What are the fees and limits on a foreign card in Alipay / WeChat Pay?

Both apps charge no extra fee on payments of ¥200 or less. Above ¥200, the 3% fee applies to the whole amount (¥250 → ¥7.50). These rates appear in the government's official payment guide for Alipay and WeChat Pay. Refunds and the final exchange rate depend on your card network, issuer and the app's terms. Check the payment screen and your statement; the rate may differ from the mid-market rate.

WeChat Pay runs a promotion for first-time card users. Tencent announced on 27 May 2026 that anyone who links an international card to WeChat for the first time between then and 31 December 2026 pays no 3% fee on up to ¥1,000 of spending a day for 90 consecutive calendar days, counted from the first payment. It replaces the 2025 offer of 60 days. Count on the saving only if the payment page shows it. Alipay has no officially confirmed equivalent.

Limits are layered. The policy ceiling: after the 2024 payment-facilitation push, the official guide gives both wallets US$5,000 per transaction and US$50,000 a year. The product page: WeChat Pay's international-card help page still publishes ¥6,500 per transaction, ¥50,000 a month and ¥65,000 a year. Your account: verification status, your issuer and dynamic risk checks can each set a lower figure than either of those. With no ID registered at all, Ant Group told CNBC in March 2024 that Alipay users could spend up to US$2,000 a year; that is the company's statement, not a figure on an Alipay page we could read.

Practical reading: budget the 3% on anything over ¥200 (hotel bills, train tickets, larger meals). Before a large payment, check the wallet's available limit inside the app, and keep a physical card or cash as the fallback.