#Wechat payment account frozen verification#

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.

#Wechat payment account frozen verification#

The last steps are to enter the verification code sent to your phone and set up your personal password to use when making purchases.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. WeChat will check with your bank to make sure that what you enter is what they have on record.

Make sure you enter your phone number registered with your Chinese bank account and not your home phone number.

More than likely, you don’t have a Chinese ID card, so a passport is what you’ll be using here.

When entering your passport number, tap “ID Type” to change it from ID Card to Passport.

I’ve also had the experience where my bank had my name on record in all capital letters, so I was required to enter all capitals in order for the card to be added to WeChat. Chinese always list their surnames first, so if you see any errors, try listing your last name first.

Enter your name as it is listed on your bank account.

The unfortunate reality, though, is that many foreigners are finding it extremely difficult, particularly short-term ones.įrom here, select “Cards,” which will direct you to the next screen where you can add your local bank card to your WeChat Wallet.Īfterward, enter your card number and general information. This includes your name, passport ID, phone number and other details specific to the card.Ī couple things to remember so that your card syncs up correctly with WeChat Wallet are: The bottom line is that yes, everybody is supposed to be able to open a WeChat Wallet.

If you’re a short-term visitor to China, I recommend you try to use an international credit card to open your WeChat Wallet and then use some creative methods to add money to your WeChat account.

This is by far the easiest way to set up WeChat Wallet and pay for things in China.

If you’re an expat in China, I highly recommend you spend the time opening a China bank account that you can link to WeChat.

You can transfer money back and forth between friends and send red packets, but it’s almost impossible to use the international credit card to pay for things. Second, even if you are able to successfully add an international credit card to WeChat and open a WeChat Wallet, that doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be able to pay for things. It’s not impossible (as the comments section of that article prove), but it doesn’t work for everybody. I do want to warn you about a few things with using an international bank card, though.įirst, based on my own failed experiences adding a foreign credit card to WeChat, it doesn’t always work. Obviously, the last two options are more likely to be what works for you.

International Bank Card: Adding an international bank card is also supposed to act as a way for non-Chinese users to pass the real-name verification test (but, as you can guess, it doesn’t work).

Entering this card acts as a real-name verification for WeChat.

Chinese Bank Card: If you’ve already opened a China bank account, the bank has given you a bank card.

Of course, if you’re reading this right now, my guess is that you don’t have that. Chinese ID: If you have a Chinese ID card, you’re golden.This real-name verification can be completed in one of three ways: I figure they do this to prevent any sort of digital money-laundering or to comply with China’s surveillance of foreigners and its own people. You see, WeChat requires what they call “real-name verification” in order to open a WeChat Wallet to send and receive money. … as with anything in China, it’s not that simple. The short answer is “yes, anyone can open a WeChat Wallet”, but…