Most payment failures for visitors come down to a handful of causes, and almost all can be fixed in minutes — ideally before you land. Go through this list, then re-run the test payment on this page.
The fixes, most common first
- Your bank blocked it. First charges from China often trigger fraud checks. Approve the alert in your banking app or call the bank and allow international online payments.
- Name mismatch. The name on the card and in the app must match your passport.
- Identity check not finished. Complete passport verification in the app; unverified accounts can be limited.
- Card type not supported. Some prepaid, virtual or debit cards are rejected. Try a regular credit card or another network.
- Amount above the cap. Foreign cards have per-payment limits; split large bills or pay hotels by physical card.
- Paying a personal code. Some individual sellers' personal QR codes don't accept foreign-card payments. Ask for a merchant code or use the other app.
- No SMS abroad. If a verification code is needed, make sure your home SIM receives texts while roaming.
- App out of date. Update Alipay/WeChat; old versions can fail on foreign-card flows.
- One app keeps failing. Set up the other one — a card declined on one platform often works on the other.
Always have a backup
- Two apps, two cards if possible.
- A few hundred yuan in cash — airport and bank ATMs accept foreign cards.