The COVID-19 has been brought businesses some huge changes, including payment methods. Lots of stores have stopped accepting cash payment, and at the same time, they have started to pay attention on QR code technology. As a contactless payment method, QR code’s cost is pretty low, and it is connivence for both businesses and customers. Customers, don’t have to carry wallet or bank card with them, all they need to have as a mobile phone with camera. And for businesses, they just need to print out the QR code, and they could save the cost of renting POS terminals.

In Canada, QR code technology is not as common as come other countries like China. More and more small businesses and merchants have found that QR code is an easy safe and fast way to collect payments. Not only for making purchases, the QR code can also show menus to customers or order through the QR code directly. The only thing customers need is a phone, and they can use the camera to scan the code, and get the access of the menu, payments or any other links businesses set.

Especially for the COVID-19 period, QR code helps a lot for the social distancing. Customers can scan the QR code a few meters away from other people. Bank cards may be safer than cash payments, but still need customers to be close enough to cashiers to swipe the card or scan the phone.  

In addition, the QR code technology allow merchants and businesses to accept payments though their own devices, that saves infrastructure and transaction fees businesses used to pay. PayPal Holding Inc. also going to qualify QR code payments in 28 countries. It also will be a powerful popularization for QR code technology.  They have more information about the QR code payment method on PayPal’s website page. Apple has also announced that there will be a new function to let businesses and merchants to use QR code for their products or services in the upcoming IOS 14.

So PayPal and Apple pay users could use their phone to scan the QR code provided by stores and restaurants then pay directly by the phone.

Banks such as TD and RBC have also started providing contactless payment methods, but not related to the QR code. Customers can tap bank cards if the purchase amount is under certain value, so they don’t have to enter the pin by touching the POS terminal. And another way is add the bank card to the phone, so customers only have to tap their phone when making the payments.

Nevertheless, make payments by tapping bank cards or phone is still not the perfect solution since customers sometimes still have chances to touch the POS terminal or cashiers’ hands. From the safety perspective, QR code is a better contactless payment option.