The global payment system received a new boost with the coming of global QR Code Payment Specifications and support from the global technical body that manages the EMV Specifications – Visa.
The specifications cover consumer-presented and merchant-presented QR code for digital payment acceptance.QR Codes are two-dimensional machine-readable barcodes, used to facilitate mobile payments at the point-of-sale, which Visa and the other EMV members developed in compliance with globally interoperable specifications.
Already, Visa has successfully enabled the merchant-presented QR technology in 15 countries around the world, with Nigeria, India and Kenya and Nigeria currently live in the market with both bank and merchant partners.
Also, 33 banks and more than 328,000 merchants across India, Kenya, and Nigeria have adopted the interoperable standards as they accelerate their QR code digital payment programmes.
“We’ve already seen tremendous progress towards adoption of standardised, interoperable QR code payment systems in the developing world. We are working with governments and central banks in countries like India to develop and implement QR code payment solutions that provide the convenience and security that are synonymous with Visa and help the journey toward a cashless future,” Sam Shrauger, SVP, Digital Products, Visa, said.
Visa enabled the growth of merchant-presented QR code payments around the world with its innovative mobile payments solution called mVisa, which allows consumers to pay for goods and services by scanning a QR code on a smart phone or entering a merchant number into their feature phones.
Payment goes straight from the consumer’s Visa account into the merchant’s account and provides real-time notification to both parties, as mVisa is completely interoperable, meaning that the consumer and the merchant do not need to be customers of the same bank.
As digital payments help continue a shift toward a cash-less future, this new global specification is an important step that promotes interoperability and standardises the fast growing ecosystem of QR code payments across the world.
Shrauger added: “mVisa enables successful completion of transaction independent of the mobile operator service on both the consumer and the merchant’s phone, and the consumers and merchant’s banks. This addresses a major challenge with mobile money programs, and lets consumers and merchants choose their own bank or mobile operator.”
Visa intends to replicate this success in 12 other countries where mVisa has been enabled: Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda and Vietnam.
Source: https://guardian.ng/business-services/money/visa-gives-support-to-new-global-payment-standards/