KopyKatKiller wrote:

freakingme wrote:LucyLez, I don't think it is a Visa Electron. But I can tell you that I had a Visa Electron a few years ago (not from a Chinese bank though) and it worked flawlessly for online purchases. There are plenty of stores that accept cards enrolled in "Verified by Visa", I rarely had to give up on purchasing something because of my card being "verified".

I just hope this isn't one of those services you so often see in China (great promises, less than acceptable delivery). Fingers crossed!

The problem with using Chinese credit cards internationally, according to companies like Witopia and others I talked to about it, is that 1) your address cannot be verified according to their methods, and 2) a lot of people in China try to use stolen or fake cards to make purchases internationally. In short, they don't trust credit cards from China.

This "virtual" card might work though,,, Let us know what you find out in trying to use it internationally.

I have only had problems in approximately 5% or less of the instances where I have used a Chinese credit card for an overseas online purchase and had problems with AVS (Address Verification System) and I use my cards extensively. In those few cases where I have had a problem, they asked me to call in or to fax them a copy of the credit card.

I'm not sure in which country the merchant was that accepted online payment with a Visa Electron, but in the US there are virtually zero online merchants that accept a Visa Electron card.

I used it in Europe and the US with no problems.

Anyway, going back to ICBC, I'll try and work my way through their customer service sometimes in the next few days.

freakingme wrote:

I'm not sure in which country the merchant was that accepted online payment with a Visa Electron, but in the US there are virtually zero online merchants that accept a Visa Electron card.

I used it in Europe and the US with no problems.

Anyway, going back to ICBC, I'll try and work my way through their customer service sometimes in the next few days.

Which online US merchants have accepted Visa Electron?

Amazon, B&N, BD but also smaller, specialized bookstores I tried to buy from; some watch sellers, fitness equipment sellers, lots of PC components and PC games sellers.

Some of them did not list Visa Electron among the accepted means of payment, but they all accepted the transactions.

freakingme wrote:Amazon, B&N, BD but also smaller, specialized bookstores I tried to buy from; some watch sellers, fitness equipment sellers, lots of PC components and PC games sellers.

Some of them did not list Visa Electron among the accepted means of payment, but they all accepted the transactions.

Strange. Very strange.

I have a Visa Electron and after seeing your post went to both B&N and Amazon and they stated the card was not acceptable when attempting to checkout.

I sent a message to Amazon & B&N, but for now only Amazon replied. They do NOT accept Visa Electron.

I don't know what to say, it might be because my Electron was issued by a non-US bank.

I found out a little bit more about this ICBC e-card. It is a Visa debit card that is supposed to work for international online purchases. I tried to use it for a test purchase but it did not work. It goes through the authentication process but errors out with messages like "bank refused payment". I tried it on Amazon, Apple and Rebtel.

So I went back to the bank and asked what the problem was (never try to use the phone, it's useless if you don't speak Chinese). After over an hour of investigations, the only idea they came up with was that I need to put dollars on the e-card. Now, that card is a dual currency, so it should automatically convert one into the other, as needed for the transaction. But they say this isn't so... I have to actually put dollars on the card. OK, I say, can I use the e-banking to convert my RMB to USD? No, I cannot. Only people that opened the account using a Chinese ID can do that. People that used a passport to open the account have to go to the Bank of China, buy dollars, come to ICBC and put the dollars in the account.
Absurd, in my opinion.

"OK, but can you assure me that this card works for online international purchases?", I ask. Of course sir, it works, it was created for that purpose.

Good, let's try the dollar thing. I do all that, get some dollars on the card. Try all those merchants again... still doesn't work.

So now I will go to their head office and see if I can get this sorted out.
The saga continues.

freakingme wrote:I don't know what to say, it might be because my Electron was issued by a non-US bank.

I found out a little bit more about this ICBC e-card. It is a Visa debit card that is supposed to work for international online purchases. I tried to use it for a test purchase but it did not work. It goes through the authentication process but errors out with messages like "bank refused payment". I tried it on Amazon, Apple and Rebtel.

So I went back to the bank and asked what the problem was (never try to use the phone, it's useless if you don't speak Chinese). After over an hour of investigations, the only idea they came up with was that I need to put dollars on the e-card. Now, that card is a dual currency, so it should automatically convert one into the other, as needed for the transaction. But they say this isn't so... I have to actually put dollars on the card. OK, I say, can I use the e-banking to convert my RMB to USD? No, I cannot. Only people that opened the account using a Chinese ID can do that. People that used a passport to open the account have to go to the Bank of China, buy dollars, come to ICBC and put the dollars in the account.
Absurd, in my opinion.

"OK, but can you assure me that this card works for online international purchases?", I ask. Of course sir, it works, it was created for that purpose.

Good, let's try the dollar thing. I do all that, get some dollars on the card. Try all those merchants again... still doesn't work.

So now I will go to their head office and see if I can get this sorted out.
The saga continues.

Of course they will not let you buy US$ online because of currency controls. If you have their credit card, you can buy US$ online to pay the US$ balance on your credit card.

It's just that getting that credit card is the tough part.

can u use an american visa debit card in China, and can u use it to shop online? will be moving there in a couple of days and any info would be useful.

overh20 wrote:

jamar wrote:It's just that getting that credit card is the tough part.

Unfortunately, true.

How did things go with PuFa?

Still waiting. I made the mistake of trying to submit it all at a branch first. After five of them in various parts of the city refused saying I couldn't possibly get that approved I actually read my e-mail more closely and mailed it in per their instructions.

As for the poster immediately above mine, you can use it offline in some places. Online- not really. I can't think of any shops that take Visa online that aren't foreign-based (Yodobashi Camera's online shop for China, for instance). Though maybe someone else knows better than me?

Back in the day in the UK, you couldn't use a Visa Electron for internet purchases as you can only swipe the card through a machine for payment, not type the number into a EFPOS machine or whatever the merchant was using.

Might have changed now though...it's been about 10 years since i had an electron! I thought they were only for school kids who get their first bank account before upgrading to a proper visa when they start earning???? Or that's how Barclays explained it to me!

overh20 wrote:

rawd78 wrote:can u use an american visa debit card in China, and can u use it to shop online? will be moving there in a couple of days and any info would be useful.

Yes, you can. though not all merchants accept overseas cards. More useful would be a Discover Card.

While Discover cards would be accepted at all/most UnionPay POS terminals, online shopping is a different kettle altogether. If you're talking about major sites such as ctrip.com, then you'll probably be fine but then even a Visa/MasterCard would work. Other sites like amazon.cn give you the option of paying through a mobile POS terminal that the courier will bring to your place and that should work equally well.

If on the other hand you actually wish to pay online, then the choices narrow significantly. Here is a list of banks typically supported by online merchants for immediate payment by credit card:

http://home.alipay.com/bank/paymentCredit.htm

overh20 wrote:That said, I have used my Discover card to make purchases on Taobao.com and also when purchasing airline tickets directly off the domestic airlines' websites.

Major Chinese airlines typically allow online payment authorisation to be done in the same way as phone bookings so this isn't surprising. I'm intrigued by your success on taobao though. What did you buy and how did the authentication process work? Was it as simple as supplying your credit card details?