WeChat(akaWeixininChinese)isamultipurposesocialnetworkingappsimilartoWhatsApp;amongitsvariousfunctionsisa‘Wallet’settingthatallowsuserstopayforanumberofdifferentitemsthroughtheirsmartphone,includingcinematickets,taxisandgroupdiscountdeals.ThisworkseveniftheusersonlyhavedebitorATMcards.
ForeignersarejustaswelcometousethesefunctionsasChinesepeople,althoughtheywillneedaChinesebankcard.Additionally,althoughtheset-upprocessisinEnglish(providedyoudownloadedtheEnglish-languageversionofWeChat),areasonablegraspofChineseisrequiredformorecomplexfunctions.
Here’showtolinkyourbankcardtoyourWeChataccount;thescreenshotsaretakenfromtheiPhoneversion,buttheAndroideditionshouldbemuchthesame.
1.OpenWeChat.
2.Pressthe‘Me’buttonatthebottomofthescreen,thentapthe‘Wallet’option.
3.Thisisthemainmenuthatyouwillusetoaccessdifferentoptionsonceyourcardhasbeensetup.Press‘Wallet’again.
4.Select‘AddaCard’.
5.Typeinthenumberacrossthemiddleofyourbankcard;dependingonthebankyouareusing,thismaybesomewhatlongerthanthosefoundonmanyforeignbankingcards.Onceyou’redone,tap‘Next’.
6.Nowtypeinyourcardinformation;itshouldbethesameastheinformationyougaveyourbankwhenopeningyouraccount.
Yournameshouldbethesameasthefullnameprintedonyourpassport(includingmiddlenames),howeverinpracticeitwillbewhatevertheclerkatyourlocalbanktypedintotheircomputerwhentheyregisteredyouonthesystem.Consequently,youmayneedtoinputitallincapitals,orallinlowercase,forittoregisterproperly.
Youcouldalsotryputtingitinreverseorder(surname,thenfirstname,thenmiddlenames),trydroppingyourmiddlenames,ortrytypinginyournamewithoutanyspaces.Ifyouhaveanapostropheinyournameyoucouldtryremovingthat,too.Ifnoneofthesethingswork,gotoyourbankanddouble-checkhowtheyhaveinputtedyourname.It’spossiblethatthecustomerserviceadvisormadeatypoorothererror–anddon’tforgettotakeyourpassport!
Next,tap‘IDtype’toselecttheidentificationyouusedtoopenyourbankaccount–almostcertainlyyourpassport(itwillbesetto‘IDCard’asdefault).If‘passport’isnotavailablethenunfortunatelyyourbankisnotcompatiblewithWeChatWalletatthemoment.Finally,typeinthephonenumberyougaveyourbankandmakesurethe‘Accept“UserAgreement”‘boxisticked.OnolderiPhones,youwillhavetoscrolldowntogettothe‘Next’button.
7.Youwillthenbebroughttothefollowingscreen.Butdon’tworryaboutdoinganythingyet,because…
8….WeChatwillthensendamessagetoyourphonewithanauthorizationcode(seeimagebelow).Thiswillonlyworkifyougivethephonenumberthatyourbankhasonfile;ifyouputinanothernumberyouwillgetanerrormessage.Ifyounolongerhaveaccesstothenumberthatyouoriginallygavetoyourbank,youwillneedtochangeitbeforeyoucancontinuewiththeWeChatprocess.Ifyougavethecorrectnumberbutstilldidn’tgetacode,thereisalinkatthebottomofthe‘VerifyMobile’page(scrolldowntofinditonolderiPhones)thatwillresendit.
9.Nowyouneedtoaddalittlesecurityincaseyourphoneisstolenorlost.Typeinasix-digitpasscodethatyoucaneasilyremember.
10.Press‘Next’(youmayneedtoscrolldowntogettothatbutton),andyourcardwillbeaddedtoyourwallet.
Congratulations!You’renowabletogospend-crazyonyourphone!