Finally, you can sign up and verify an Alipay account without a Chinese bank account now!
It has always been very easy to sign up for Alipay, but it is very difficult to verify an Alipay account as a foreigner in the past. It requires you to have a Chinese bank card to complete the verification, which is a very high threshold.
But in the last 2 years, Alipay has changed its rules and now you only need a passport and face verification to have a verified Alipay.
In this article, I will explain step by step how to create and verify your Alipay account without using a Chinese bank card.
Note: The Alipay account I mentioned in this article refers to the Alipay personal account, which is different from the Alipay business account offered by Alipay for some foreign companies.
1. Why you should have a verified Alipay account
If you are planning to use Alipay regularly, I suggest you verify your Alipay. if you don’t verify your Alipay, you can still shop on Taobao. but if you have a verified Alipay, there are many benefits:
- Your Taobao and Alipay accounts are safer
Because your account has been verified by your real name, Alipay will trust you more and will not freeze or restrict your account unexpectedly anymore.
- Your tourpass money is more protected
To be honest, now your tourpass money is not safe and Alipay may freeze or stop you from using it anytime. With verified Alipay, your tourpass will be more secure.
- Verify your 1688.com account
If you are using a 1688 account, you can complete the verification of your 1688 account by linking to your verified Alipay. This will also greatly minimize the possibility of your 1688 account being restricted or unable to log in.
2. Create your Alipay Account
You can register on your computer or on your cell phone, but at the time of verification, Alipay will still ask you to download the app to complete the verification, so I suggest you download the Alipay app directly to register.
Step1. Download and install the Alipay app
You can download it directly from Google Play or Apple’s App Store by searching for Alipay(支付宝).
When installing, you should give Alipay permission to access your camera, we will need it to scan your passport and face recognition when verifying your Alipay later.
Step2. Enter your mobile number
Now open your Alipay app. if the page is in Chinese, you can set it to English by clicking on the “language(语言)” in the upper right corner.
We only need to do one thing on this page-enter your mobile number. the default country code 86 is for China, you have to change it to your own area code.
Then enter your mobile phone number next to it, remember, don’t add “0” in front of your mobile number.
Step3. Sign up
The Alipay system will detect that this is a new mobile number and then go to the sign-up page.
As in the above step, you need to select your area code and enter your mobile number again.
Step4. enter the verification code
Next, an agreement page will pop up, click agree to it.
on the verification code page, fill in the 4-digit verification code you received.
If everything goes well, you’ll be on the Alipay homepage, next we will proceed to verify the Alipay account.
Click “Me” on the bottom right corner of the user center page.
3. Verify your Alipay Account
Step 1. In the User Center, click the arrow in the upper right corner to go to the profile page.
Step 2. You can see on the profile page, the second column (Real-name verification) is grayed out(Unverified), we now click here to complete the verification.
Step 3. Now we come to the identity verification page, you can see that there are 3 options, which are
- Passport chip & face verification
- Verify face
- Mainland China bank card
Usually, we choose the easiest one – Verify face.
The best verification method is still the mainland China bank card verification, after completing the bank verification, you can use alipay balance, you can use alipay to receive and pay with more amount.
But it is not easy to register a Chinese bank account, you need to come to China to open an account in person. you can’t open an account remotely or in your country.
If you want to learn more, here is a guide on how to open China bank accounts as a foreigner.
Step 4. The first step is to scan your passport, preferably in a bright area.
Step 5. Then it will jump to the face recognition page, click “verify” to scan your face.
Step 6. If everything is OK, they will send you a short message to tell you that the verification is successful. you will also be at the certification center.
You can see that your personal information is “Incomplete”, you need to click here to update your personal information.
Step 7. In the personal information page, you can see that there are 2 fields that are not completed, “Occupation type” and “Address”.
Step 8. Click “Occupation type”, from the many occupation options that pop up, choose one according to your personal situation.
Step 9. Now click “Address”,
for “Location”, you can choose “海外(overseas)” for both state and city, then click “确认(confirm)”.
for “Address”, you can input your street address. then click “Save” to finish the whole process.
Step 10. After you have completed the above steps, you can see on your personal profile page that the second column (Real-name verification) is turned to blue(Verified).
You now have a verified Alipay personal account!
4. Set up alipay Login and payment password, Email, etc.
After registering and verifying your Alipay account, we need to set up your Alipay account in order to make it more convenient and secure for future use.
Step 1. Click on the Settings icon in the upper right corner of your user center.
Step 2. On the settings page, click the first option “Account and Security”.
Step 3. Now we are on the “Account and Security” page.
You can set up many things about your account here. I will introduce 3 main ones: Email Address, Alipay password, Login password.
You can add your email address so that you can log in directly with your email address in the future.
Alipay password here means Alipay payment password, it is a 6-digit number and it is very important.
You need to use it when you pay in Taobao, 1688, and even when you change some of your alipay information. So I suggest you write down this password on paper to avoid forgetting it.
Login password means your Alipay login password, it can be a combination of numbers and letters.
5. Final words
If you have done the above steps as I said, congratulations, you should have a full Alipay account now!
Next, you can shop on Taobao or top up tourpass to pay for your purchases.
If you have any problems or questions about the Alipay registration process, feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
342 thoughts on “How To Register And Verify Your Alipay Without Chinese Bank Account”
Hi Eric,
View CommentThanks for your time
I have verified my account and the bank card attached to my alipay account is a Chinese bank card,
I dont know why I still cant access the money in my bank account
Please help me out
Hi Eric,
recently my alipay account has been locked and it requires account restriction lift which can be done ourself. The problem is, in order to verify, they need us to link a bank card to our account (I assume this is local bank card, since I tried my bank card and it is not supported). Before my account was locked, I have successfully registered for a tour pass & topped up some money into the tour pass.
Do you know how I can contact the alipay customer service without having to login into the system? (I used login by sms when I registered, so I didn’t have any username or password).
View CommentHI ERIC,
View Commentwhy I cannot verify my alipay account ?
my bank acc first name is in front, why alipay put my first name to behind?
so I cannot verify the same name in bank acc and alipay acc.
what about tour pass ?
View Commentyes,alipay tour pass is ok if you have a China visa to activate it.
View CommentI try to do verification on my iphone. But keep failed at the face scan… i do not have china bank account also.
View Commentif you dont have china bank account,you cannt verify your alipay account.
View CommentIsn’t there a function to verify face with passport and it does not require a China bank account, is that right?
View CommentChina bank account is a must.
View CommentI’m having a problem with my identity verification on alipay, it doesn’t allow me to change ID type to passport option
View CommentHi Eric, I was trying to go through the verification process you posted here but I cannot find my country Ghana, on the list of African countries. Is there a way could still verify my name?
View Comment2. Also my taobao account has been block for no apparent reason. Could you please help me unblock it.thank you
if your country is not listed there,then they will not support your country.and I cannt unblcok your account,you have to try to contact the taobao customer service,but still it is very hard to unlock it.
View CommentHello Eric, how can I verify my alipay since i do not have chinese bank card. When i follow your instruction, i failed to full in the bank card information. Can you help me?
View Commentyou must have a chinese bank card to verify it.
View CommentForeigner do not have bank Account in China. What can we do? Still can not verify right ?
View Commentyes,it is very hard to verify it.
View CommentHi. How can edit my account information on my alipay. I change to a new city and my bank details have changed. I want to update my bank information however I don’r seem to find a way to edit it. Please help..
View Commentyou need to log in on http://www.alipay.com to edit your information.
View Commenthi, if my passport has been verified by Alipay can I transfer money to my Alipay and use it for Taobao?
View CommentNo,you still have to use a Chinese bank account to transfer money in or out alipay.
View CommentHi, if I verify with my identity with US resident, but the bankcard in China is provide by another name, “ is a relative”, can you still verify and use the Alipay like this? Thanks
View CommentNo,the bank card name must be identical to your identity name.
View CommentIm from brunei. how to make payment (taobao) how.
View CommentHi Eric,
Do I need to have a China bank account to be able to receive money through Alipay?
View CommentIs it possible to add a Monzo card (Master card) to Alipay and receive money with it instead? Would it charge me this way?
yes,you need to have a China bank account to send and receive through Alipay.
View CommentHi
View CommentI am travelling to Shanghai next week. I upload Alipay App, the system keep asking me to enter my Bank Card details.
I enter my UOB Credit Card but not successful. Same for my HSBC Credit Card Details. Please advise how to setup my account, so that I can use the APP when I get to Shanghai. Thanks
you can try to open a China bank account there.
View Comment