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verification · Last verified: 2026-10
Alipay won't let me do face verification — it only offers to bind a Chinese bank card
This happens in Europe and some other regions where GDPR blocks biometric face scanning. You have a few workarounds: verify after you land in China, temporarily use a non-GDPR network, or contact Alipay support for manual review.
Step by step
- 1Confirm the issue: if Alipay shows only 'Bind a Chinese bank card' during identity verification and no face-scan option, GDPR blocking is the likely cause.
- 2Option 1 (easiest): Skip verification for now and complete it after arriving in China, where the face-scan option becomes available.
- 3Option 2: Use mobile data instead of Wi-Fi during verification — some carriers' data routing avoids the GDPR block even in Europe.
- 4Option 3: Connect to a VPN set to a non-GDPR country (e.g., Singapore, Japan, South Korea) just for the verification step, then turn it off immediately after. Note: VPN use is your own responsibility.
- 5Option 4: Contact Alipay support via in-app chat and explain the situation. Manual document review is available and sometimes granted.
- 6Once verified, your account works fully — you don't need to repeat this process.
Common mistakes
- !Don't leave verification to the last minute — if you land with an unverified account, your spending limit is severely restricted (often under ¥1,000 total).
- !Verify before your trip if at all possible. The GDPR workaround via VPN is a grey area — use at your own discretion.
- !WeChat Pay has the same GDPR limitation in Europe. The same workarounds apply.