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payment failed · Last verified: 2026-10
What's the difference between a personal QR code and a merchant QR?
Merchant codes let anyone pay them (including you with a foreign card). Personal codes are for friends transferring money — you cannot pay a person's personal code with a foreign-card tourist account.
Step by step
- 1To pay at a shop, stall, or restaurant: open Alipay → tap 'Scan' → point at their QR code.
- 2If you see a QR printed on paper or displayed on a screen at a business, it's usually a merchant code — safe to scan.
- 3If someone shows you their phone screen with a QR saying 'receive money', that's a personal code. You can't pay this with a tourist-mode foreign card.
- 4For person-to-person payments (splitting costs with a friend in China): use cash, or ask them to use a bank transfer app instead.
Common mistakes
- !Some small stalls use personal codes for collection — if you scan and it says 'personal account' or shows a person's name, your payment may fail in tourist mode.
- !Cash is the cleanest option for paying individuals.