Latest tutorial for purchasing and recharging OpenAI API interface in China as of March 2025, tested and effective.

The OpenAI API has always been a focal point of interest for developers, businesses, and individual users, especially after the launch of the GPT-4o model. More and more domestic users hope to directly call the OpenAI API for development, product integration, or personal use. However, due to limited payment methods in the country, many users encounter issues such as being unable to bind credit cards, payment failures, or accounts failing verification when recharging the OpenAI API.

WildCard Official Website: https://leixue.com/go/wildcard (Enjoy a discount on card activation through the link or invitation code "LEIXUE")

This article will detail the latest methods for purchasing the OpenAI API in China as of March 2025 and share a tested and effective recharge tutorial to ensure domestic users can smoothly activate and use the OpenAI API.

1. Why Use the OpenAI API?#

The OpenAI API provides powerful natural language processing (NLP) capabilities that help developers easily integrate AI features. The main application scenarios include:

Intelligent Q&A: Integrating AI for automatic Q&A in websites, applications, or social platforms.
Content Creation: Generating articles, marketing copy, social media posts, etc.
Code Generation: Assisting programmers in writing code to improve development efficiency.
Language Translation: Supporting automatic translation in multiple languages.
Text Summarization: Quickly summarizing lengthy content to enhance reading efficiency.

However, to use the OpenAI API, the first challenge to address is how to successfully register and recharge an OpenAI account, which is a significant challenge for domestic users.

2. Common Payment Issues for Domestic Users#

Since OpenAI's official payment channels mainly rely on international credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express), this poses many difficulties for domestic users, including:

Domestic Credit Card Payment Failures: Most Visa and MasterCard credit cards issued by domestic banks cannot pass OpenAI's payment verification.
PayPal Binding Failures: Binding a PayPal account to a domestic bank card may encounter payment restrictions or transaction failures.
Frozen Recharge Amounts: Some users may find their OpenAI accounts unusable due to risk control issues, even after successful payments.

Therefore, the most reliable method is to use a virtual credit card specifically provided for domestic users, such as WildCard, to solve the OpenAI API recharge problem.

3. Using WildCard to Recharge OpenAI API#

WildCard is a virtual credit card service provided by a domestic company, specifically optimized for OpenAI, ChatGPT, Claude, and other overseas software subscriptions. It supports domestic users to recharge via WeChat or Alipay, solving the international credit card payment issue.

1. Register for a WildCard Account#

First, visit the WildCard official website:

WildCard Official Website: https://leixue.com/go/wildcard (Enjoy a discount on card activation through the link or invitation code "LEIXUE")

Click "Register" on the official website, use a domestic phone number to complete account creation, and verify your identity via SMS verification code.

2. Apply for a WildCard Virtual Credit Card#

After registration, enter the WildCard backend and follow these steps to apply for a virtual card:

Select the "Open Card" option and fill in the necessary information.
Choose a suitable card opening package (generally, it is recommended to choose 2 years or 3 years).
Pay the card opening fee using WeChat or Alipay.

Once the card is opened, you will receive a Visa virtual credit card that can be used to pay for OpenAI API subscription fees.

3. Recharge WildCard Balance#

Since WildCard is essentially a prepaid virtual credit card, you need to recharge the balance before it can be used for consumption. It is recommended to recharge $25 for the first time to ensure successful payment.

Recharge process:

Enter the WildCard account backend and select "Recharge."
Choose a payment method (Alipay, WeChat, etc.).
After successful recharge, you will see the balance update on the virtual credit card information page.

4. Use WildCard to Bind OpenAI API Account#

Visit the OpenAI API Official Website to register or log in to your account.
On the Billing page, click "Add a payment method."
Enter the virtual credit card information provided by WildCard, including card number, expiration date, security code (CVV).
After verification, the system will automatically deduct $5 for account verification (this amount will be refunded later).
Once successfully bound, you can recharge your balance on the OpenAI API platform and start calling GPT-4o and other API services.

4. How to Verify if the API is Usable?#

After successful payment, you can perform the following tests to ensure that the OpenAI API account can be used normally:

Check API Balance: View the account balance on the Billing page of the OpenAI API official website to see if it has been credited.

Test API Call: Open a terminal or code editor and run the following Python code for API testing:

import openai

openai.api_key = "your API Key"

response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
    model="gpt-4o",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello, how to use OpenAI API?"}]
)

print(response["choices"][0]["message"]["content"])

Check for Access Restrictions: Some IPs may not be able to access the OpenAI API, so it is recommended to test using overseas networks or proxies.

5. Frequently Asked Questions#

1. What payment methods does WildCard support?#

WildCard supports various recharge methods such as Alipay, WeChat, making it very suitable for domestic users.

2. Will there be payment failure issues after binding WildCard to OpenAI API?#

As long as you follow the tutorial correctly, the payment success rate of WildCard is very high, far exceeding that of domestic credit cards.

3. How long is the balance validity period after recharging the OpenAI API account?#

Currently, the OpenAI API account balance has no fixed validity period and can be used for a long time.

4. What should I do if I encounter payment failures when recharging OpenAI API?#

Ensure that the WildCard balance is sufficient, and it is recommended to have a balance of at least $25.
Try switching to different network environments (overseas IP).
Check if the OpenAI account has been restricted due to risk control and try creating a new account.

6. Conclusion#

By using the WildCard virtual credit card, domestic users can easily recharge their OpenAI API accounts, overcoming the limitations of domestic credit card payments and smoothly accessing GPT-4o and other AI services.

If you are facing issues with recharging the OpenAI API, hurry up and register for WildCard to apply for a virtual credit card!

WildCard Official Website: https://leixue.com/go/wildcard (Enjoy a discount on card activation through the link or invitation code "LEIXUE")

I hope this tutorial is helpful to you, and I wish you success in using the OpenAI API! 🚀