
That’s just part of life for Chinese people, but for those of us who have a choice… It’s a well-known fact that China’s government has backdoor access to WeChat. Is giving my financial information to WeChat a good idea? As you can see, I already have a WeChat Wallet activated, so theoretically this should be easier for me to do.īefore we continue with some alternatives to adding a foreign credit card to WeChat Pay, we need to address a very important question that you should be asking yourself: However, what I’m about to show you is the current process of adding a foreign credit card to WeChat Wallet.Īs I open up WeChat on my phone, the first thing I do is click “Me” on the bottom menu to find my “Wallet”.įrom here I can click on the “Cards” menu item. Adding a Foreign Credit Card to WeChat | My Experienceĭisclaimer: Because WeChat hasn’t yet rolled out this new feature, I can’t be 100% sure this is how the process will eventually be done. Now, it seems like that will be changing. You see, throughout 2019, many foreigners who had previously had WeChat Pay accounts without a Chinese bank account had been shut down. Apparently, this marks a loosening of regulations around foreigners with WeChat Pay accounts.

You won’t need a Chinese phone number to register your account it can be done with your foreign phone number.WeChat will accept Visa, MasterCard, JCB, Diner’s Club and American Express Cards (credit cards, not just debit cards).Here’s what you need to know about using WeChat in China, including my thoughts on the wisdom of giving the Chinese government all your financial information (hint: this is key). So what’s to say it’s going to work this time? Well, for one, both MasterCard and Visa have made announcements about the upcoming partnership, which is a good sign. …it never worked (as many commenters on this article have attested to). If only WeChat could accept Visa or MasterCard as payment options, life in China would be so much easier!īack in early 2018, WeChat announced that they would begin accepting foreign credit cards as an option on their platform. There are other other global payment solutions for China that are great, but these are alternatives to WeChat at best.

Up until this point, it’s only been possible to connect a Chinese bank card (usually UnionPay) to your WeChat Pay or Alipay account.įor foreigners, this meant opening up a bank account in China, which takes a bit of time and patience, not to mention a long-term residence visa.
