Apple Expands Cross-Border Apple Pay Support in China

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced expanded cross-border Apple Pay support for users in mainland China, allowing them to use Visa credit and debit cards issued by local banks to make contactless payments both in-store and online while traveling abroad.

Eight major Chinese banks now support the feature, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank. Additional banks including Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and China Construction Bank will add support in the coming months. Mastercard is also preparing to launch similar support for select cardholders.

"With this expansion of cross-border Apple Pay capabilities in mainland China, we're making travel more seamless and secure, giving users confidence in their payments wherever they go," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.

Apple first launched ‌Apple Pay‌ in 2014, and has expanded it to dozens of countries and territories around the world.

Article Link: Apple Expands Cross-Border Apple Pay Support in China

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Apple Pay is the best and Mainland China will love it. Anyone not using it is missing out. It’s super fast checkout and the transaction pops up immediately in your Apple Wallet all with Apple Walled Garden security. Set it up and try it you will love it.

 

[fatTribble]

Apple Pay is the best and Mainland China will love it. Anyone not using it is missing out. It’s super fast checkout and the transaction pops up immediately in your Apple Wallet all with Apple Walled Garden security. Set it up and try it you will love it.

I’m still surprised when checkout folks express security concerns. I feel obligated to explain it’s actually more secure.

 

[Will Co]

Apple Pay is the best and Mainland China will love it. Anyone not using it is missing out. It’s super fast checkout and the transaction pops up immediately in your Apple Wallet all with Apple Walled Garden security. Set it up and try it you will love it.

Not so sure about that. From my travels in China it seems that most businesses now only want (are only allowed?) to support WeChat as a payment tool. In some places you can't even pay with a debit or credit card - only WeChat. The cynical (and possibly not wrong) would say that this is so that the authorities can get a look at what their population is doing with their money. WeChat will, I'm sure, claim complete independence from the state. Go figure.

 

[rotvaldi]

It’s not Gemini, it’s Gemma modified.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Not so sure about that. From my travels in China it seems that most businesses now only want (are only allowed?) to support WeChat as a payment tool. In some places you can't even pay with a debit or credit card - only WeChat. The cynical (and possibly not wrong) would say that this is so that the authorities can get a look at what their population is doing with their money. WeChat will, I'm sure, claim complete independence from the state. Go figure.

It’s crazy. It’s as if US merchants would want to get paid only through Facebook or something.

But if anything it’s their version of Zelle and I’ve seen plenty of small businesses do that here state side including my barber. It’s because it’s pretty much cash.

 

[ErneX]

Apple Pay is the best and Mainland China will love it. Anyone not using it is missing out. It’s super fast checkout and the transaction pops up immediately in your Apple Wallet all with Apple Walled Garden security. Set it up and try it you will love it.

This is for Chinese people travelling abroad.

In China everybody uses AliPay or WeChat, for EVERYTHING. Even paying street vendors, the implementation is easier since it only needs a QR code, you don’t need a point of sale device.

 

[clive27]

This is for Chinese people travelling abroad.

In China everybody uses AliPay or WeChat, for EVERYTHING. Even paying street vendors, the implementation is easier since it only needs a QR code, you don’t need a point of sale device.

That's pretty much how Venmo or Zelle works. Pretty anti-consumer since customer has to bring out the app, scan the QR code, enter amount and then hit send, wait for confirmation. That vs just double press power button to bring up the payment then tap.
I avoid any business that wants Zelle/Venmo.

 

[dontwalkhand]

That's pretty much how Venmo or Zelle works. Pretty anti-consumer since customer has to bring out the app, scan the QR code, enter amount and then hit send, wait for confirmation. That vs just double press power button to bring up the payment then tap.
I avoid any business that wants Zelle/Venmo.

They want Zelle or Venmo for the same reason they would want cash. It’s “under the table” or they just don’t want to pay processing fees.

 

[baconcat_8964]

Apple Pay is the best and Mainland China will love it. Anyone not using it is missing out. It’s super fast checkout and the transaction pops up immediately in your Apple Wallet all with Apple Walled Garden security. Set it up and try it you will love it.

Apple Pay was launched in China in 2016, but it was only accepting UnionPay cards issued by Chinese banks. This time is for Visa cards issued by Chinese banks, allowing their citizens to use abroad, but not domestically.

Chinese market indeed tried to push contactless payment in late 2010s, but many merchants refused to upgrade their POS due to the cost. AliPay and WeChat took the chance to push QR code payments, which is dominated the market now.

 

[Krizoitz]

Not so sure about that. From my travels in China it seems that most businesses now only want (are only allowed?) to support WeChat as a payment tool. In some places you can't even pay with a debit or credit card - only WeChat. The cynical (and possibly not wrong) would say that this is so that the authorities can get a look at what their population is doing with their money. WeChat will, I'm sure, claim complete independence from the state. Go figure.

I actually found more places using AliPay than WeChat Pay when I was in China last fall, but both were pretty broadly supported.

What was shocking to me and had changed since my last trip to China in early 2019 was how few places accepted foreign credit cards. In 2019? No problem. In 2025? Numerous places outright said no support. Cash is still ok but much less common than before too.

 

[funwithstuff]

Having visited Shanghai a couple of days ago, I can say that not being able to pay for things is a real problem as a tourist. In many countries you can stumble through a language barrier by pointing and then handing over cash or tapping a card, but when you have to navigate an app to buy something and translation simply doesn't work (this happened!) there's just no way to proceed.

The metro in Shanghai takes foreign credit cards, and that makes things much easier.

For anyone who does travel to China, download Alipay before you go and link a foreign credit card — it does work, and it's not too painful, but if translation fails... yikes.

 

[svish]

Good to know about this. However still waiting for Apple Pay to be available in my country.

 

[ErneX]

Having visited Shanghai a couple of days ago, I can say that not being able to pay for things is a real problem as a tourist. In many countries you can stumble through a language barrier by pointing and then handing over cash or tapping a card, but when you have to navigate an app to buy something and translation simply doesn't work (this happened!) there's just no way to proceed.

The metro in Shanghai takes foreign credit cards, and that makes things much easier.

For anyone who does travel to China, download Alipay before you go and link a foreign credit card — it does work, and it's not too painful, but if translation fails... yikes.

I was there in November for 3 weeks. I only used AliPay for the whole trip. What’s funny is that we bought an Apple Pencil at an Apple Store and they couldn’t get the Apple Pay terminal to work, so we had to pay with AliPay.

We also used AliPay to get a metro card for each city, it’s practically just one tap in the app, I was a bit worried about the whole AliPay stuff but once you are there and use it’s very straightforward. I also liked the mini apps the major food chains have inside and also the restaurants that when you scan their QR code you get their full menu in the app and you can order everything and get it your table without requiring talking with the staff.

 

[funwithstuff]

I was there in November for 3 weeks. I only used AliPay for the whole trip. What’s funny is that we bought an Apple Pencil at an Apple Store and they couldn’t get the Apple Pay terminal to work, so we had to pay with AliPay.

We also used AliPay to get a metro card for each city, it’s practically just one tap in the app, I was a bit worried about the whole AliPay stuff but once you are there and use it’s very straightforward. I also liked the mini apps the major food chains have inside and also the restaurants that when you scan their QR code you get their full menu in the app and you can order everything and get it your table without requiring talking with the staff.

I was definitely able to use Alipay once or twice, but at a cafe where I scanned the QR code to see the menu and order, translation simply failed. On the plus side, I did find an unstaffed 24-hour convenience store which Alipay let me enter alone, pay for things I'd scanned myself at the counter, and then unlock the door to leave.