A payment acceptance system based on QR code could be one use of the New Payments Platform that fintech companies could create, the data and analytics company Global Data claims.
QR is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached.
The company said in a statement that payments have consistently ranked among the top three sectors for investment by venture capital and private equity firms.
Arnie Cho, payments analyst at GlobalData, said: “QR-based payment is not entirely new to the Australian market. BPAY, the electronic bill payment system in the market, introduced a QR system back in 2013. The QR system was not mature at the time and it never gained traction at the consumer level.
{loadposition sam08}“However, with China popularising the QR system, several markets have followed suit and even markets that typically shy away from QR and embrace the NFC standard are starting to take note of the advantage of QR and how it can fill the last few gaps path towards entirely cashless payments.”
GlobalData said NETS, Singapore’s national debit network, had integrated QR into its Near Field Communication-based contactless payment acceptance. It was one move by the government towards a more cashless society.
The company pointed out that while mainstream merchants accept payment cards over the NFC-based system, a segment could not justify the cost of accepting such payments; for example the cost of terminals for accepting ApplyPay or contactless payment cards. Using QR in a market that already was paying by plastic could make it cheaper.
Even in Australia a similar situation exists and with QR, the cost can be greatly reduced and implementation done very swiftly.
Cho said: “It will also benefit mobile merchants who don’t want to lug around a POS terminal but are glued at the hip to their mobile, giving them a convenient payment option. A QR-based solution built using the functionality of the NPP would also have the potential to overtake mobile POS acceptance.
"With the NPP now in place, it is looking more convincing that there is room for a QR-based payment solution in the Australian market.”