Client Payment Preflight and Acceptance Testing
This guide defines a normal launch prerequisite: before AppInChina performs final payment acceptance testing, a named client tester completes one low-value real purchase inside the release-candidate build for each payment method you intend to offer.
This is a launch readiness step, not a way to push support away. AppInChina still investigates confirmed transaction and integration issues and performs final acceptance testing after the preflight passes.
Related docs
- Scope and ownership: Start Here: integrate AppInChina IAP
- Backend verification: Server Verification and Entitlements
- Failure triage: Troubleshooting and Support Evidence
- Sign-off: Release Checklist / Definition of Done
1. Preflight policy
Before submitting a release-candidate APK for AppInChina payment acceptance testing, nominate one named tester for each payment method you intend to offer at launch. Each tester must install the relevant wallet app, complete the wallet's registration and verification steps, link an eligible card, and complete one low-value real purchase in the release-candidate APK. That first in-app purchase is the payment preflight; no separate real-world merchant purchase is required.
1.1 How to triage a preflight failure
If the attempt fails before an order appears in AppInChina's backend, treat it initially as a client-side preflight failure. Confirm wallet/card readiness and inspect your app/SDK logs. This does not prove the cause is a wallet issue — it may also be an app-side setup or SDK-invocation issue.
If the order reaches AppInChina's backend and is paid, confirm the app return/callback, backend verification, entitlement update, and refreshed access state.
1.2 Scope: who can test
A Chinese national should not normally be required to run the preflight. AppInChina may assist in exceptional cases — for example, if a wallet asks the tester for account-security friend verification — but cannot promise to override or bypass wallet identity, card-issuer, or risk-control decisions.
2. Test stages and ownership
| Stage | Client action | AppInChina action | Exit condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Wallet readiness | Named tester installs WeChat Pay and/or Alipay, registers/signs in, completes prompts, and links an eligible card. | Provide resource links and clarify supported payment methods; exception support only when appropriate. | Wallet can be opened and card appears linked; no promise that a future transaction will be approved. |
| B. Release-candidate preflight | Run one low-value in-app transaction and collect the standard evidence package. | Check whether an order reached the backend when asked; help classify confirmed faults. | One test either reaches a clear paid/post-payment outcome or yields enough evidence for triage. |
| C. Client flow confirmation | If paid, confirm callback/result, backend verification, entitlement, UI refresh, relaunch behavior, and history as applicable. | Review backend payment record when escalated; investigate AppInChina-side defects. | All client-owned outcomes pass for each method/product type in scope. |
| D. AppInChina acceptance | Deliver the exact release-candidate build and required test context after preflight success. | Perform defined final acceptance test and report results. | Acceptance report passed or a reproducible defect is recorded. |
| E. Release sign-off | Confirm the submitted build is unchanged from the tested release candidate except for documented non-payment changes. | Retain acceptance evidence per internal process. | Release owner has a complete audit trail. |
The evidence package for Stage B is defined in Troubleshooting and Support Evidence.
3. Wallet setup resources
The resources below help a non-Chinese tester set up a wallet. They do not imply that AppInChina can control tester eligibility or a card issuer's approval decision.
- Government guide: Payment service guide for overseas visitors to China
- Card-brand reference: Overseas Bank Cards Accepted by Weixin Pay and Alipay
- Practical account/card guidance: Mobile Payment — A Guide to Working and Living in China as Business Expatriates
- WeChat: Official WeChat site
- Alipay: Official Alipay site
The wallet provider determines any identity-verification steps and whether a card is eligible. If card binding or a payment is declined, follow the in-app guidance and contact the card issuer where appropriate. Card brands, limits, fees, and risk controls can vary by wallet, issuing bank, user account, region, and transaction.