How to say “Can I pay by card?” in Chinese
“Can I pay by card?” in Chinese is 可以刷卡吗？, written in pinyin as Kěyǐ shuākǎ ma?.
可以刷卡吗？
Kěyǐ shuākǎ ma?
Can I pay by card?
Word by word
What each part of 可以刷卡吗？ actually means.
- 可以kěyǐcan / may
- 刷卡shuākǎto swipe a card
- 吗maquestion particle
When you use it
- Use it at the counter before you open your wallet, when you cannot see a card machine and want to know whether one exists at all.
- In China the answer is often neither card nor cash but a QR code — Alipay and WeChat Pay dominate daily payments, and small shops may have no card reader at all.
Use 可以刷卡吗？ in shopping situations. Prices, sizes, bargaining and paying.
Other ways people say it
The same idea, said differently. Roughly in the order you'll hear them.
刷卡机在哪儿？
Shuākǎ jī zài nǎr?
Where is the card machine?
Asking where rather than whether already assumes the answer is yes — useful in supermarkets, where a machine certainly exists but is hidden around a pillar.
手机付可以吗？
Shǒujī fù kěyǐ ma?
Can I pay by phone?
The everyday question in China. It covers Alipay, WeChat Pay and phone wallets in one phrase, without naming any app.
扫这个码可以吗？
Sǎo zhège mǎ kěyǐ ma?
Can I scan this code?
When the counter only shows a QR code, this asks whether pointing your camera at it really is the whole payment.
What usually trips people up
- 刷卡 literally means brush a card — the verb for using a card is 刷 (shuā), so 刷卡机 is the card machine and 刷卡 is the act. 用卡 is understandable but nobody says it at a counter.
- Card usually means UnionPay (银联 yínlián) in China. Many readers take nothing else, so a foreign Visa or Mastercard can fail even when the answer to 可以刷卡吗 is yes — which is exactly why Alipay and WeChat Pay are the safer default.
- 刷卡 covers debit cards too, not just credit. If you specifically mean the credit kind, that word is 信用卡 (xìnyòngkǎ).
What you might hear back
- 可以，刷这边。Kěyǐ, shuā zhèbiānYes, swipe here.
- 不行，只能给现金。Bùxíng, zhǐ néng gěi xiànjīnNo — cash only.
- 扫码吧。Sǎo mǎ baJust scan the QR code.
Common questions
- How do you say "Can I pay by card?" in Chinese?
- "Can I pay by card?" in Chinese is 可以刷卡吗？ — written in pinyin as Kěyǐ shuākǎ ma?. It is a shopping phrase you would use in China.
- What does 可以刷卡吗？ mean in Chinese?
- 可以刷卡吗？ (Kěyǐ shuākǎ ma?) means "Can I pay by card?". Broken down word by word: 可以 (kěyǐ) means "can / may"; 刷卡 (shuākǎ) means "to swipe a card"; 吗 (ma) means "question particle".
- When would you use "Can I pay by card?" in Chinese?
- Use it at the counter before you open your wallet, when you cannot see a card machine and want to know whether one exists at all. In China the answer is often neither card nor cash but a QR code — Alipay and WeChat Pay dominate daily payments, and small shops may have no card reader at all.
Where you'll use it
可以刷卡吗？ comes up in these situations, in this order.
More Shopping phrases
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