Before scanning or showing a code, identify what it does. A QR can open a menu, request payment, add a contact, activate transit, download an app, or lead to a website.
For merchant payment, the usual flows are: the merchant scans your live payment code, or you scan the merchant’s collection code and confirm the amount. Verify recipient and amount, authorize once, and check history before retrying.
Official Baseline
The State Council’s 2025 visitor guide says foreign visitors can use supported mobile-payment products and either scan a collection code or show a payment code. Eligibility, fees, limits, and funding routes depend on the current product and card.
Flow 1: Merchant Scans Your Code
Open the wallet’s payment-code screen, confirm the selected funding source where visible, and show it only to the cashier handling the transaction. Keep control of the unlocked phone.
Do not send a screenshot of a live payment code. Dynamic codes are credentials, not receipts.
After the scan, review amount, merchant, funding source, and status.
Flow 2: You Scan the Merchant Code
Open the official wallet scanner, scan the displayed collection code, verify the recipient, enter or review the amount, and authorize once. If the merchant tells you the amount verbally, repeat it or show the screen before confirming.
Pause if the recipient name or amount does not match the business or transaction.
Static and Dynamic Codes
A printed static code can be legitimate, but it can also be covered by a sticker or lead to an unexpected recipient. A dynamic code on a terminal can reduce some risks but still requires amount and merchant review.
Do not assume visual branding proves ownership. Ask staff when a code looks altered.
Merchant Versus Personal Collection
Some small transactions may use collection codes with different product treatment. A foreign-card funding source may work for one merchant payment and fail for another code type or in-app service.
Do not try to bypass a restriction by misdescribing a commercial payment as a personal transfer. Use another permitted wallet, card, or RMB cash.
Transit, Menus, and Other QR Codes
A metro transit code is not an ordinary payment code. A table-order code may create an order before payment. Check the page title, domain or app, table number, order, and total.
Do not install a device profile or grant unnecessary permissions to read a menu.
Pending Payment
If the screen stalls:
- stop repeated taps
- check wallet transaction history
- ask whether the merchant received confirmation
- save time, amount, and recipient
- switch only after confirming no completed payment
A card notification may represent a pending authorization that later reverses.
Duplicate or Wrong Amount
Keep the wallet transaction ID, merchant receipt, order, and screenshots. Ask the merchant to confirm its records, then contact wallet or card support through official channels. Do not create several contradictory disputes before establishing which transaction completed.
Security Rules
- Use official wallet apps.
- Never share a password, PIN, verification code, or live payment code.
- Inspect added QR stickers.
- Confirm merchant, amount, and currency.
- Do not let a stranger remotely control the phone.
- Lock wallets and cards promptly after loss.
Receipts, Refunds, and Business Purchases
The wallet success screen proves that a transaction was recorded, but it may not contain everything needed for a refund, expense claim, or tax invoice. For a hotel, ticket, deposit, or business purchase, keep the merchant order, wallet transaction ID, amount, time, and any paper or electronic receipt. Ask the merchant what record it needs before leaving.
A merchant refund may return through the original wallet or funding card and can take longer than the visible cancellation at the counter. Do not ask a stranger to “refund” money by scanning a new personal collection code. Verify the original transaction inside the official wallet and use its support path if the refund does not reconcile.
Make the Recipient Verifiable
For customer-scan payments, the displayed recipient should make sense for the shop or service. Stop if a pasted sticker covers another code, the recipient changes after scanning, or the amount and currency are unexpected. Ask staff to use the normal checkout or another payment method.
For merchant-scan payments, expose the live code only at the point of sale and close it afterward. A live code, SMS verification code, or remote-control session can authorize value; it is not comparable to sharing an ordinary menu QR.
Accessibility and Group Control
Increase text size or use a trusted companion to read the merchant and amount, but the account holder should understand and approve the final transaction. In a group, say who is paying before anyone scans. Multiple people attempting the same bill is a common way to create duplicates.
If connectivity is poor, wait for one authoritative result. Compare the wallet history, merchant confirmation, and linked-card notification; do not rely on a spinning screen alone. Switch to cash or another wallet only after the first attempt is confirmed failed or safely reversed.
QR Payment Checklist
- The code’s purpose is clear.
- Merchant-scan and customer-scan flows are understood.
- Recipient, amount, currency, and funding source are checked.
- A live payment-code screenshot will never be shared.
- Payment will be authorized once.
- Slow or duplicate transactions will use records and official support.
- Another wallet, card, or RMB cash is available.