3 ms·

Sounds similar to China / WeChat situation, from what I've read previously

• decimalenough 2y ago
  It's now quite trivial to connect a foreign credit/debit card to Wepay, and it worked flawlessly on a recent trip. (This was very much not the case only a few years ago.)
  • dewey 2y ago
    It might have worked for you but it's still not trivial. There's many hoops to jump through still like random ID verifications, many banks not being supported to be linked, account locks that can only be unblocked by having a WeChat contact vouch for you etc.
    • decimalenough 2y ago
      This was the case when I jumped through those hoops in 2019, but it's much more straightforward now. Passport, phone number (doesn't have to Chinese) plus credit/debit card unlocks up to RMB 50,000/mo, with no fees for transactions under RMB 200. https://www.china-briefing.com/news/wechat-enables-foreigners-to-pay-with-overseas-cards-in-china/ https://www.china-briefing.com/news/wechat-enables-foreigner...
      • dewey 2y ago
        That article is from 2023, things changed a lot in the past years. I just clicked on "Top up balance" (while being located in China) and it says "Please add a debit card issued by a Chinese Mainland bank to use the top-up function".
        • decimalenough 2y ago
          If you have a foreign credit card, there's no need to maintain a balance at all, transactions are passed through directly. And yes, of course there are limits on what you can do as a visitor, but for normal touristy stuff it's quite sufficient.