An Alipay account, a linked bank card and a completed purchase are different things. Prepare the account before departure, keep access to verification messages, and leave your first real merchant purchase as a separate checkpoint. This guide explains the published visitor route; it does not describe a personally tested account or promise approval for a particular card.
Before you start
- Your own valid passport and the identity information requested by the app.
- Your own international credit or debit card, with its billing details available.
- Continued access to the number used for Alipay registration and recovery.
- Access to your bank's separate authentication method, which may use a different number.
- A compatible phone, current official app and reliable connection during setup.
- An independent way to pay for arrival transport and your first purchases.
Step by step
- 01
Install the genuine app and choose a readable language
Get Alipay through the official app store available for your device. Check the publisher and avoid files supplied in unsolicited messages. Choose a language you understand before accepting service terms. The visitor arrangement is within Alipay; a similarly named overseas wallet or a legacy prepaid product is not automatically the same service.
CHECK BEFORE CONTINUINGYou can open the intended app and understand its registration prompts.
- 02
Register or sign in using a number you can keep
Shanghai's published instructions allow overseas-number registration before arrival. Enter the correct country code and follow the current prompts. Keep that line available throughout the trip; buying travel data does not itself keep the number reachable. If you already have an account, resolve access to it before creating unnecessary duplicates.
CHECK BEFORE CONTINUINGThe account opens and you know which number is associated with it.
- 03
Complete the identity checks actually requested
Use the foreign-document option offered to your account and enter details from your own original document. Follow instructions if an image or other check is requested. Read whether the result is approved, pending or incomplete. Do not substitute a Chinese identity number when a foreign-document option is missing.
CHECK BEFORE CONTINUINGYou can distinguish a completed check from a submission still awaiting review.
- 04
Add your eligible card and complete issuer approval
Shanghai's guide describes Me > Bank Cards; wording can vary. Enter your own card and billing information as requested. Complete any genuine issuer-authentication step. Ask the bank about its requirements if authorization fails rather than assuming another wallet number will change the bank's registered contact details.
CHECK BEFORE CONTINUINGThe card is listed and any requested issuer authorization has finished.
- 05
Read your account status and preserve a fallback
Inspect outstanding messages, the selected funding card and the help route. A card appearing in the wallet confirms only that step. Plan a normal, intended purchase after arrival with another payment method available. Sending a friend money is not a useful test of international-card merchant payments.
CHECK BEFORE CONTINUINGYou know what is ready and what still needs a real merchant purchase.
If it does not work
The registration code never arrives
Check which number and country code this screen is using. Confirm with your carrier that the line receives messages abroad, and follow the app's retry instructions.
Another way forward: Use official Alipay help and an independent payment method; no fixed waiting period is guaranteed.
Identity verification asks for a Chinese bank card
Check whether this is a balance, account-recovery or other product flow. Use the foreign-document route actually offered and ask official support about the account.
Another way forward: Do not invent identity information or repeatedly open accounts to evade the check.
The card is rejected or extra review appears
Note whether the rejection came from the wallet or an issuer-authentication screen. Ask the corresponding provider about eligibility, ownership verification or authorization.
Another way forward: Use another eligible card you own or a cash/physical-card backup while the issue is unresolved.
Words that help
Show the Chinese text when speaking is difficult. Copying happens on your device.
我没有收到验证码。
I have not received the verification code.
这张银行卡可以用吗？
Can I use this bank card?
Understand which function you are preparing
This article covers a linked international card used for eligible mainland merchant purchases. Ant's current consumer FAQ distinguishes that from person-to-person transfers, red packets and financial services. Those unsupported functions do not become a registration test just because they appear elsewhere in the app. Read the operator's product scope.
Ordinary wallet balance and the separately introduced Travel Wallet also have different funding arrangements. You do not need to solve every balance or financial-product screen before attempting the supported card-payment route. If a screen asks for a mainland bank card, first identify which product or recovery process you have opened.
A card-network logo is a starting point
An eligible international credit or debit card can be supported, but the actual issuer and product matter. Do not assume that a prepaid, virtual, supplementary or corporate card has identical rules to another bearing the same logo. Ask your issuer when its eligibility is unclear.
American Express's published guide, for example, excludes overseas cards issued by third parties from the arrangement it describes. Check your exact card rather than assuming that every Amex-branded product works. The guide has a Corporate Card focus; its detailed identity thresholds should not be generalized to every visitor.
Why travelers see different checks
Alipay's public international-card agreement describes card information, document information, authentication and risk checks. It is a dated agreement published in August 2021, not a current screenshot sequence for every device. Use it to understand why information may be requested, while following the terms and prompts actually presented to you.
Registration, document submission and approval are separate states. A camera capture that finished is not necessarily an approved account, and a pending review has no universal completion time established here. Keep the exact nonsensitive message so support can identify the stage without asking you to repeatedly recreate it.
Finish preparation with a real purchase
At the first intended merchant purchase, confirm the recipient, renminbi amount, selected card and any displayed charges. The shop may ask you to scan its code or display your payment code. Check the resulting order with the cashier before leaving.
This is an editorial readiness check, not a recommendation to buy a third-party test payment. It checks one actual transaction under those conditions. Continue carrying a backup because another merchant, larger amount or bank security decision can produce a different result.
Common questions
Do I need a Chinese phone number?
Shanghai's official visitor instructions allow registration with an overseas number before arrival. Keep that number reachable. A separate merchant service or your bank may have its own contact requirements.
Must I upload a passport before linking a card?
Have your document ready and follow the account's current prompts. Public sources describe identity checks, but they do not establish an identical order of screens or approval time for every visitor.
Does a linked card mean Alipay works everywhere?
No. Merchant eligibility, transaction type, funding source, account restrictions and issuer decisions can still affect a purchase. Check the first real order and retain a backup.
Where should I ask for help?
Use the genuine app's help facility or the official Alipay support page below. Public pages provide different contact routes; check their current details. Call language, cost and resolution time were not tested.
Sources & checking notes
- Shanghai government: Mobile payments for overseas visitors
- Alipay: International-card User Service Agreement, August 2021
- Ant International: Pay in the Chinese mainland
- American Express: Alipay guide for eligible Corporate Cards
- Alipay: Official customer support
Sources checked on 6 November 2026. Workflows, routes and troubleshooting suggestions are editorial guidance. Fees, eligibility, reservations and local services can change; follow the official links before relying on a rule.
Original synthesis of public information and editorial planning advice. We have not performed a live account, payment or on-site test of every workflow. This guide does not claim a firsthand visit or professional accreditation.