Note: Taobao and Alipay now work on Mac Safari.
Further to my previous post on Apple Mac alipay / taobao support, it turns out there is now a way to make online purchases in China using a Macintosh computer. Using China Merchants Bank and a WAP enabled mobile phone, it’s possible to action a payment without the need for browser restrictions or installing pointless plugins.
Prerequisites:
- You will need an account with China Merchants Bank and have activated online banking. Unfortunately there is currently no English version. Furthermore you must have a mobile phone number registered, activated online payments, and raised your payment limit beyond zero.
- GPRS / WAP activated mobile phone. Through the payment process, you will be sent an SMS containing a link. Click through to confirm your purchase with your PIN code on the resulting webpage opened on your phone.
Procedure:
At checkout, you will have a selection of banks to choose from. In some cases, you may need to first select payment gateway. Pictured is Alipay’s (支付宝) bank selection page. If shopping outside of Taobao, selection of payment gateway will usually result in a new window redirected to the payment gateway. Of course, you must select Merchant’s Bank here followed by, in this case, the big yellow button below.- Typically a second page by the payment gateway will simply confirm your bank choice. If no problems, click to proceed.
You should then be redirected to China Merchants Bank payment screen. Note the third tab on the right (手机支付) – this does not require any plugins, and therefore works on the Mac. If you are already registered for this service, choose between Credit (信用卡) or Debit card (一卡通), enter your registered cellphone number (手机号码), the last four digits of your card (卡号后四位) and finally the code displayed on that page. 确定 to submit.
You will receive an SMS with a URL. Click through to access payment screen on your mobile – this should work both with a smartphone browser, and WAP. You will need to enter your online payment PIN (支付密码) and captcha shown (验证码). Upon confirming, payment will be completed if there are no problems. Look for the words 支付成功.
Realistically, this is still too complicated if you don’t read any Chinese. However, for existing online banking users who wish to pay using a Mac: once setup, this should be a breeze.
To adjust your online payment limit, login to Merchants Bank Online Banking (on a Windows PC, unfortunately) then find “网上支付” -> “一卡通支付额度管理”. Here you can enter a new limit.
Your mobile number record can be found at “网上支付” -> “一卡通支付联系信息修改”
If you have not yet registered for Merchants Bank Online Banking, you must do so at any bank branch.
[...] http://blog.parker.hk/2010/03/apple-mac-china-online-banking/ http://blog.parker.hk/2009/12/alipay-taobao-on-apple-mac/ [...]
Thank you for this, this was very useful. Remember that you have to disable any pop up blockers and ad remover plugins (such as pithhelmet) otherwise it won’t work. When you get the SMS you can also just type the URL into your Safari instead of accessing it on your mobile phone, in case your phone is not setup to access the internet.
Thanks for the info, I can now shop on Taobao again
[...] that aside – i’m pleased to say that online payment is now possible using a Mac, through China Merchants Bank, if you have activated it for mobile confirmations. [...]