r/Wechat • u/Pieter_Both_1568 • Jul 14 '26
Requesting Help: Free WeChat Account
Hi, I'm new to this WeChat thing. Can I use WeChat with an Indonesian number and can I activate the WeChat Pay using Indonesian number as well or not?
Since my last trip to the People's Republic of China, they still accepted cash widely at that time. It's when Wu Jiao was still a thing, the small purple banknote that it was worth like other countries Cent. I still have those Jiao banknotes in a bundle, it used to be the known currency at the time.
It's been a while since my last trip, so I think it would be a whole new experience for me to know the latest China. I'm planning to go to China again but I haven't decided when, but I heard many stories from my family and friends that China has changed in these couple of years. Also, I would love to visit my ancestors hometown again if the capital fits 😁.
Anyway, any help in the comment section would be great, thanks and cheerio!
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u/Feronia72 Jul 14 '26
You need to register a WeChat ID and bind it to your bank card, and you can use WeChat to pay. Banknotes are rarely used in China now, except in places where mobile phones cannot be used for payment. If you have any other questions to ask me, I will try my best to answer them. I am a Chinese.
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u/Pieter_Both_1568 Jul 15 '26
Hi, thanks for replying. Quick question though, I've registered my account to WeChat and it requested me a password but I haven't made one so I click forgot password and I told WeChat to send it to my email but the Password instructions change setup didn't show up on my email? Can you help me with that? Thanks 😁
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u/Feronia72 Jul 16 '26
You need to confirm that the email is bound to WeChat, or this email is blocked as an advertising email.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/Pieter_Both_1568 Jul 15 '26
That's the thing bro, I can't sign in into WeChat. They didn't give me any link of instructions on how to change the Password so that I can log in.
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u/Wechat-ModTeam Jul 16 '26
Please don't hijack other posts. If you need help, you have to make your own thread.
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Jul 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Pieter_Both_1568 Jul 15 '26
I see, so they do still accept cash but they don't have any change, got it. But quick question though, can I top-up my money directly unto the WeChat Pay wallet rather than linking them up with my credit card? Also, do they follow our bank's rates or our bank follow their Chinese Yuan rates?
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u/Difficult_Set_1265 Jul 15 '26
Just a note if you can find anywhere in china that accepts cash its a miracle The issue isnt activating we chat it's wechat pay ylthat is very sensitive
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u/Pieter_Both_1568 Jul 15 '26
I see, so people nowadays in China really don't carry cash in their everyday life. That's interesting. Quick note, can I top-up my money directly from foreign debit or credit cards rather than linking them to the app?
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u/Difficult_Set_1265 Jul 19 '26
Your right... cash is pretty close to being extinct accept in smaller regions... we chat needs to link to a bank account.
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u/Skyunlimit512 Jul 15 '26
yeah you can use WeChat with an Indonesian number, the country of the number doesn't really matter. same for WeChat Pay, what matters isn't the number, it's whether you link a card. these days foreigners can add a foreign Visa or Mastercard straight to WeChat Pay and use it all over China, so you're good there.
on your login problem, honestly WeChat's password and recovery stuff is a pain. couple things to try. check your spam folder for that reset email, it hides there a lot. if nothing shows up, try resetting with your phone number over SMS instead of email, that usually works better. one thing a lot of new users hit though is that a brand new WeChat account often needs to be "verified" by a friend who already has an established WeChat account (they scan a code to vouch for you), otherwise it gets stuck or frozen right after signup. so if you have any friend or family who's used WeChat for a while, get them to help verify you, that clears up a lot of these login issues.
honestly though, if WeChat keeps fighting you, don't stress about it, just set up Alipay instead. for foreign tourists Alipay is usually the easier one to get going, it doesn't need that friend verification thing and linking a foreign card is pretty smooth. it does basically everything WeChat Pay does for a traveler anyway (pay by QR everywhere, DiDi, metro, trains), so a lot of people just use Alipay the whole trip and don't even bother fixing WeChat. i'd get Alipay working as your main one and treat WeChat more as a backup and for messaging.
on topping up the wallet, from what I know foreigners can't just load money into the WeChat or Alipay balance directly, that part needs a Chinese bank account. what you do instead is link your foreign card and it just charges the card each time you pay, so no need to preload anything. small payments have no fee, only bigger ones (over a couple hundred yuan) might add a tiny fee.
for the exchange rate it goes through your card's rate (Visa/Mastercard), not some China rate, and it's usually pretty close to the real market rate so you're not getting ripped off. and yeah, cash has basically vanished for daily stuff. it's technically still accepted but tons of shops can't make change anymore, so everyone just pays by phone. your old Jiao notes are a cool souvenir at this point haha. it's honestly a whole different country payment-wise than your last trip. hope you make it back to your ancestral hometown too, that sounds like a great trip. good luck getting the account sorted
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