It might have worked for you but it's still not trivial. There's many hoops to jump through still like random ID verifications, many banks not being supported to be linked, account locks that can only be unblocked by having a WeChat contact vouch for you etc.
This was the case when I jumped through those hoops in 2019, but it's much more straightforward now. Passport, phone number (doesn't have to Chinese) plus credit/debit card unlocks up to RMB 50,000/mo, with no fees for transactions under RMB 200.
That article is from 2023, things changed a lot in the past years. I just clicked on "Top up balance" (while being located in China) and it says "Please add a debit card issued by a Chinese Mainland bank to use the top-up function".
