How to Use Stripe to Accept Payments via Alipay and WeChat Pay (2022)
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 7:14 am
“Alipay or WeChat Pay?” – That’s what you’ll hear in China a lot. Every time you buy a meal, checkout at a grocery store, or even buy a steamed bun from a cart on the street, they’ll ask you which digital platform you’re going to use to complete the transaction. Then, they’ll either give you a QR code to scan, or they’ll scan your QR code.
If you take more than one second to do this, they might show mild annoyance with the silly foreigner…after all, only foreigners would spend more than one second paying for something.
This is the experience that Chinese consumers are used to, and they expect the same thing online too.
Many don’t like credit cards because credit cards require them
to carry a wallet,
to remember a series of numbers to make a purchase online, and
have no password, so they’re insecure.
In fact, people in China do own credit cards and can pull them out if sufficiently motivated. Also, if you’re in an industry with Chinese customers that do lots of business abroad, you can expect them to be ready to pay via credit card too.
However, so many people are used to paying with Alipay and WeChat Pay that you should expect a boost in sales if you enable these payment options.
Luckily, it’s possible to accept Alipay and WeChat Pay if you’re germany phone number list already using Stripe. You do not need a Chinese business entity, nor do you need a Chinese bank account, phone number, ID card, or passport.
I tested this for two websites myself. One is my main business, Nanjing Marketing Group (NMG). The second is my hobby business Synotrip, which is a P2P platform for travelers to hire tour guides.
Table of Contents
How To Set It Up
Activation
Caveats
Accepting Payments via Payment Links
Accepting Payments on Your Website
How To Set It Up
Activation
Go to the payment settings page and turn on Alipay and WeChat Pay.
You’ll then need to agree to some legal terms. You can’t activate it if WeChat Pay or Alipay prohibits your business type. Some types would obviously be illegal in China, such as gambling and porn. However, a number on the list surprised even me, such as real estate and seeds.
You can check the lists of prohibited business types here:
If you take more than one second to do this, they might show mild annoyance with the silly foreigner…after all, only foreigners would spend more than one second paying for something.
This is the experience that Chinese consumers are used to, and they expect the same thing online too.
Many don’t like credit cards because credit cards require them
to carry a wallet,
to remember a series of numbers to make a purchase online, and
have no password, so they’re insecure.
In fact, people in China do own credit cards and can pull them out if sufficiently motivated. Also, if you’re in an industry with Chinese customers that do lots of business abroad, you can expect them to be ready to pay via credit card too.
However, so many people are used to paying with Alipay and WeChat Pay that you should expect a boost in sales if you enable these payment options.
Luckily, it’s possible to accept Alipay and WeChat Pay if you’re germany phone number list already using Stripe. You do not need a Chinese business entity, nor do you need a Chinese bank account, phone number, ID card, or passport.
I tested this for two websites myself. One is my main business, Nanjing Marketing Group (NMG). The second is my hobby business Synotrip, which is a P2P platform for travelers to hire tour guides.
Table of Contents
How To Set It Up
Activation
Caveats
Accepting Payments via Payment Links
Accepting Payments on Your Website
How To Set It Up
Activation
Go to the payment settings page and turn on Alipay and WeChat Pay.
You’ll then need to agree to some legal terms. You can’t activate it if WeChat Pay or Alipay prohibits your business type. Some types would obviously be illegal in China, such as gambling and porn. However, a number on the list surprised even me, such as real estate and seeds.
You can check the lists of prohibited business types here: