HOW TO ACTIVATE & SET UP WECHAT PAY BY ADDING INTERNATIONAL CREDIT CARDS 2020

What Is "WeChat Pay"?

| 什么是“微信支付”？

"微信支付" (WeChat Pay), as its Chinese name implies, can be interpreted as "用微信支付 (pay with WeChat)" or "通过微信来付钱/支付账单 (use WeChat to pay/pay bills)" in Chinese. If you have no idea about WeChat, you may get to know it by reading the story about What is WeChat and How to Register a WeChat account for Newbies from our website.

微信支付，顾名思义，在中文里可以解释为“用微信支付”或者“通过微信来付钱/支付账单”。若你还不了解什么是微信，可以通过点击阅读怎样注册微信账号的新手教程来了解微信并获取一个属于你的微信账号。

WeChat Pay is actually referring to the WeChat Wallet function which is integrated into China's most popular social and instant messaging tool "WeChat". WeChat users can bind WeChat account with their legal and valid private debit or credit cards, which could enable them to pay bills via smartphone, transfer money between two WeChat accounts, receive or pay money online, etc.

微信支付，实际上指的是在中国最热门的社交和即时通讯工具“微信”内集成的微信电子钱包功能。微信用户可以在微信应用内绑定自己的合法有效的银行储蓄卡或信用卡，用来实现手机支付、微信转账、线上付款及收款等功能。

According to the latest data reported, the total registered accounts of both 微信 (Wēixìn, for China) and WeChat (For International) has reached 1.2 billion worldwide. Certainly, the Chinese users constitute the majority of them. So to WeChat Pay, it consequently has got a fairly wide user base in China too.

据目前已公开的最新数据，微信应用包括微信国际版在全球已拥有十二亿之多的使用者。其中，中国用户占绝大多数。同样，微信支付也在中国拥有相当广泛的使用群体。

In a long time, WeChat Pay is alway the highlight feature that could be used flexibly by many Chinese people. It has been hard for  foreigners, meaning the international users, to experience the WeChat Pay function in China due to lack of Chinese bank cards. But things has started to be changed since the year 2019.

一直以来，微信支付一直是无数中国用户可以灵活使用的亮点功能。对“老外”即国际用户来说，由于没有中国银行卡，他们很难在中国用上微信支付。但是，从 2019 年开始，情况开始转变了。

Since the end of 2019 to the present, WeChat has started to allow users to bind WeChat account with International Credit Cards which are issued overseas by five international organizations including Visa, MasterCard, AmericanExpress (AMEX), Discover Global Network (Diners Club included), and JCB. To be noted that, WeChat only supports their international credit cards currently, not the debit cards.

从 2019年底至今，微信开始支持来自 Visa, Mastercard、 AmericanExpress (AMEX)、 Discover Global Network (含 Diners Club)、 JCB 五大国际卡组织在中国境外开办的国际信用卡与微信支付绑定和在微信支付时使用。目前，微信支付仅支持绑定以上国际信用卡，非储蓄卡。

Moreover, you can link these international credit cards above issued by banks outside Mainland China with your WeChat, but cannot link single-currency cards issued by banks within Mainland China.

另外，你可以在微信里绑定以上这些海外银行发行的国际信用卡，但是不能绑定由中国大陆地区发行的单币银行卡。

And what you should pay attention to is that such a solution of WeChat Pay plus International Credit Cards supports a limited scenarios at present, including buying high-speed railway tickets at 12306 website or its app, paying car sharing service like DiDi, online shopping at JD.com, ordering travel items at Ctrip.com, etc. Hope it could be expanded to more consumption scenarios in the future.

需要注意的是，目前国际信用卡+微信支付这一方案所支持的消费场景种类有限。目前已支持包括在中国的 12306 平台或应用中购票（如高铁票）、滴滴出行、京东在线购物、携程旅游预订等等。希望未来扩充更多使用场景。

What Benefits Shall We Get From WeChat Pay?

| 微信支付带来哪些好处？

If you are an international user, you can bind designated international credit cards in your WeChat account and then enjoy the following benefits, including but not limited to:

作为国际用户，现在你可以在微信里绑定你的国际信用卡，从而享受微信支付带来的以下好处，包括但不限于：

• Go shopping online on E-commerce platforms or apps, like JD.com, Suning, and Missfresh.
  网上购物和手机支付，如京东商城、苏宁、每日优鲜；
  
• Go shopping offline at stores and supermarkets, like Walmart, Yonghui, Carrefour, RT-Mart, Watsons, Meiyijia, FamilyMart, and 7 Eleven.
  在线下商店或超市消费和支付，如沃尔玛、永辉超市、家乐福、大润发、屈臣氏、美宜佳、全家、711；
  
• Enjoy food & drinks at McDonald's, KFC, and Starbucks.
  在麦当劳、肯德基、星巴克消费；
  
• Buy high-speed railway tickets and train tickets on 12306.com, order travel services on platforms or apps, like Huazhu, Home Inn, Airbnb, Ctrip, and Tujia.
  购买高铁票、火车票或订购旅游服务，如 12306.com （购买高铁票）、华住酒店、如家、爱彼迎 （Airbnb）、携程、途家网；
  
• Enjoy ride-hailing (hitch) and car-sharing service like Didi, or other public transportations at some subways, buses and bus terminals.
  享受拼车、打车服务或其他公共交通服务，如滴滴出行、部分地铁站、公交和公交站；
  
• Top up for a Chinese Phone number or enjoy other services at local communication platforms, like China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom.
  为中国本地的手机号进行充值和享受如中国移动、中国联通、中国电信的其他服务；
  
• Pay at local gas stations, like Sinopec and PetroChina.
  在当地加油站消费，如中国石油和中国石化；
  
• Pay for medical expenses at some local hospitals.
  在部分当地医院支付医疗费用。
  

One More Thing: to activate WeChat Pay could "strengthen" your WeChat account to some extent,  that is,  make both you and your WeChat more reliable, trustworthy than ever before and so that to avoid being blocked by WeChat Team for some reasons.

另外，激活微信支付功能可以在一定程度上“增强”你的微信账号，即让你和你的微信账号更加可靠，值得信赖，这样可以避免产生微信账号被屏蔽的风险。

Who Is Applied To This Guide?

| 本教程适用的群体?

The following guide may applies to:

以下教程适用于：

A. Those who have already registered a valid personal WeChat account.

A. 已注册并获得一个有效的微信号；

B. Those who are or are is in China now or willing to go traveling to mainland China in the near future.

B. 正在中国或即将前往中国大陆地区旅游；

C. Those who have already had a personal passport and China Entry Visa as well.

C. 拥有有效的个人护照和中国签证；

D. Those who don't have any Chinese bank account or Chinese bank cards, but have one or more international credit cards supported by WeChat.

D. 没有中国银行卡，但拥有微信支持的国际信用卡。

How to Set up WeChat Pay by Adding International Credit Cards?

| 怎样用国际信用卡设置微信支付？

Take an iPhone device as an example. The steps are quite similar on other smartphones.

以下步骤，以 iPhone 手机为例。其他智能手机上的操作步骤与其类似。

Before you start, please make sure you have the following items prepared:

开始之前，请确保你已准备好如下项目：

1. A smartphone installed the latest WeChat app, and a valid personal WeChat account to login.
   一部已安装了最新版微信应用的手机，以及可以登录的微信账号；
   
   Note: It is quite important and necessary to upgrade to the latest version of WeChat. Otherwise some error may occur when linking an international credit card in WeChat.
   注意：升级到最新版本的微信十分必要。否则在绑定国际信用卡时可能出错。
   
   To register a WeChat account, please read our WeChat Sign-up guide here.
   点击这里可阅读微信注册教程。
   
2. At least one valid and WeChat-supported international bank card.
   至少一张有效的、且被微信支持的国际银行卡；
   
3. The valid Passport and China Entry VISA you have applied for, required for Real-Name authentication.
   合法有效的个人护照和中国签证，用于实名认证。
   

Step 01.   Upgrade WeChat and Go Wallet

| 步骤一、 先升级微信，再进入微信钱包

Firstly, please make sure you have upgraded your WeChat to the latest version.

操作前，请确保你已将手机上的微信应用升级到最新版本。

Then launch your WeChat app, go to "Me", tap "WeChat Pay" - "Wallet" - "Cards" in order and go into the Cards list interface. Here you may see thumbnails and partial infos indicating the bank cards you have band successfully with WeChat account.

然后启动微信，进入 “我的” 界面，依次点击 “支付” - “钱包” - “银行卡”，进入银行卡列表界面。在这里，你可以看到所有已经和微信绑定成功的银行卡缩略图和部分信息。

We recommend you to install “微信” Weixin instead of WeChat since some users feedback that they could't see Wallet in WeChat (the international version). In the case, you may try to change the WeChat language into the Simplified Chinese by tapping "Me" - "Settings" - "General" - "Language" in order to activate the Wallet function, and then switch back to English or Other language you are familiar with in the same way.

建议你安装微信应用更胜于 WeChat 因为据部分用户反馈在 WeChat （微信国际版）中没发现“钱包”按钮。这种情况下，你可以尝试点击进入“我的” - “设置” - “通用” - “语言”将微信界面语言切换成简体中文来激活钱包功能，之后再同理切换回英文或其他你熟悉的界面语言。

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