You already have your AliExpress purchase in your shopping cart, you will pay and you think: “Which payment method do I choose now? Are they all equally reliable?” So that you don’t get overwhelmed by so many payment methods available, in this post we’re going to analyze them all to see which one is best for you.
Are all AliExpress Payment Methods reliable?
First of all, be clear that all of the payment methods that AliExpress offers are 100% reliable. A large company like AliExpress wouldn’t risk losing buyers’ trust by accepting an unsecured payment method.
Best AliExpress Payment Methods
Well, while all are reliable, some may benefit you more than others. Hence, we’ll see them all in order of preference:
1. Alipay (debit or credit card)
Availability: Worldwide
Evaluation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (excellent)
AliExpress created Alipay to process payments on AliExpress. The system is very similar to PayPal: they hold payments until we confirm that our order has arrived in good order.
All payments you make with a debit or credit card are made through Alipay. So if you’ve ever paid on AliExpress using a debit or credit card, you may have already set up your account with Alipay without realizing it.
Alipay is available in every country in the world
Alipay is the payment method par excellence and the most widely used today as it is the only one that AliExpress offers in every country in the world. As you may have noticed, AliExpress has put a lot of money into their payment method and offers you bonuses when you use them (every third purchase deducts $ 1).
In Alipay you can link any credit or debit card of the following types:
- Visa
- MasterCard
- American Express
- Teacher
- Diners Club
- JCB
- MNP
- Discover
- Hypercard
- elo
- Troy
Virtual or prepaid cards: the alternative if you don’t have a credit or debit card
If you don’t have a credit or debit card, or if you don’t want to share your banking information on AliExpress (although there is no need to be suspicious), you can always purchase a virtual or prepaid card. These cards can be topped up with the amount you want so you never get overcharged.
These cards are free and you can use them to pay with Alipay without any problems. If you want to learn more about this payment method, check out our article on virtual cards on AliExpress.
2. Paypal
Availability: only some countries, like The United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Italy, Germany, Spain, Mexico, etc.
Evaluation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (excellent)
As you already know, PayPal is a payment platform where we link our bank details to an email. Then we can pay easily and securely with this email. Even with PayPal, your bank details are never passed on to the online shop: To pay, you will be forwarded to PayPal and confirm the payment there.
benefits
Without a doubt, Paypal is the preferred payment method for many buyers as it is known worldwide and many online stores offer it as a security guarantee to attract new buyers. In addition to the convenience of only having to enter the email, there is a great advantage: If you have problems with an order and the dispute on AliExpress has not turned out to be favorable, you can use PayPal to claim your money back at any time.
In addition, PayPal allows you to pay for your AliExpress purchases without having a debit or credit card: all you need to do is make a transfer from your bank account to PayPal to have available funds at the time of paying for your order.
disadvantage
The biggest downside to PayPal is the love-hate relationship it has with AliExpress. This means that the terms of use will change every two times in the countries where it is available. Or directly that it disappears as a means of payment.
Obviously, AliExpress’s goal is to improve their payment method (Alipay) before anyone else. Hence, it is clear that Paypal is its biggest competitor, although again the availability of Paypal is a claim for new buyers because of the confidence that comes with it.
3. Oney (financing)
Availability: Spain
Evaluation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (remarkable)
AliExpress recently added installment payments through financial firm Oney, something many of us have been asking for for a long time.
Oney will loan you the money for your purchase so that you can return it later in 3 or 4 installments for low interest and as long as you meet these conditions:
- Buy between € 50 and € 2,500
- Pay with a Visa or Mastercard Spanish credit or debit card
- Prepaid, virtual and American Express cards are not accepted
- The bank card must have an expiration date that is longer than the selected conditions
This is very interesting when you need to buy something bigger but don’t want to spend all the money at once.
4. Mercado Pago
Availability: Mexico
Evaluation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (remarkable)
With this platform you can pay for your AliExpress purchases through:
- Credit or debit card
- OXXO
- transfer
- 7 eleven
- With the credit in your Mercado Pago account
It is a highly recommended payment method in Mexico as we save commissions for converting Mexican dollars into US dollars. Remember, you must have opened the Mercado Pago and AliExpress accounts with the same email address in order for it to show up under AliExpress Payment Methods.
5. Webmoney
Availability: Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Peru
Evaluation: ⭐⭐⭐ (approved)
Webmoney is a payment platform similar to Mercado Pago. This allows you to pay for your AliExpress purchases without paying any exchange fees. Of course, Webmoney charges a small commission for this transaction (it is still worth using it).
Remember that AliExpress only accepts US Dollars, Euro, British Pounds and Russian Rubles as currencies. In countries with a different local currency than this, the banks charge a commission for the currency exchange (i.e. this type of payment platform).
6. Google Pay / Apple Pay
Availability: Almost Worldwide
Evaluation: ⭐⭐⭐ (approved)
Google Pay and Apple Pay are mobile payment services with which you can save your debit or credit card on your smartphone and quickly pay for every purchase from your mobile phone without having to re-enter data.
This payment method is available in AliExpress, depending on whether you are surfing from an IOS (Apple Pay) or Android device (Google Pay). If you’d prefer not to have a card on file with AliExpress and don’t have Paypal, this is a great option.
7. Bizum
Availability: Alomost Worldwide
Evaluation: ⭐⭐⭐ (approved)
Bizum is an enormously successful payment platform for private individuals in UK.
benefits
It is very comfortable. Nowadays there are few people who don’t talk about it and practically all banks offer this option for their customers to send or receive money using their cell phone number.
In order to be able to pay with Bizum, however, you first have to activate this service on the website or app of your bank and only pay by entering your mobile phone number. It makes sense if you do not want to provide any bank details, but no longer offers us any advantages.
disadvantage
On AliExpress, payment with Bizum is only possible through the website. If you want to use it, you will need to provide your mobile phone when confirming the purchase (you will receive an SMS to complete the confirmation of purchase).
