Meituan Pay is getting more and more powerful, and it works pretty well even for US cards. See also:
However, Meituan Pay currently only supports VISA/Master credit cards. In the article, I wrote that you can link a PayPal Key with a 5205 BIN, and then use PayPal Key as a pass-through for any type of U.S. credit card. So when I happened to order takeout, I took the chance to test it.
I ordered a takeout meal for 17.8 RMB
Using PayPal Key to pay, Meituan requires CVV verification when linking an international credit card. With PayPal Key, we can set the CVV ourselves — 888, 666, 999, anything works, and 101 is not bad either.
The charge went through very quickly. I checked and PayPal charged $2.73. Eating in China is really cheap. The statement shows Meituan Diaping, and I used an AMEX card with PPK + refer 4x MR.
Checking the exchange rate, I Googled the real-time offshore rate and got 6.59. PPK has a 1.1% FTF, and the math seems just right: 2.73 x 0.989 x 6.59 = 17.8. If you use PayPal or a card that earns multiple points on online purchases and has no FTF, it still seems pretty good. For example, the current temporary AMEX 4x MR from refer is very strong.
What’s a bit disappointing is that PayPal Key AMEX on Meituan was not coded as dining. Instead, all kinds of random merchants were coded as dining. Not sure what PayPal was thinking. See also:
"Using U.S. credit cards in China" article/news roundup:
Related Meituan Pay articles: