I dont have ssn i am a tourist. How do i pay here in us conviniently
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how to pay in USA as tourist without SSN payment options 2025
As a tourist in the US without an SSN, you have plenty of convenient options. Here's a practical breakdown:
💳 Payment Options for Tourists in the US (No SSN Required)
1. Your Home Country Debit/Credit Card
The easiest option — just use whatever card you already have.
- Visa and Mastercard are accepted almost everywhere in the US.
- Watch out for foreign transaction fees (typically 1–3%). Cards like Charles Schwab, Wise, or Revolut have no foreign transaction fees.
- Tap-to-pay (contactless) works at most US stores and restaurants.
2. Prepaid Debit Cards (No SSN needed)
You can buy these at any drugstore, Walmart, or convenience store:
- Visa/Mastercard Gift Cards — load cash, use like a debit card
- Netspend, Green Dot — reloadable prepaid cards, no SSN required
- These work for online shopping too
3. Mobile Wallets
- Apple Pay / Google Pay / Samsung Pay — link your home country card and tap your phone/watch to pay. Widely accepted at US stores.
- No SSN needed — works with any international card.
4. Cash
Still universally accepted. You can get USD:
- At airport currency exchanges (higher fees)
- At ATMs using your home country card (better rates)
- At banks (some exchange foreign currency)
5. Open a US Bank Account Without SSN
Some banks and fintechs accept a passport instead of SSN:
- Wise (formerly TransferWise) — great for tourists, multi-currency
- Revolut — works in the US, no SSN needed
- Firstcard — explicitly designed for immigrants/tourists with just a passport
- Some credit unions accept ITIN or passport for basic accounts
6. PayPal / Venmo / Zelle
- PayPal works with international cards — good for online purchases
- Venmo/Zelle are primarily for US-to-US transfers and harder to use without a US bank account
Quick Summary Table
| Method | Where It Works | SSN Needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Your home card (Visa/MC) | Almost everywhere | No |
| Apple Pay / Google Pay | Most stores | No |
| Prepaid Visa/Mastercard | Everywhere | No |
| Cash (USD) | Everywhere | No |
| Wise / Revolut | Online + stores | No |
| PayPal | Online | No |
Recommendation: Bring your home Visa/Mastercard and load it onto Apple Pay or Google Pay for tap-to-pay convenience. Also carry some cash for small vendors, tips, and places that don't take cards. A Wise account is worth setting up before your trip for great exchange rates and low fees.
I want to use apps like Wise, Zelle, Venmo, but I don't want to pay extra charges and I have almost all the amount in my U Indian bank account. So, what are my best options to convert the money and store in some of these apps and use it to pay at different stores? I observed that many different stores uses different type of policies. Here some uses Apple Pay, some uses Venmo, some uses Alipay. It's random.
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Wise vs Revolut vs PayPal best way to convert Indian rupees to USD for tourists 2025 fees comparison
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Wise card accepted Apple Pay Venmo Alipay stores USA 2025 universal payment
Great question — and the fragmented store payment landscape in the US (Apple Pay here, Venmo there, Alipay somewhere else) is genuinely frustrating. Here's how to solve it cleanly from an Indian bank account.
The Core Problem You're Facing
Different US stores accept different payment methods:
- Most big retailers → Apple Pay / Google Pay
- Peer-to-peer / small vendors → Venmo / Zelle / Cash App
- Some Asian restaurants/shops → Alipay / WeChat Pay
- Everywhere else → Visa/Mastercard card
The solution: One account that covers all of these → Wise
Best Strategy: Wise as Your Financial Hub
Step 1 — Open a Wise Account (Free, No SSN)
- Sign up at wise.com with just your Indian passport
- Fund it by transferring INR from your Indian bank account (UPI, NEFT, IMPS all work)
- Wise converts INR → USD at the mid-market rate (the real rate, same as Google shows)
- Conversion fee: ~0.5–1% — the lowest available for INR→USD
Step 2 — Get the Wise Debit Card (Virtual + Physical)
- A Wise Visa debit card is issued automatically
- Add it to Apple Pay and Google Pay instantly — no extra fees for this
- This covers every store that accepts Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Visa tap-to-pay
- Works at hundreds of thousands of US stores — Target, Walmart, Starbucks, restaurants, etc.
Step 3 — Link Wise Card to Venmo
- Create a Venmo account (needs a US phone number — get a free US number via Google Voice or TextNow)
- Add your Wise Visa card as the payment method in Venmo
- Pay stores/vendors that use Venmo with this linked card
- No extra Venmo fees when paying from a debit card (credit card adds 3%)
Step 4 — For Alipay Stores
- Create an Alipay International account (Tourist Edition — no Chinese ID needed)
- Top it up with your Wise Visa card
- Works at Chinese restaurants, grocery stores, and Asian-owned businesses that display the Alipay QR
Fee Breakdown (INR → USD → Spending)
| Step | Service | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| INR → USD conversion | Wise | ~0.5–1% |
| USD spending in stores | Wise Visa | $0 |
| Apple Pay / Google Pay | Wise | $0 |
| Venmo (debit card) | Venmo | $0 |
| Alipay top-up | Alipay | Small fixed fee |
| ATM withdrawals (first 2/month) | Wise | $0 up to $100 |
Compare this to using your Indian bank card directly: most Indian banks charge 3–5% foreign transaction fee + poor exchange rate markup, which adds up fast.
What You Need (Checklist)
- Wise account — fund from Indian bank via UPI/NEFT
- Wise virtual card → add to Apple Pay + Google Pay (works immediately)
- Wise physical card → request it (free, ships in ~1–2 weeks, good to have as backup)
- Venmo account → link Wise card
- Alipay Tourist account → top up with Wise card (only if you visit many Asian stores)
- Some USD cash → for tiny vendors, tips, vending machines
Bottom Line
Wise + Apple Pay covers ~90% of your payments. The remaining edge cases (Venmo, Alipay) are solved by simply linking your Wise card to those apps. You convert once from INR at a great rate, and then spend freely without repeated conversion fees. This is genuinely the cheapest and most flexible setup for an Indian tourist in the US right now.
What to fill here?
This is the Wise app asking you to verify your Indian PAN card before sending money from India.
What to fill in:
"Specify your PAN" field → Enter your 10-character PAN number
It looks like this: ABCDE1234F
- 5 letters → 4 numbers → 1 letter
- Example:
BSXPS1234Q
You'll find it on:
- Your PAN card (physical or e-PAN)
- Your Form 26AS or Income Tax portal
- Your bank KYC documents
⚠️ The name on your PAN must exactly match "Takshit Shah" as shown in your Wise profile. If your PAN has a slightly different name spelling, it will be rejected.
The TCS question below:
"Have you remitted more than INR 10 lakhs in the current financial year (April 2026 – March 2027)?"
- If you're sending less than ₹10 lakhs total this financial year → select "No" (no TCS applied)
- If your total transfers this year exceed ₹10 lakhs → keep "Yes – TCS tax will be applied" (5% TCS is collected, but you can claim it back when filing your Indian taxes)
For most tourists making a one-time transfer for a trip, the answer is likely "No".
The fees is too much
I can see why — let me break down what you're actually seeing:
What's Happening Here
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| USD you want | $200 |
| Expected cost (at 96.52 rate) | ~₹19,306 |
| You're being charged | ₹23,476 |
| Fees + taxes | ₹4,170 |
That ₹4,170 fee (~18% on top!) is almost entirely the TCS tax, not Wise's actual transfer fee.
Why It's So High — TCS Tax
On the previous screen, you selected "Yes – TCS tax will be applied" because you indicated you've already remitted more than ₹10 lakhs this financial year.
- TCS (Tax Collected at Source) = 20% on remittances above ₹10 lakhs under India's Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS)
- That's a government-mandated Indian tax, not Wise's fee
- The good news: you can claim it back as a tax credit when you file your Indian ITR
How to Reduce This
Option 1 — Go back and answer "No" to the TCS question
If your total remittances this financial year are actually under ₹10 lakhs, select "No" and TCS won't apply. The fee will drop dramatically to just ~₹200–300 (Wise's actual ~1% fee).
Option 2 — Send a smaller amount
If you truly have crossed ₹10L, you can't avoid TCS legally. But you can send only what you need right now.
Option 3 — Use your Indian debit/credit card directly
- Swipe your Indian Visa/Mastercard at US stores
- Your bank converts at their rate (~1–3% markup)
- No TCS is applied on card spending abroad (TCS only applies to LRS wire transfers/forex loading above ₹7L)
- For $200, this might actually be cheaper
Bottom Line
The ~₹4,170 is mostly government TCS tax, not Wise's fault. If you haven't actually crossed ₹10 lakhs in remittances this year, go back and change your answer to "No" — your fees will drop to roughly ₹200–250 for this $200 transfer.
Is there any other place i can change that tcs info
The TCS question only appears during the transfer flow itself — there's no separate settings page for it in Wise.
How to Change It
Go back in the same transfer:
- Tap the ← back arrow on the PAN verification screen
- It'll take you back to the transfer summary screen (the one showing ₹23,476)
- Tap the "Total with fees and taxes" row (the ₹23,476.16 line with the
>arrow) - That should show the fee breakdown and let you edit the TCS declaration
Or start fresh:
- Tap the ✕ (close) button on the current screen
- Start a new transfer from scratch
- When it asks the TCS question again, select "No – TCS will not be applied"
The TCS question appears only once per transfer
It's asked right before the PAN screen (where you are now). So the easiest path is:
Tap back arrow → go past the fee summary → find the TCS dropdown → change to "No"
If going back skips that screen, just cancel and start a new transfer — it takes 30 seconds to redo.
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