[Update 2021.3] Based on feedback from our WeChat reader group, this DCC issue mainly occurred during a few days in early February. After that, transactions seem to have returned to normal. Hopefully WeChat does not mess this up again.

[Update 2020.11] WeChat Pay | In the Wechatpay era, which cards earn category bonuses? [Up to 5x UR]

[Update 2020.10 #2] Yesterday I had just updated this article to note that in-person transactions were now universally posting as Wechatpay. Today, based on a few reader DPs plus my own experience, it appears that online transactions are also now universally posting as Wechtpay, though this is not yet fully confirmed. Please share your recent data points on how your online purchases and in-person QR-code payments have been posting. There are still some cards that earn category bonuses on Wechatpay, but the list is short, so I will not spell them out here for now—otherwise WeChat might notice this article again.

[Recent online wechatpay DPs in the WeChat group and comment section have basically confirmed this.

[Older article below]

Recently, Alipay's Tour Pass and WeChat Pay have become hot topics across major Chinese-language and even English-language blogs. I, KUKU, also shared relevant news and tips right away in our 101 Newsflash posts [here (first discovery of the “fake” scan-to-pay), here (Tour Pass), here, and here]. Since there is not that much to write about Alipay, this article focuses specifically on strategies for using US credit cards with WeChat Pay.

Some Important Updates

About WeChat Pay

WeChat Pay is an extremely common payment method in China. You simply open WeChat, scan the merchant's QR code, or let the merchant scan your payment code, and the payment is completed. Even street vendors, breakfast stalls, and delivery services can accept WeChat Pay. It is fair to say that WeChat Pay—along with Alipay—has greatly simplified payments in China. You can leave your wallet at home and get around the whole country with just your phone.

For Chinese people living in the US, not having WeChat Pay during a trip back to China can be pretty inconvenient. If you do not have RMB deposits, you may need to withdraw cash using a US debit card and an ATM, and if you are not careful, you may end up paying hefty FX conversion fees and other charges. US credit cards work reasonably well at larger merchants, but they are still much less usable at smaller ones. So if you can add a US credit card to WeChat Pay and pay through that wrapper, it becomes very convenient. In this article, I will share my experience using US credit cards with WeChat Pay.

Which US credit cards does WeChat support?

WeChat currently supports major card networks including VISA/Master/Amex/Discover it/JCB/Dinner's Club. You add them in the same place where you would link a mainland China bank card: WeChat → Wallet → Bank Cards.

Note: although this article discusses using US credit cards with WeChat, the content actually applies to all credit cards issued outside mainland China.

Linking limits

At present, one WeChat account can link only three foreign credit cards. I do not recommend frequently adding and removing cards over a short period, as that may trigger risk controls.

Billing descriptors

VISA/Master: there are currently 3 types

  • WeChat DD, DD falls under V/M Travel purchases; on the CSR this category can trigger the automatic $300 credit
  • WeChat TG, categorized as V/M dining
  • Wechatpay*Tencent, categorized as Services - Telephone Service (many credit cards only earn 1X on this category; it appears on some scan transactions and occasionally when an offline merchant scans your code)
  • wechatpay Shenzhen CHN, categorized as Services - Computer Network/info Srvs (many credit cards only earn 1X on this category; it appears on some scan transactions and occasionally when an offline merchant scans your code)

Discover: Wechatpay*Tencent Shenzhen CHN, categorized as MISC Cat, only 1X

AMEX: usually one of the following, and generally all count as normal 1X purchases

  • www pay qq com;
  • www pay weixin com;
  • www chong qq com
  • www chong qq 2 com

JCB: unknown

Dinner‘s Club: unknown

Which merchants support WeChat Pay + US cards?

This section has been spun off into a separate article. See:

Not every merchant that can process foreign-currency card payments will let you use a foreign card through WeChat Pay. The hidden requirement seems to be either that the merchant has a partnership with WeChat, or that Tencent is a major shareholder behind the scenes. For example, Taobao does not work, while JD does; Qunar does not, while Ctrip does. My guess is that merchants also need to voluntarily enable it—for example, quite a few merchants support offline card acceptance, but not WeChat.

For WeChat Pay with US cards, supported merchants are generally those that already have the ability to process foreign-currency card payments themselves (reportedly this costs money, so small merchants often cannot justify it). The merchants in WeChat's common “nine-grid” menu generally work (the most common are JD, PDD, and Ctrip's sibling brand Trips.com). Outside the WeChat nine-grid merchants, many others also work, such as major hotel groups, airlines (the big three Chinese carriers, XiamenAir, Hainan Airlines, etc.), and some tech companies with cross-border business. Other examples outside the nine-grid include KFC, Ctrip, Xiaomi, Huawei, Xunlei, and Suning.

Just the merchants inside the WeChat app itself can already cover most aspects of daily life—food, clothing, housing, and transportation. There are probably many use cases you have not even thought of, so I will not go into detail here. Feel free to leave a comment and share your own creative workarounds. Below are several ways to use a US card with WeChat Pay, including:

  • Built-in merchants inside WeChat
  • WeChat Mini Programs
  • WeChat Official Accounts
  • Merchant app redirects
  • In-person QR-code payments (yes, really)

QR-code payments are a bit special, so let me explain them separately:

User scans merchant

If “I” refers to the user, this is the “I scan you” use case. So far, I have only personally tried it at a Wanda parking garage, where I scanned the code to pay on exit and it redirected to foreign-card payment in WeChat without much trouble. There are also DPs showing that scanning an airline QR code online, on a plane, or at the airport can redirect correctly. More reader DPs are welcome. My personal impression is that if a merchant supports online payment, then scanning their code offline may also work.

In my case, I scanned the parking payment QR code at the garage, and it redirected to WeChat foreign-card payment. Strictly speaking, this may not fully count as an offline QR-code payment, but functionally it worked that way.

Merchant scans user

If “I” refers to the user, this is the “you scan me” use case. I actually wrote about this immediately in a Newsflash post before: one day, WeChat suddenly allowed users with linked US credit cards to display a payment QR code, and I tested several purchases that same day, but none of them could actually be triggered successfully [see this 101 Newsflash].

However, when I went to eat at KFC, I was able to make it work. So I previously guessed that, for the merchant-scans-you scenario, the merchant also needed to support online WeChat foreign card payments itself (for example, JD, Suning, KFC, etc.) [That condition is no longer necessary now; as long as the merchant is large enough, it can work.] In my case, I bought an ice cream cone at KFC. KFC scanned my code, and it also supported QR-code refunds. This is true offline QR payment, the “merchant scans you” type. [Note: many merchants are now supported; see here.]

Which Cards Are Best for WeChat Pay

Foreign Transaction Fee

No matter which type of merchant setup above is ultimately used to complete the WeChat Pay transaction, it is still settled in RMB. So it is best to use a credit card with no foreign transaction fee; otherwise, paying nearly 3% in Foreign Transaction Fee is quite a loss.

Bonus Rewards and Credits

One major benefit of WeChat Pay is that, once the transaction is dressed up under this “disguise,” some US credit cards may categorize it as spending in a specific bonus category. If that category happens to earn bonus rewards or trigger a statement credit, that is a very nice outcome. Based on current payment experience:

  • Chase Sapphire Reserve: WeChat Pay may code as travel or dining, earning 3x UR; it can also trigger the $300 travel credit (the same applies to other cards with similar credits)
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred: WeChat Pay may code as travel or dining, earning 2x UR
  • Citi Prestige: TG-type WeChat Pay transactions may code as dining, earning 5x TYP;
  • Citi Premier: TG-type WeChat Pay transactions may code as dining, earning 3x TYP; this card’s annual fee is only $95;
  • Barclays Uber: TG-type WeChat Pay transactions may code as dining, earning 4% cash back (later this card changed to Uber Cash, which made it less attractive)
  • ABOC Platinum Rewards credit card: This Mastercard offers quarterly 5% on Dining and Transportation every year, and it has no FTF. The only downside is that only the first $1,500 each quarter earns 5X. (Discover it also has no FTF and offers 5X on dining, but WeChat does not code correctly on it.)
  • Citi Costco: TG-type WeChat Pay transactions may code as dining, earning 4X; travel-category coding is unknown
  • First-year cash-back version of the Discover it credit card, with cashback doubled, for 2X
  • First-year Discover miles credit card (effectively cash back), with cashback doubled, for 3X
  • Other Visa/Master credit cards with bonus rewards on dining or travel, such as Citi AA cards, Chase UA co-branded cards, etc.

The cards listed above all have no foreign transaction fee, so they are the best fit for WeChat Pay. However, different WeChat Pay merchants may still cause transactions to code differently, which means it is also possible that you will not receive bonus rewards.

In addition, for AMEX cards, there do not seem to be any known examples yet of earning bonus rewards through WeChat Pay. Reportedly, they code as online misc purchases.

Exchange Rate and DDC

As for exchange rates, different banks use different settlement networks, including Mastercard, Visa, Discover (jcb), and AMEX, so real-time exchange rates can vary somewhat. Overall, though, the differences are not large. Since WeChat Pay transactions are usually not that large to begin with, the impact is even smaller.

As for DCC (dynamic currency conversion), I have not encountered this issue so far with Chase or Discover. AMEX itself also does not have DCC. So this factor does not really affect which credit card you choose to use.

Refund System

WeChat’s refund system is excellent (another thumbs-up), and merchants that currently support US-card payments usually have their own refund channels as well. If the refund goes back through WeChat, you will first receive a WeChat Pay push notification that the refund has been initiated; after the refund posts to your bank, WeChat Pay will send another notification that the refund has been completed. Usually it only takes 1-3 days, which is far more efficient than the US payment system. So if there is a dispute, I recommend that you do not dispute the charge through WeChat. First, it is slow; second, it can negatively affect WeChat, and in the end may also hurt your own future foreign-card payments (for example, WeChat may restrict your usage).

WeChat Limits

Each card has daily, weekly, and monthly limits. For details, see:

WeChat Risk Control System

[2020.7 update] Restrictions can now be handled through human customer service. See this 101 news update.

The acceptance of foreign credit cards on WeChat Pay has become broader and broader, and the exchange rate is also very good. While providing convenience, WeChat Pay also has to consider its own cost and fraud risk. If a user uses someone else’s credit card fraudulently, WeChat ultimately bears much of the loss. We also encourage everyone to use WeChat Pay reasonably and try to avoid triggering risk controls.

WeChat has not officially explained its risk control system in much detail, so we can only summarize patterns based on repeated testing, being risk-controlled, and getting restrictions lifted. We also hope readers can avoid being flagged, because repeated risk-control events may affect your future ability to use US cards on WeChat. WeChat Pay provides useful convenience, and extra risk controls are necessary; they also help prevent criminal groups from fraudulently using other people’s credit cards.

After being flagged by risk control, under light restrictions, you generally cannot make active payment transactions, but merchant-scanned payments and linked WeChat automatic payments (such as frictionless payments) usually can still continue. Under light restrictions, sending and receiving red packets also still works. Under heavy restrictions (for example, if you keep trying after being blocked and repeatedly trigger pop-ups), both red packets and “passive payments” will also be restricted.

Main ways WeChat risk control appears to work (speculation)

  • You can bind at most three foreign credit cards at the same time (though adding and removing cards is allowed)
  • Foreign credit card spending is subject to amount limits and transaction-count limits
  • Frequently changing linked credit cards within a short period may also trigger warning pop-ups
  • If minor risk control is triggered, you will receive a warning pop-up; if you get this reminder three times in one day, the account may be restricted,
  • If the weekly reminder count reaches a certain threshold (speculated to be 5 times), the account may also be restricted
  • The process to lift risk control is relatively cumbersome, requiring at least two levels of customer service, and takes quite a bit of time
  • Even after risk control is eventually lifted, you still may not be able to use foreign credit cards for some time afterward

Image of the risk-control pop-up; tap View Details to apply to have the restriction lifted.

Process for lifting risk-control restrictions

The entire process takes at least a week; if you are unlucky, it may take a month. During that time, your account’s transfer function, red packet function, and all WeChat Pay functions may be disabled.

  • Tap View Details, or contact regular customer service with a 4-digit agent ID through the “Tencent Customer Service” mini-program backend or the “Tencent Customer Service” official account first (you will need to upload a photo of yourself holding your ID), and apply to “lift account protection restrictions,” or directly report the situation to first-level customer service. This takes 1-3 days to process.
  • The 4-digit customer service agent will help escalate your issue so that a customer service representative with actual authority can handle it. At present, this agent’s ID is usually fixed (10,000). You then need to wait another 3 days.
  • The 10,000-level customer service team will usually ask you to provide the front and back of every credit card you have used in WeChat, plus statement screenshots or online banking screenshots. There is no direct upload portal for these materials, so you need to resubmit them through the “Tencent Customer Service” mini program to a 4-digit customer service agent. That means you will also need to upload another “photo of yourself holding your ID.” Just pick any issue-entry option that lets you upload multiple images, and mention in the description that employee ID 10,000 requested these materials. Processing usually takes 1-3 days

If you have linked many credit cards, this process can be a real hassle. Tencent seems to recognize that now, and will tell you in both Chinese and English which credit cards you need to provide information for. When submitting, remember to redact any information that should be redacted, while making sure the last four digits still match.

  • After you submit the materials, the 4-digit customer service agent will forward them to the 10,000-level customer service team for review.
  • Once the review is approved, if the rep is in a good mood they may simply tell you that your account has been restored. If not, they may say, “Please use a domestic bank card for future payments.” If you trigger risk controls repeatedly, good luck.
  • If your review is ultimately denied, your account may be shut down by WeChat. WeChat will give you plenty of time to transfer out the cash in your WeChat balance. (If you were fraudulently using someone else’s credit card, or cannot provide the required materials, then you are probably out of luck.)

Note: WeChat Pay does allow you to link someone else’s US credit card, but WeChat basically assumes in advance that the other person has authorized you to do so. If you get flagged by risk control and can provide photos of the front and back of that person’s credit card, along with online banking or statement screenshots, WeChat will accept that. If you cannot provide those materials, then frankly even the author would suspect you were fraudulently using someone else’s credit card.

Conclusion

The author’s view

  • WeChat Pay is impressively broad in how it supports overseas credit cards, so it is only natural for its risk controls to be strict.
  • Given prices in mainland China, the author does not think WeChat Pay is a great way to meet spending requirements on US credit cards, because the transaction amounts are simply too small. A single rent payment through Plastiq can directly satisfy the entire minimum spending requirement for a new credit card bonus.
  • The author believes WeChat Pay is a great option when you return to China and do not have RMB on hand, letting you spend conveniently while picking up a small amount of cash back or points at the same time.
  • If you do not have stable USD income or a no fee way to transfer money, using US dollars within China may not actually be a good idea for you

A few suggestions

  • WeChat Pay is very convenient. Please appreciate Tencent’s flexibility and try not to create unnecessary pressure for the risk control team.
  • Unless absolutely necessary, do not dispute WeChat Pay charges
  • If you receive the first pop-up warning of the day during any payment attempt, stop trying to use foreign cards or add/remove overseas credit cards for the rest of that day
  • If you receive that first pop-up warning for three consecutive days, then stop trying to use foreign cards or add/remove overseas credit cards for the next two days
  • It is not recommended to link your credit card for relatives in China to use. If risk controls are triggered, it can become very troublesome. (You can instead have them send you the item and make the purchase yourself.)
  • Pick the three credit cards you think are best suited for WeChat Pay and use them long term; your hidden limit may gradually increase. Recommended options include CSR/CSP and Prestige, and first-year Discover miles is also not bad.
  • If you do get flagged by risk control, handle it patiently and do not panic. As long as the card is yours or you were authorized to use it, and you provide the materials requested by the risk control team, your access should be restored.
  • If it still does not work, try not to stress too much about it. Besides WeChat, there are still quite a few places in China where you can use US credit cards, and the author will cover them in detail in the next article

Readers are welcome to leave a comment and share your experiences using foreign cards with WeChat Pay and Alipay.

  • For Alipay, see the article below:

https://www.uscreditcards101.com/alipay-us-credit-card/

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