Originally Posted by
travelinmanS
My biggest problem is that they don't allow foreigners to use Alipay or WeChat Pay outside of Mainland China. I'd love to be able to pay for things this way in HK or SE Asia where Alipay at least seems to be widely accepted, but for some reason they block me from doing this.
In China, I agree, if you don't have Alipay or WeChat Pay then you're setting yourself up for more hassle.
I travel frequently to Taiwan with Mainlanders and none of us can use our China Alipay accounts there. So not just foreigners....
Originally Posted by
warakorn
This is just my personal opinion.
I couldn't another thread where this issue is being discussed.
China (esp. Shanghai) is moving away from a cash to a digital money economy.
While foreign cards were always a problem, cash was usually king - for a long time.
However, recently most shops prefer payment via Alipay and Wechat Pay. This is a problem for foreigners, because setting up Alipay and Wechat Pay is a hazzle.
I am not 100% sure about that, but usually you'll need a Chinese mobile number (not a big problem) and a Chinese bank account (a big problem) to fund the payments.
Without Wechat Pay and Alipay:
- You cannot hire any bikes in Shanghai
- You will have trouble ordering or finding a taxi
- Traders look in a weird way at you, when you try to pay with cash.
My fear is that the Chinese Government may do away with cash within the next 3-5 years.
For the sake of people who do not know Shanghai well, cash works fine for anything other renting a street bike. No store ever turns down cash.
Originally Posted by
seanpodge
I assume it's due to the currency exchange controls the government puts on foreigners. Similar to the US$500(or equivalent)/day limit on cashing out RMB.
I agree that it's a nuisance, particularly since they have my bank card, and therefore my bank details, on file. It would be good if Alipay/WeChat would let you at least have the US$500 equivalent per day. Would cover most cases of mobile payment.
I have withdrawn more than that in Hong Kong in HKD from my China bank account numerous times. There is probably a limit but it is higher than USD 500.
Originally Posted by
JPDM
What $500 per day limit? Never heard of this.
Same here
Originally Posted by
s0ssos
You can always pay with cash still. Never
encountered a merchant who didn't take cash.
And for cabs, you can also pay with the shanghai metro card. Which takes CASH (at the subway station)
And you forgot that the metro doesn't take alipay or wechat (though in Hangzhou I saw that some metro stations had alipay stations)
Totally agree with your statement on cash. Not meaning to weaken it in any way, but some stations in Shanghai now have payment machines where you can use Alipay, they have an optical scanner built in for it. Nonetheless they are few and far between and cash machines outnumber them by at least 100 to 1. For now...