Expenses and Costs:Payment methods

The contracting entity of your account does not necessarily correspond to the country or region that you select when you create the account. To identify your contracting entity, match the place of residence or billing address that you specified during registration against the following table. The entity also appears in the registration agreement, which reads "I agree to and will comply with the Alibaba Cloud International Website Membership Agreement signed with XXX", where XXX is the contracting entity, that is, the signing party of the agreement.

The following payment types are not supported:

• Prepaid cards, virtual cards, and gift cards. These cards cannot pass pre-authorization verification.

• PayPal accounts registered in the Chinese mainland. Use a PayPal account registered outside the Chinese mainland.

• Credit cards issued in the Chinese mainland.

Bank transfer is available only to enterprise credit-control customers. To use it, contact your account manager.

After credit control is enabled, you can use your credit-control quota to buy resources. After the monthly bill is issued, repay by bank transfer by the due date on the invoice.

Alibaba Cloud provides two remittance methods:

The following sections describe the two bank transfer procedures.

Remit funds through a dedicated account

Remit funds through a non-dedicated account

A non-dedicated remittance account is the shared account specified in your contract or agreed with your account manager.

To remit funds through a non-dedicated account, complete the following steps:

1. Remit the funds to that Alibaba Cloud bank account through online banking, mobile banking, an ATM, or a bank counter.

2. After you remit the funds, contact your account manager to claim the payment. The funds are added to your account balance only after the payment is claimed.

Automatic bill settlement settings

The Automatic Write-off or Pay Monthly Bills Automatically feature is enabled by default. After your remittance is credited, bills are paid automatically in chronological order.

In the current version of the Expenses and Costs console, you can enable or disable Automatic Write-off on the Billing Account page.

In the previous version of the Expenses and Costs console, you can enable or disable Pay Monthly Bills Automatically in the Available Credit section of the Account Overview page.

If you disable the feature, you must pay your bills manually. Transfer the funds by the due date on the invoice.

Why am I unable to add a bank card?

Common causes:

• Unsupported card type: The card types that are accepted depend on the contracting entity of your account, as listed in the availability matrix in this topic. Prepaid cards, gift cards, and virtual cards are not supported in any case because they cannot pass pre-authorization verification.

• Linking limit: Each card can be linked to only one Alibaba Cloud account. If your card is linked to another account, including one in its cool-down period, unlink it first.

• Declined by issuing bank: Your bank may decline the request due to international transaction restrictions or risk controls. Contact your bank or try a different card.

• Pre-authorization failure: A USD 1.00 pre-authorization (or local currency equivalent) verifies your card. This fails if funds are insufficient or the bank blocks the transaction. Ensure adequate funds and that your bank permits pre-authorizations.

• Browser or network issues: Cache, ad blockers, or network problems can interfere. Try Chrome incognito mode, clear your cache, or use a different device.

What should I do if my payment fails?

Common causes and solutions:

• Complete KYC verification: If the checkout page requires KYC verification, submit your payment method documentation and valid ID matching your registration information. Review failures are typically caused by inconsistent information or blurry or expired documents.

• Complete 3D Secure authentication: Payments often fail when the 3DS step is not completed. Watch for the redirect to your bank's verification page and do not close the payment page. You can also use the verification link in your messages or email, then retry.

• Check your card status: If payments repeatedly fail without a 3DS prompt, contact your bank to confirm that the card supports international and online transactions, that 3DS is enabled, that risk controls are not blocking transactions, and that funds are sufficient.

• Confirm the payment method is supported: Credit cards issued in the Chinese mainland, prepaid cards, gift cards, and virtual cards are not supported. PayPal accounts registered in the Chinese mainland are also not supported.

• Rule out browser and network issues: Clear your cache, switch to Chrome, or try another device to resolve 3DS page loading failures or payment flow interruptions.

How do I check the country or region of my account?

Log on to the Alibaba Cloud Management Console. In Account Center, go to Basic Information to view the country or region and the registration time that you provided when you created the account. To identify the contracting entity of your account, match this information against the contracting entity mapping table in this topic.

Can I use an unverified credit card?

No. For security reasons, a credit card cannot be used for payments until it is successfully verified.

Is the verification charge refunded?

Yes. When a verification charge applies while you link a digital wallet, a refund is initiated within 24 hours. The return to your account depends on your bank and may take up to 30 days. For bank cards, the USD 1.00 pre-authorization is usually canceled automatically by your card issuer within 1 to 5 business days.