Friday, May 29, 2009

Transfer or add money to AliPay (支付宝) outside China

Below my 2 cents on adding or transfer money to www.alipay.com 支付宝 for those live out side China (aka overseas 海外 ). I am from Malaysia so this guide was mainly targeted Malaysian, but it should work for other country.
Internet in China are difference, example: Google are not the top search engine, they used www.baidu.com, www.sohu.com and etc. eBay / Yahoo are not popular, they used www.taobao.com. For online payment instead of PayPal they used 支付宝 www.alipay.com. For Instant Messaging they used QQ not YM, MSN nor GTalk.
Except seller who sell via eBay, most China shopping web site don’t accept PayPal. The main reason was the high withdraw rate impose by PayPal for transfer money to China bank.
If you want to buy items from China, TaoBao http://www.taobao.com 淘宝网 are great resources (off cause you must know how to read Chinese) :-)
After some research and finding, below are how you can add money to 支付宝.
  1. 海外充 www.cnalipay.com + PayPal www.paypal.com
  2. Liberty Reserve + Gold2Ex 黄金网币兑换中心
  3. You have relative or friends in China who can open a China Bank Account for you. But the TT rate was expensive.
I had try both method 1 and 2 and found using the second method give better exchange rate. In this blog I will not explain the 1st method in details because not recommended unless you are lazy and want to save some steps. Basically you paid 海外充 using PayPal and they give you a set of code to reload your 支付宝 www.alipay.com.
Below are simple steps and my experience using Liberty Reserve + Gold2Ex to reload 支付宝.
  1. Open an account at Liberty Reserve. Kindly use this link and you will be given US$0.05. Creating LR account is simple and no Credit Card verification needed. LR give lowest rate as compare to AlertPay, E-Gold, PerfectMoney, PayPal and etc.
  2. Add money to your Liberty Reserve. They are various methods you can add money - Credit Card, Bank Transfer and etc. For Malaysian I recommend Entelnova Global service because they provide good rate and looks trustworthy, payment can be done using Maybank / CIMB or RHB. For other options to transfer money to Liberty Reserve check out this link.
  3. Lastly to transfer your Liberty Reserve money to 支付宝 I recommend Gold2Ex 黄金网币兑换中心. Good rate and fast service and trusted.
Lastly do take note that transfer / receive money to LR and alipay all involved fees. IMHO the above recommended are the lowest compare to others. Example LR charged 1% (max 2.99USD per transaction) and alipay charged 1.5%. It’s still cheaper compare to using cnalipay, PayPal and Bank TT.
Above just my experience and recommendation, I hold no responsibilities for any bad experience, unsatisfaction to your for using the above services.

65 comments:

fk said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
volcane said...

Found this site provide PP to LR. http://www.goexchange.net/. Do check out the details and the charges.

volcane said...

Another PayPal to LR services from China. Do check out their credibility.

http://www.honest-exchange.com/

fk said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

hi volcane,

many thanks for ur info..found it useful

i would like to know is it possible for me to pay cnalipay by using other alternatives like western union than paypal as paypal involves high transaction fees?

Secondly, may i know based on ur personal experience, the 2nd method will be better than the 1st one by roughly how much, let's say i wish to top up RMB 5000??? as i found the liberty reserve and the conversion from LR to alipay are a bit confusing and troublesome...

really appreaciate it if you can give me some insights on this..thank you very much

volcane said...

2nd method defiantly cheaper, will try to simulate the differences and post the results. If you transfer RMB5000 I think using bank TT might be cheaper cause it charged fixed rate.

Anonymous said...

hi volcane,

thanks for ur prompt reply and efforts =)

actually i have an account in Shanghai, China before as i have been doing my school attachment there..but its online banking is not activated...so, is this possible to transfer thru bank TT to that account and then use the money to top up the alipay?..

as i m now staying in Malaysia..

thanks volcane, i know u didn't use bank TT before..it is ok if u can't share the info with me on this...once again..thanks for ur time and effort..

hchian

Anonymous said...

hi a friend of my said that alipay is link to the china bank or creditcard. So without a china bank card how can we sign up for alipay? I needed to transfer money to my friend alipay but haven't found the cheapest way to do so. Western Union, Remittance or Bank T/T is too expensive.

Any advice? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Hi, is it possible to open a china banking account in Malaysia and then transfer money via internet banking?

volcane said...

Haven't try TT to China, but for Taiwan the fees are pretty high. For big amount it's cheaper then PayPal for small amount not worth.

volcane said...

check out my latest post on RMB5000 case studies. :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi My friend said that Alipay is tied to the china bank card. Would really appreciate if you advice how to sign up for alipay without china bank card. Thanks.

volcane said...

Open a china banking account in Malaysia (Bank of China) and then transfer money via internet, I have no idea. Need to call BOC for details.

volcane said...

you can sign up alipay using email. But without china bank account you will not be able to become verified member (认证用户). Alternatively if you have friend in China you and asked them to be your guarantor. Method 2 only worked if you are verified member (认证用户)

Anonymous said...

http://www.payinone.com/index.php seems like a easier and cheaper option.

Anonymous said...

http://www.cnalipay.com/ seems less dodgy

volcane said...

Apparently http://www.payinone.com are new competitor with slight lower rate.

Anonymous said...

After using the suggested method 2. My alipay have been locked down saying it requires some identity verification. I am not a mainland chinese. Have this happended to you? Any advice?

volcane said...

part of my fund was locked, still figure out how to get myself verified (认证).

Anonymous said...

you mean you managed to get yourself verified? you have relative in China?

Anonymous said...

Hi volcane

Do update us once you unlocked your alipay account. And how you go about getting it unlocked. Thanks.

~glinda~ said...

hey, I'm really glad that you found ways to add money to alipay. so I've opened an account on alipay, and I want to use the first way, so I was wondering how I buy cnalipay..could you help me. plzz thanks

volcane said...

~glinda~,

1. Register at cnalipay.com
2. Buy the reload card http://www.cnalipay.com/shop/
3. Paid using PayPal
4. You will received a set of code to reload the amount to your alipay. http://www.cnalipay.com/howtorck.htm
5. Done

~glinda~ said...

thanks :D but how long does it take to have them send you the code?
b/c i want to get two and i got my first one..but no signs of my second one...

volcane said...

~glinda~, Normally got my in less than one hour, you might want to contact them. Pretty good customer service.

Anonymous said...

Hi volcane,

Have you managed to successfully get your alipay account unlocked since you reported of the problem previously.

volcane said...

not yet, was busy lately have not time to explore on this...

Anonymous said...

Hi,

was stuck on verification too. Pls update us if u hav any.thanks

Unknown said...

Just to let you know that cnalipay.com is fake. I paid them USD 103 only to get no reply whatsoever from them. They ate my money. Don't use hteir service or be cheated.

volcane said...

hi chuliu, can share more info? how many days since you paid them? have you try contact them via QQ?

tonyshieh_86@hotmail.com said...

thx you for the information , emm..i got many many question wanna ask you .would you mind to let me know your msn or ym ?

Anonymous said...

i need some help. im from australia and want to add some money to my alipay account. i dont have a bank account in china. can it be done with visa? any help would be very much appreciated!

volcane said...

tonyshieh_86 currently I am way from Malaysia, will add you to my MSN once I m back.

Anon from OZ, is your alipay account verified? If yes then you can use goeexchange. If your account non verified then you need to use cnalipay. Recently someone posted in the comment saying he / she is having problem with cnalipay, m still waiting reply from him.

Anonymous said...

my account is not verified.... how do i verify it? and can i like use western union or bankn transfer frm australia to add money to the alipay account?

volcane said...

if your account not verified the way to transfer is used cnalipay. No Western Union tranfer.

chee wee said...

I used cnalipay, but the shipment its like forever pending. I tried the 24 hours QQ customer service, and requested a refund. If you say hi to them they will reply, but when ever i post my order number, they will stop replying. you all can try, just for ur convenient, you can copy and paste this to them "请问2009072291157完成退款了吗?" , after that all ur msg will be ignored. I tried their 24 hours hotline, nobody pick up the call (or maybe they saw my phone number). I guess there goes my USD400.00

axeps2 said...

I used the first method(cnalipay) and managed to get my AP account topped up. However I can't seem to use it for payments, still seem to need some sort of verification, anyone can help?

Nuddle said...

Hi! I used method one, as i didn't have a chinese bank account. So, now, I have 50 dollars worth of RMB in Alipay. they set it as 可用余额, (usable balance) but it also said 用支付宝账户余额付款,请先充值. (to use alipay balance to pay, please add funds first.) does that mean i can't use the 50RMB balance?

by the way. for some that are wondering why they haven't sent you the code, I QQ'ed them, and they said that, if you're a new member, you must answer a phone call from them before they'll send you the codes. QQ them and they'll call you again ^^ (at least that was what my problem was)

And this post is SO helpful! I'm so grateful!<333 There are just so many things i want from taobao! ^_^

nat said...

hi volcane,
how safe is using cnalipay?

can you add me in msn ?
my msn: nat7791@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

volcane you method 2 already success to verify or not?

henrythung said...

hi, for Malaysian, there is a top up service for the zhifubao, they charge only 5% of the total amount top up.
check this out:
taobao2u.com

Anonymous said...

hi,

Like to know can i use Bank of China to transfer money to AliPay?
Btw wat u means by Alipay charge 1.5%?

Anonymous said...

I don't think he can verify his a/c. Coz now already June 2010 (1 year later) and the blog owner just ignoring this post and "busy" with other thing.

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL said...

Here all , I'm doing alipay top up service .

I'm from malaysia .

If you want top up can look for it
is instantly 5 minute can be done

My msn is
elogistic@live.com
or email to me .
clotdesign@gmail.com

amulet said...

Hi,
what about Perfect Money? LR better or Perfect Money better? i saw it at the Gold2Ex the exchange rate is slightly lower.which one provide the good rate? any advise? Thank you

SkYz said...

if you still not verify alipay account after the specific date, can the account still be use? what will happen?

SkYz said...

if not verify alipay account within the specific date, what will happen? the account still can use?

volcane said...

Yes, your account still can use. This article was pretty old, and I had no time to follow up. Suggest reader find out which is the best way to transfer the money. Someone did posted in the comment which provide fund transfer service, please check out yourself.

hlchung said...

Alipay does set a limit of RMB500 per year for fund receiving if the account is not validated. Do you mind sharing on how exactly did you validate your Alipay account? Thank you.

Unknown said...

hi...I am from Thailand. I regularly buy from taobao to sell in my country. I have accounts in china and very easy for me to pay to taobao thru alipay.com. I can service to you, earn a little profit of course..he he..

The way to do is you transfer money to my paypal account in US$ and then I transfer money to your taobao shops. Ihe exchange rate is (chinease yaun /4.4 = US$+ 10% my service/shop) + paypal fee 5% per time. If you are interested in, you can directly contact me: malichath@gmail.com

when you finish shopping and then click someone to pay for.

markiee said...

After i paid in Paypal account, how long they will send me code?

I'm just paid and payment confirmed. It's 配货中...will they send it to my email?

Anonymous said...

After i paid through the amount in cnalipay and how many for the code receive?

I'm just paid and now is in 配货中 status. Will they send through email?

Anonymous said...

<< malichath said...
hi...I am from Thailand.

Ihe exchange rate is (chinease yaun /4.4 = US$+ 10% my service/shop) + paypal fee 5% per time. If you are interested in, you can directly contact me: malichath@conman.com >>

Election coming for Thailand, good chance for you to rob your countries' bank.

R&V Green Marketing said...

Indeed it was a good idea on reloading the alipay, as China are quite new market for us, we learn eBay and Paypal, until now is taobao and alipay, anyway really thanks for your precious information.

Two thumbs up!

kids said...

how to buy alipay topup can help me form malaysia/

Anonymous said...

how to verify taobao to using alipay?

Anonymous said...

Interesting post. Although I think I should add that it's quite outdated (it being a 2009 post). I've lived in China until 2010 and I've done a lot of buying online. It's true that many people use Alipay, Tencent, etc. but these days Paypal is also widely used (especially among sellers who deal with overseas clients). Paypal has been connected with many local banks (and local debit cards), which is now very convenient. Other things are also not accurate, for example although many Chinese have QQ, they also use Yahoo, MSN, GTalk, etc. QQ is dominated by Chinese because it is a Chinese software after all and not many non-Chinese can actually use the software (unless they use the English version) but that's a whole other story.

sabrina said...

Interesting post. Although I think I should add that it's quite outdated (it being a 2009 post). I've lived in China until 2010 and I've done a lot of buying online. It's true that many people use Alipay, Tencent, etc. but these days Paypal is also widely used (especially among sellers who deal with overseas clients). Paypal has been connected with many local banks (and local debit cards), which is now very convenient. Other things are also not accurate, for example although many Chinese have QQ, they also use Yahoo, MSN, GTalk, etc. QQ is dominated by Chinese because it is a Chinese software after all and not many non-Chinese can actually use the software (unless they use the English version) but that's a whole other story.

Suhaila Hassan said...

hi volcane. im from malaysia. i would like to ask you. ive order some product from alibaba. but the is, i dont know how to pay. i dont hv credit card. i only hv cimb bank and maybank. what is the best way to pay? either transfer fund or western union) both ways i dont know how...i need your help. when i try to use cimb click for transfer ti citibank singapore alipay, what is the amount should i transfer? because it only in MYR currency not USD. should i calculate myself the exchange rate from USD to MYR and use the amount in MYR to transfer to USD. does it the exact amount the receiver will get?please help me

volcane said...

Suhaila,

As you aware the post are pretty old. Have no time to explore the recent development. If you read the earlier comment in this post, someone did posted that he/she can help you transfer money to AliPay.

Do take check and verified before you conduct any deal. I shall not be held liable or bear any responsibility with regard to your action with anyone mention in this post.

Onlyme Collections said...

I'm doing alipay top up service .

I'm from malaysia .

If you want top up can look for me

exchange rate is (RMB/2 + 5% service fees) = Ringgit Malaysia that you need to pay me

If you are intrested , please Email me esu_Esuta@hotmail.com

Jonathan Chow said...

Hi, i already use www.malaysia-alipay.com after i doing payment i see my payment into my alipay. Them service is very fast.

Unknown said...

It is definitely uncomfortable that you cannot link your different platforms together. For instance, you are not allowed to send your funds from Paypal to Alipay and vice versa. Many international eBay sellers use bank transfers to move their funds to another account. I have been looking for alternatives such as Bitcoin and Apps developed by fintech companies. Bitcoin is beneficial but not working under some circumstances like national regulations. So here I suggest "Pally Pay" app. It makes you able to transfer your Paypal balance to AliPay. You can download it from Google Play Store. Try it!

Unknown said...

It is definitely uncomfortable that you cannot link your different platforms together. For instance, you are not allowed to send your funds from Paypal to Alipay and vice versa. Many international eBay sellers use bank transfers to move their funds to another account. I have been looking for alternatives such as Bitcoin and Apps developed by fintech companies. Bitcoin is beneficial but not working under some circumstances like national regulations. So here I suggest "Pally Pay" app. It makes you able to transfer your Paypal balance to AliPay. You can download it from Google Play Store. Try it!

veenx said...

The method 2 does not work in US :(

I tried opening the official site but it's pribited by the government:(