Understand all the payment error messages of Alipay and WeChat Pay

Error messages in payment apps at the checkout can be frustrating both for merchants and their customers.

In this article, we will break down almost all error messages a merchant or a client can encounter while making a payment online or in-store and how to deal with them.

It is important to note that these error messages are not exhaustive and you may encounter other error messages when using WeChat Pay or Alipay. If you encounter an error message that is not listed here, we recommend that merchants contact their payment provider, while customers should reach out to WeChat Pay or Alipay customer service for assistance.

What do the Alipay and WeChat Pay error messages mean?

1. 交易失败 (jiāo yì shī bài): Transaction failed

Solution: Check that you have a stable internet connection and that your WeChat Pay or Alipay account is fully funded.
Or restart the transaction. After your customers confirm the transaction information, make sure they enter the payment password on time.
If the problem persists, contact WeChat Pay customer service for assistance.

2. 余额不足 (yú é bù zú): Insufficient balance

This message is received by the customer.

Solution: The customer should add money to their WeChat Pay account to cover the transaction amount.

3. 该订单已支付 (gāi dìng dān yǐ zhī fù): The order has already been paid for

This message will be received by the customer when they repeat a payment that has already been processed.

Solution: The merchant should check your transaction history to confirm that the order has been paid.

If you accept Alipay and WeChat Pay with Silkpay, you will receive a transaction confirmation after each payment. If you have any questions, please contact our customer support.

4. 用户未授权该交易 (yònghù wèi shòuquán gāi jiāoyì): The user did not authorize this transaction

This message is received by the customer.

Solution: Check that you have authorized the transaction by entering your WeChat Pay password. If you forgot your password, reset it by following the instructions in the WeChat app.

5. 交易金额超限 (jiāoyì jiédiǎn chāoxiàn): Transaction amount exceeding the allowed limit

This message is received by the customer.

Solution: This message reminds customers to notify their transaction limit of WeChat Pay account and adjust the transaction amount accordingly.

6. 支付密码错误 (zhīfù mìmǎ cuòwù): Incorrect payment password

This message is received by the customer.

Solution: The customer should check that they have entered the correct WeChat Pay password. If they forgot the password, reset it by following the instructions in the WeChat app.

7. 交易超时 (jiāoyìchāoshí): The transaction expired :

This message is received by the merchants

Solution: The dynamic QR code expires in 4 minutes for security reasons in POS machine and Silkpay App. If merchants encounter this issue, they can exit the interface, restart the transaction, and present a new QR code to the customer.

8. 码已失效，请刷新二维码后重试 (mǎ yǐ shīxiào, qǐng shuāxīn èrwéimǎ hòu zhóngshì): The QR code has expired. Please refresh the QR code and try again.

This message is received by customers

Solution: The QR code verification period is set by the shop manager and typically varies between 5, 10, 12 minutes or more. Please ensure that the scan has not expired. If the QR code has timed out, kindly scan again and proceed with the transaction.

9. 支付方式未开通 (zhīfù fāngshì wèi kāitōng): Payment method is not available

This message is received by the customer.

Solution: This is a situation that can make merchants lose sales, but now you don’t need to face it any more! This situation can lead to lost sales for merchants, but not anymore! With Silkpay, you can offer a variety of payment options, including Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, and, of course, WeChat Pay and Alipay+.

Additionally, our Alipay+ solutions enable you to reach customers from over 16 countries, including China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and beyond. 

10. 网络连接异常 (wǎngluò liánjiē yìchàng): Abnormal network connection.

This message is received by the customer and merchants.

Solution: Check that the customer’s Internet connection is stable and try again. If the problem persists, the customer should contact WeChat Pay customer service for help.

This is an error message from WeChat Pay. As a precaution, WeChat Pay does not allow to save a payment QR code as an image and pay by recognizing this image from phone photo album.

12. 当前交易存在异常，为保障你的资金安全，暂无法完成支付。请谨防兼职刷单，虚假返利，免费送等骗局。 The current transaction is abnormal. For the safety of your funds, we cannot continue the transaction. Please be careful of fraudulent transactions.

This message is received by the customer.

Solution: Alipay or WeChat Pay may display this message when a customer makes a payment to a merchant for the first time. This message prevents the customer from completing the payment. To complete the payment, the Chinese customer needs to call Alipay's customer service number (95188) or WeChat Pay's customer service number (95017) in China to confirm that it is not a fraudulent transaction but a normal cross-border purchase transaction. The customer can ask Alipay and WeChat Pay to let them make the payment.

13. 无法识别，Cannot read:

This message is received by the customer.

This error message means that you are scanning the QR code with an unsuitable application. For example, scanning the UnionPay or Alipay QR code with the WeChat Pay app.

Solution: Check that the customer scans the QR code with its adapted application.

WeChat Pay QR code => With WeChat application.

Alipay QR code => With the Alipay application.

Want access to both Alipay and WeChat Pay?

Don’t hesitate to contact us! Silkpay offers not only WeChat Pay and Alipay but also Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay and more.

While supporting the most commonly used payment methods, we help you provide more payment options to global customers and boost your transaction volume.

Any questions?

Conclusion

By following these solutions, you should be able to solve the most common Alipay and WeChat Pay payment issues. If you're still having trouble, contact WeChat Pay customer service for further assistance.

About the author: Silkpay

Based in Paris, Silkpay provides omnichannel and secure payment solutions to help physical stores and e-commerce in Europe accept more than 30 of the world's most popular payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, CB, UnionPay, Alipay+, WeChat Pay as well as Asia-Pacific’s major e-wallets.

Silkpay is a winner of the LVMH Innovation Award. The company was also selected as a finalist for the "Money 20/20" Best Startup and in the "MPE Berlin” Startup Awards. Silkpay also won the "Best Fintech" awards from Capgemini and BPCE.

Silkpay helps merchants deliver the smoothest payment experience to their customers. We are a talented and international team driven by a single goal: to improve the customer experience and make payments simple and secure.