If you start with some very light Googling of “what’s the deal with China’s cashless economy” I am sure you will see lots of articles about how Chinese people use no cash whatsoever and they run completely on apps like WeChat Pay and AliPay. And its true. Very true. No one uses cash, but most places don’t accept cards. So what are you supposed to do as a foreigner?
I saw some advice on a Girls Love Travel page where someone asked for advice on how to pay for stuff over their 2 week trip. This lady, no joke, replied: “Most everyone there uses WeChat pay or AliPay. Its soooooo convenient, you might as well try it out while you’re there!” This would have been fine advice except you have to have a Chinese bank account to be able to use them. Personally I don’t think it is worth the hassle of setting up an entire bank account for a two week period but maybe that’s just me. In fact, it actually took me 5 separate trips to different banks over 3 weeks to get my bank account set up! (Granted, however, one time was my fault because the bank was closed.) 😜
It might be easier for some foreigners to open a bank account, but it was actually super difficult for me. The bank kept changing requirements and asking for documents that I couldn’t even access. It was a nightmare.
This was in the beginning of 2019 though, and things have luckily changed! Just this past week it was announced that AliPay now allows foreign cards! (This seriously would have been amazing.) This opens up a whole new world for foreigners!
Even though AliPay isn’t as widely used as WeChat, it’s still incredibly common. In fact there were actually a few places that ONLY accepted AliPay, and not WeChat.
AliPay, as you probably guessed, is affiliated with AliBaba and AliExpress as well as TaoBao, so it’s really quite a big company. AliPay is also fun because you can pay using facial recognition. Kinda scary, but also amazing because we are living in the future!
So if you’re going soon, don’t bother trying to slip through the cracks of WeChat to find a loophole and use it. Trust me I tried. It doesn’t work. Do, however try out AliPay! And always bring your cards with you- debit cards with low/no ATM fees and credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. And always have some cash on hand, one of the best things about China is that you absolutely do not have to worry about pickpockets at all.
Finding Eden 