established by Alibaba Group in 2004. It serves as one of the world's largest mobile payment platforms and digital lifestyle super-apps.
Along with WeChat, Alipay has been described to be China's super-app with a wide range of functionalities including travel booking, food delivery, taxi services, and more.
How to download Alipay
You can download Alipay from the App Store or Google Play Store.
Alipay
Alipay is a leading open platform for payments and digital services in China.
Download Alipay App, tap "sign up" to register with your phone number.
How to add a bank card
Tap "Add now" and follow on-page prompts to complete the process.
Alipay supports major international payment cards including:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Diners Club
- Discover
- JCB
- UnionPay
If the "Add Bank Card" option is not displayed on the homepage of your Alipay account, please go to the "Me" section in the bottom navigation, select "Bank Cards", and click the "+" icon in the upper right corner to add a bank card.
Identity Verification
Some tourists have reported that they are unable to use Alipay for payment without completing identity verification.
So it's recommended to complete identity verification before your trip to avoid any inconvenience.
Complete identity verification by uploading picture of your passport pages and verifying your face.
First, please go to the "Me" or "Account" section in the bottom navigation, and click the ⚙️ icon in the upper right corner to open the settings page.
Second, select "Account and Security".
Third, select "Identity Information" to verify your identity.
Fourth, select the country or region, fill in ID information and or scan your passport to fill in automatically.
Then, you can optionally fill in Basic Identity Information.
Finally, if you can see the "Verified" with your name, it means you have completed the identity verification process.
Fees
There are 3% transaction fee for transactions above ¥200(~$28).
How to use Alipay for payment
You can scan a QR code to pay or present your QR code to the merchant and pay.
How to scan a QR code to pay
After you see the merchant provide the QR code and ask for the price, open Alipay, click "Scan" and scan the QR code provided by the merchant. After confirming the amount, click "Confirm" and enter the payment password to complete the payment.
How to present your QR code to the merchant and pay
Some stores do not support scanning QR codes for payment. In this case, you can show the QR code generated by Alipay to the merchant, and the merchant can complete the payment by scanning the code.
Sometimes your network condition may not be good, and you may not be able to scan the QR code for payment. In this case, you can show the QR code generated by Alipay to the merchant, and the merchant can complete the payment by scanning the code. After a while, the network will be restored and you can receive the payment notification.
How to use NFC to pay (Touch using the NFC area on your mobile phone.)
Alipay recently introduced a new payment method using the NFC area of your phone.
To use this method, you need to ensure that your phone supports NFC and that the merchant's terminal also supports NFC payment.
First, unlock your phone, and touch the NFC area of your phone to the merchant's NFC terminal. This helps you start ordering or start paying.
The merchant's terminal may have different shapes, some are like the blue card shown in the picture below.
and some are NFC payment terminals.
The NFC area of iPhone is located next to the rear camera of the phone. The NFC area of Android phones varies depending on the brand and model, with most of them located in the upper-middle area.
