Alipay is one of the two super-apps that run daily payments in China. As a visitor you can use it, and it's far easier than it used to be — but there are still steps, checks and limits worth knowing before you depend on it. Here's how it works, and how to keep a simpler backup in your pocket.
Alipay is a phone app that pays by QR code: you either scan a merchant's code or show your own for them to scan. It's accepted almost everywhere a Chinese person pays, which is why visitors reach for it. Since 2023 foreigners can link an international card (Visa, Mastercard or JCB) directly — no Chinese bank account needed — and Alipay tends to onboard foreign cards more smoothly than WeChat Pay.
The broad steps: download Alipay, register with your home mobile number, and complete real-name verification with your passport (expect a photo of the passport page and a quick facial scan). You then add an international card (Visa, Mastercard or JCB) to pay from. Verify fully — unverified accounts are capped at much lower limits. Set this up before you fly, on a reliable connection — sorting it out at a checkout counter while a queue forms behind you is where trips go wrong.
At the till you either open the scan function and point your phone at the merchant's QR code, or open your payment code for them to scan. Smaller vendors usually display a static code you scan and then type the amount into. It's quick once it works — the friction is in the setup and the occasional declined or flagged transaction.
A few things trip visitors up: identity checks that resurface for larger or more frequent payments; per-transaction and annual limits on foreign-card spending; merchant fees that can apply above a small payment threshold, on top of your card's FX; and the simple fact that a linked foreign card sometimes gets declined with little explanation. None of it is a dealbreaker, but it's why a card that works on its own is a good thing to carry.
You don't have to choose. An overseas UnionPay card from Altery can be added to Alipay for QR payments — and, because UnionPay is China's domestic network, the same card is accepted directly at the terminal when you'd rather skip the app entirely. UK residents set it up in about a minute, top up in GBP and have the card posted before they travel. Use Alipay when it's handy, and the card when it isn't.
This guide is for general information only and is not financial advice. Payment acceptance, app features and fees in China change over time, so check the latest details before you travel.
Setting up WeChat Pay as a visitor, where it gets stuck, and the cleaner way to pay across China.
Where foreign cards work, what the Alipay and WeChat workaround actually involves, and the simplest way for UK travellers to pay.
