China Payment Gateway Integration: WeChat Pay, Alipay and UnionPay

QPSoftware integrates Chinese payment gateways into e-commerce websites, mobile apps and WeChat Mini Programs, for foreign brands that sell to China and for companies based there. Our developers in Shanghai connected WeChat Pay to the Huttopia booking Mini Program, and linked the Ma France store to a cross-border payment platform that pays out to a bank account in France.

China payment gateway integration takes more than a plugin: each provider has its own APIs, merchant accounts and rules, and a foreign merchant also has to decide how and where it is settled.

Why selling in China needs Chinese payment methods

China prefers local solutions, and its web is no exception. Facebook, Google, YouTube and Instagram are blocked, so brands reach Chinese customers through platforms such as WeChat, Baidu and Weibo. Hosting has its own rules too, covered by our China website compliance consulting.

Payment follows the same logic. To sell to Chinese customers, your checkout has to offer the local methods: Alipay and WeChat Pay for mobile payment, and UnionPay for bank cards. These three methods have to be integrated into your e-commerce website, app or Mini Program, which calls for a specialist in payment gateway integration.

Our comparison of the most popular payment gateways in China looks at the main options for foreign merchants and how each handles cross-border payments. For the central bank’s digital currency, read our explainer on the digital yuan (e-CNY).

Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay: the APIs we integrate

These gateways may look simple to integrate. They are not: each provider has several APIs, one per use, and each one works differently.

• UnionPay: separate products for consumers who pay by card on a PC website (the online gateway payment) and for companies that pay B2B through their corporate online banking, as listed on the UnionPay Open Platform. Mobile websites and native apps use other APIs. B2B and B2C payments differ in the amounts that can be paid and in security: a B2B payment adds an authentication step with the company’s USB key.
• Alipay: three main APIs, for desktop websites, mobile websites and native apps. They cover all platforms and are simpler to implement.
• WeChat Pay: one API per payment scene, as the WeChat Pay documentation for overseas merchants shows: barcode payment in stores, QR code payment on desktop websites, payment inside an Official Account page or a Mini Program, in-app payment, and H5 payment in mobile browsers outside WeChat. QPSoftware published on GitHub a Drupal Commerce module for WeChat Pay H5 payment in mobile browsers such as Chrome, Safari and Firefox (Drupal 7, last updated in 2018).

Other scenarios, such as refunds, sometimes need custom functions on top of the standard APIs.

Payment gateways and cross-border e-commerce

Once your payment gateway works, a global payment company can let your Chinese customers pay in their local currency, RMB, and send you the money in the foreign currency you selected. WeChat Pay’s cross-border service, for example, settles merchants in 16 currencies, including USD, EUR and GBP.

This method lets you sell to China without a Chinese entity, with no physical presence there. You still need to manage other aspects, such as logistics and delivery for your Chinese customers. Both wallets are also accepted by merchants outside China, as our article on WeChat Pay and Alipay around the world explains.

Payment projects we delivered

• Huttopia: WeChat Pay and WeChat Login in a booking Mini Program, with a middleware that gets each user’s OpenID to generate the signatures WeChat Pay requires, and creates the orders in Huttopia’s systems in France.
• Ma France: the API between the WeChat Mini Program and the GoAllPay platform, with automatic currency conversion on the store. Payments from the WeChat wallet are transferred to Ma France’s bank account in France.
• Lucrin Geneva: Alipay, UnionPay and WeChat Pay on a localized Magento website.
• Baby International Blu and Ichimore: Alipay, UnionPay and Visa/MasterCard payments on PrestaShop stores.

How we integrate your payment gateway

Payment integration can be a project on its own or part of a wider China e-commerce development project. Either way, we follow our agile methodology, with a test at every step.

1. Methods and model: which payment methods, on which channels, and whether you are paid in China or through a cross-border account.
2. Merchant accounts: the application with the provider or with a partner institution, and the credentials your store needs.
3. Development: the payment flow of each channel, signatures, payment notifications, refunds and, for cross-border sales, currency display.
4. Testing: every flow tested with minimal amounts before launch.
5. Launch and follow-up: payment monitoring and reconciliation, and updates when a provider changes its API.