How To Set Up Wechat Pay In Singapore

Are you a traveler or expat wondering how to fix upwardly WeChat Wallet? Perhaps you lot're frustrated by the process or you haven't even started, simply yous know that WeChat is the preferred style to buy things in China. In this guide, I'yard going to walk y'all through the WeChat Wallet gear up process and troubleshoot why information technology may not be working for you.

For folks currently living or planning to motion to China, WeChat is a great style to purchase meals, shop online and fifty-fifty transport money to friends/family.

In order to use WeChat equally a payment platform, though, you lot first need to fix what's known as theWeChat Wallet. Opening a wallet allows you to receive coin, send coin and pay for items.

You would recollect that setting upwards the WeChat Wallet would be super-simple and easy to exercise, right?

It should be…

…just unfortunately that's not usually the case.

Hither's what we're going to comprehend in this WeChat setup tutorial:

Who Can Open a WeChat Wallet? (alarm: not everybody)
How to Link a Local Bank to WeChat Wallet
Using WeChat Wallet to Pay in Mainland china

Below, I'k going to share everything you need to know to become set up with WeChat Wallet.

Can Anybody Open up a WeChat Wallet?

The short respond is "yes, anyone can open a WeChat Wallet", but…

…as with anything in China, information technology'southward not that simple.

Y'all see, WeChat requires what they phone call "real-proper name verification" in order to open a WeChat Wallet to send and receive money.

I figure they practice this to prevent whatsoever sort of digital money-laundering or to comply with China's surveillance of foreigners and its own people. Who knows.

This real-proper noun verification can be completed in 1 of three means:

Chinese ID: If yous accept a Chinese ID card, you're golden. Of course, if you're reading this right now, my approximate is that yous don't take that.
Chinese Bank Card: If you've already opened a China banking concern business relationship, the banking company has given y'all a depository financial institution menu. Entering this card acts as a existent-name verification for WeChat.
International Bank Menu: Adding an international bank carte du jour is also supposed to act every bit a way for non-Chinese users to pass the real-proper name verification test (merely, equally you tin can guess, it doesn't work).

Obviously, the last two options are more likely to exist what works for you. I do desire to warn y'all about a few things with using an international banking concern carte, though.

Starting time, based on my own failed experiences adding a foreign credit card to WeChat, it doesn't always work. Information technology'due south not impossible (every bit the comments section of that article bear witness), only it doesn't work for everybody.

Second, even if you are able to successfully add an international credit carte to WeChat and open up a WeChat Wallet, that doesn't hateful yous'll automatically exist able to pay for things. Information technology only means that you have a Wallet.

Yous tin can transfer money back and forth between friends and send red packets, but it's well-nigh impossible to utilise the international credit card to pay for things.

If you lot're an expat in China, I highly recommend you spend the fourth dimension opening a Mainland china banking concern account that you can link to WeChat. This is by far the easiest way to prepare WeChat Wallet and pay for things in Prc.
If you lot're a brusk-term visitor to China, I recommend you try to use an international credit card to open your WeChat Wallet and so use some creative methods to add money to your WeChat account.

The bottom line is that yes, everybody is supposed to be able to open up a WeChat Wallet. The unfortunate reality, though, is that many foreigners are finding it extremely difficult, peculiarly short-term ones.

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How to Link Your Local Banking company Card to WeChat Wallet

Ok, now let's move to some more practical advice. Let's say that you're in China and you already have a China depository financial institution menu.

In this case, in order to open up your WeChat Wallet, all you need to do is link your local bank card to your account.

Go ahead and open WeChat on your phone, notice the "Me" section on the bottom and then tap "Wallet."

WeChat Pay screenshots showing where to add a card to your wallet

From here, select "Cards," which will direct you to the adjacent screen where y'all tin can add together your local bank card to your WeChat Wallet.

Subsequently, enter your card number and full general data. This includes your name, passport ID, phone number and other details specific to the card.

A couple things to remember so that your carte syncs up correctly with WeChat Wallet are:

Enter your name every bit it is listed on your depository financial institution account. Chinese ever list their surnames first, so if you see whatsoever errors, endeavor listing your last name first. I've as well had the experience where my bank had my name on record in all upper-case letter messages, so I was required to enter all capitals in gild for the bill of fare to exist added to WeChat.
When entering your passport number, tap "ID Blazon" to modify it from ID Card to Passport. More than likely, you don't accept a Chinese ID card, so a passport is what you'll be using here.
Make sure you lot enter your phone number registered with your Chinese bank account and not your abode telephone number. WeChat will check with your banking company to brand sure that what you enter is what they have on record.

The terminal steps are to enter the verification code sent to your phone and prepare your personal password to utilize when making purchases.

Using WeChat to Pay in People's republic of china

After successfully linking your People's republic of china bank card, you can start using WeChat Wallet immediately.

If you've linked your international banking card, your WeChat Wallet volition be opened just you may not exist able to immediately pay.

The easiest way to buy lunch or items in shops is to tap the coin push inside you wallet or on the dwelling screen. In most cases, y'all'll scan a vendor'south QR code to pay.

Paying using WeChat Wallet and the QR code

To send money to a friend or contact, you lot'll enter into that contact's conversation and under the menu options find "Ship Money".

Y'all'll exist prompted for the amount, y'all can choose how to pay (with a card or using your rest) and and so easily send the money. It has to be accepted within a certain number of days or the money gets returned to you.

It is also possible to utilise other payment features inside the WeChat Wallet including paying your phone bill, taxis and train tickets, as well as movie passes.

Final Thoughts | Setting Upward WeChat Wallet

Recall, to set up WeChat Wallet for use, you first need to pass WeChat's real-proper name verification.

Without that, you're stuck.

For this reason, this payment method is oftentimes more convenient and useful to expats working in China instead of brusque-term visitors.

Should you have a Chinese banking concern account, WeChat Wallet will bring added convenience to your life when buying things as common as takeout, renting a wheel, or paying your Internet bill.

In addition to WeChat Pay, there are a number of other great payment apps yous can cheque out that give discounts on things like takeout and even help you ship coin home from China.

What'due south been your feel? Please share in the comments below so that future readers tin can do good from your noesis!