AliExpress is a giant e-Commerce platform that is a retail version of Alibaba. However, AliExpress has become quite popular, especially among young shoppers, due to its versatile collections from fashion to regular household items. Is this safe to use a credit card on AliExpress during checkout?
This is a common query that can strike your head. You might have seen AliExpress advertisements on your Facebook and Instagram feeds and want to buy something. However, you may not know whether AliExpress is a genuine platform.
Well, AliExpress is a 100% legitimate platform for shopping. Additionally, using your credit card to place an order through AliExpress is safe. In this guide, let’s get into more detail about AliExpress and its payment options.
Introduction to AliExpress
Have you heard of Alibaba? Alibaba is among the biggest wholesale e-commerce companies in the world right now. And, AliExpress is the consumer version of the e-commerce giant Alibaba. Is this safe to use a credit card on AliExpress?
Since AliExpress belongs to Alibaba, you can trust this online shopping platform. On AliExpress, individual businesses sell their items to their target customers. It’s an Asian analogue of Amazon, but it’s not as large as Amazon. Currently, AliExpress works with Chinese manufacturers, retailers, and businesses only.
What can you shop from AliExpress?
The best thing about AliExpress is that it offers a vast array of products in endless categories. For example, you will find the following items easily on AliExpress:
- Fashion
- Phone Accessories
- Electronics
- Toys
- Home appliances
- Garden tools
- Home improvement tools
- Beauty and healthcare products
- Furniture and more
Another fascinating feature of AliExpress is its cheap prices. You will find products at far lower prices than Amazon and other leading retail sites.
Is AliExpress Safe to Use a Credit Card?
Basically, it’s risky to use your credit card on a website or app that is not legit. Is AliExpress safe enough to use a credit card? This query also arises whether AliExpress is a genuine e-commerce site. Yes, AliExpress is a legitimate site. Hence, it’s 100% safe to use your credit card on AliExpress for a seamless shopping experience.
However, cheap price tags on AliExpress may force you to think about whether it’s a legitimate site. That’s why customers often face doubts regarding shopping via AliExpress and using their credit cards on this website. Well, the website is encrypted with HTTPS. Therefore, there will be no fraud or scam with your credit card usage.
Still, nobody can guarantee how the product will turn out when it arrives. You might find cheaper quality products on AliExpress, and that’s why they are priced lower than stores and other competitive retailer sites.
On the other hand, the system at AliExpress works fine, and they make sure that customers worldwide receive their ordered products. AliExpress has issued the following policies for buyers all around the globe:
- Customers will receive their products in the promised timeframe. Otherwise, AliExpress will issue a refund to them.
- The customer will get a refund if the package gets damaged or lost.
- A customer is given the authority to dispute any shipment via AliExpress’s customer care support.
- Additionally, AliExpress offers secure payment methods. You can use credit cards, debit cards, and other online payment methods to place an order.
Can I Use My Credit Card on AliExpress?
Yes, you can. In fact, credit cards are one of the most convenient methods of payment when you use AliExpress. In the past few years, customers were afraid of using their credit and debit cards on AliExpress. However, AliExpress took some serious security measures to make customers comfortable with using their credit cards on the website.
So, is it safe to use a Visa card on AliExpress? Yes, it’s safe, as AliExpress has upgraded its payment security. And, you can expect it to be as great as the one from Amazon. In addition, AliExpress now uses the ‘3D Secure’ feature to protect customers from potential fraud. 3D Secure is a renowned technology and it’s mostly used in banking and financial services.
Under this system, the customer needs to verify the purchase or use of the credit or debit card via an SMS password. All these embedded features and enhanced technologies make AliExpress trusted enough to use a credit card. Thus, customers can get safe and secure online transactions and shopping experiences from AliExpress.
What are Other Payment Options Available on AliExpress?
You might be curious about other AliExpress payment methods if you don’t have a credit or debit card. As AliExpress is a global name in the e-commerce industry, it had to introduce different payment options apart from only credit and debit cards. Here are some common payment options available on AliExpress:
Credit and Debit Cards
So far, you already know that AliExpress accepts credit cards and debit cards. Since people use credit and debit cards mostly and banks keep convenient terms for credit and debit cards, AliExpress encourages this payment method more often.
Another perk of using such cards is that you can get easy refunds if anything happens. Can you use any credit or debit card for shopping from AliExpress? Generally, AliExpress permits the following credit and debit cards:
- Visa Debit cards
- Visa Credit cards
- MasterCard credit cards
- American Express cards
- Maestro debit cards and more
Besides them, AliExpress accepts virtual prepaid cards connected to Visa or MasterCard.
Payoneer
This is a popular online payment option on AliExpress. Payoneer resembles a virtual bank, and it also provides a card to all the account holders. And, AliExpress lets you checkout with a Payoneer card.
PayPal
PayPal accounts are another convenient AliExpress payment method. If you don’t want to connect your bank account to your AliExpress account, then PayPal is the best option. However, the only hiccup is that AliExpress may not offer PayPal support for every product for purchase. So, check out whether the seller accepts payment through PayPal to confirm your order on AliExpress.
Bank Transfers
Bank transfers are not as common as credit/debit cards or PayPal payments. Still, you can use them to purchase items from AliExpress. However, bank transfers are not applicable if you order anything less than $20.
On a related note, you have to make payments in dollars and initiate an international transfer to take advantage of bank transfers. Hence, you might have to pay some extra charges to place an order through bank transfers on AliExpress. That’s why customers don’t consider bank transfers convenient on AliExpress.
Western Union
This is not either a popular payment method on AliExpress. However, this e-commerce platform supports Western Union which is an international money transfer service provider. Like bank transfers, customers must purchase anything higher than $20 to make a transaction using Western Union on AliExpress.
Additional Payment Methods
Chances are that selected sellers might offer more payment options besides the choices mentioned above. Here are a few more AliExpress payment methods supported by its sellers:
- Ticket
- QIWI
- Alipay
- Mercado Pay
- Webmoney
- Yandex.Money
- iDeal
- DOKU
- tefPay
However, the issue with these payment methods is that they might not be globally available or acceptable.
Can You Change the AliExpress Currency?
Yes, you can. AliExpress lets its buyers make payments through local currency. Right now, AliExpress supports almost every currency transaction. So, you should be fine with purchasing anything in exchange for local currency.
Your bank will initiate the exchange if AliExpress doesn’t support your currency. In that situation, contact your bank to negotiate the exchange fees, which will cost you a few bucks extra. On a contrary note, AliExpress settings can help you change the currency and here’s how:
- Open up a web browser on your computer or smartphone.
- Then, navigate to the home page of AliExpress.
- Check out if you can locate a country flag at the top-right corner of the page. Click that flag icon to see different options such as Language, Ship To, Currency, etc.
- Now, choose Currency and the right currency you want to pay with.
You should be able to view every item’s price in the selected currency.
Reasons AliExpress May Not Accept Your Card
Are you struggling to make a payment on AliExpress with a particular credit or debit card? Chances are that you may experience AliExpress payment failure due to the following reasons:
- The bank rejects the card.
- The card has an insufficient balance.
- You might need to enter the correct information about your card.
- The card has already expired.
- You exceed the limit of your credit card.
So, check out your card or contact your bank if the issue persists.
Is There Any Chance to Be Scammed by AliExpress?
AliExpress can’t guarantee the quality of the product you have ordered. So, you might get scammed on AliExpress like any other online retailer. Therefore, you must check out customer reviews before placing an order no matter your online shopping platform.
In addition, you can raise a dispute if you ever receive a damaged or low-quality product from AliExpress. You can claim an AliExpress dispute appeal with valid reasons. Then, AliExpress will investigate your complaint since it is a 100% legit and trusted platform.