U.S. Faster Payments Council Releases QR Codes for Faster Payments White Paper
For Immediate Release
July 25, 2022 – The U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC), a membership organization devoted to advancing safe, easy-to-use faster payments in the United States, today released its latest white paper, QR Codes for Faster Payments. The QR Code Interface Work Group developed the new paper which explores the use of QR codes to aid in the adoption of faster payments in the United States and focuses on the use of QR codes to facilitate consumer purchases using bank accounts.
Faster payment processing supports a variety of transaction types on behalf of consumers, banks, businesses, and governments. QR code technology provides a transport mechanism that offers payment processing advantages including the potential for enabling real-time, secure payments that seem particularly fitting for use at the point of sale (POS). The technology offers the ability to process a transaction from bank account to bank account via cloud-based or local merchant systems.
“Our work group is comprised of a diverse group of stakeholders, and it has been exciting to see how payment QR codes have captured their collective imagination,” said Scott Green, Product Innovation Manager at SHAZAM and FPC QR Code Interface Work Group Chair. “That is perhaps because of how payment QR codes can help to remove barriers to entry for new participants and alternate payment methods. This is one of the reasons it may be helpful for innovators implementing faster payment solutions and ultimately provide a path for more widespread adoption.”
The QR Codes for Faster Payments white paper addresses the potential benefits of QR codes for the primary stakeholders in faster payments. This rapidly growing mode of payment also presents some discernible challenges, including the ability to fit within the complementary payment paradigms familiar to both consumer and merchant users. QR codes can assist with the adoption of faster payments at the point of sale. For this to be possible, the payments industry will need to address a number of challenges, only some of which have been identified in this paper.
"QR codes are proving to be easy to use, efficient, and well-integrated into marketing aspects of transacting, so they are a natural option for making payments,” said Steve Mott, Principal of BetterBuyDesign and QR Code Interface Work Group Vice Chair. “Because a QR payment can be made through a merchant's POS system or by the customer using a mobile phone app to communicate to the cloud, QR codes also provide the best hope for the last mile of real-time payments adoption: getting the millions of small merchants tooled up for an efficient payment mode without needing any equipment--just their QR code symbol for the customer to scan so the merchant gets paid!"
The FPC prioritizes inclusion of diverse perspectives in tackling complex topics such as interoperability, identifying real-world solutions that can ease adoption of faster payments, managing security risks and fraud threats, addressing barriers to financial inclusion and cross-border payments, and more, as the organization paves the way toward a future of faster payments for all. For more information on the FPC, its current work efforts or to join, visit FasterPaymentsCouncil.org. Contact: Elizabeth Grice U.S. Faster Payments Council 720-737-7368 egrice@fasterpaymentscouncil.org About the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) The FPC is an industry-led membership organization whose vision is a world-class payment system where Americans can safely and securely pay anyone, anywhere, at any time and with near-immediate funds availability. By design, the FPC encourages a diverse range of perspectives and is open to all stakeholders in the U.S. payment system. Guided by principles of fairness, inclusiveness, flexibility and transparency, the FPC uses collaborative, problem-solving approaches to resolve the issues that are inhibiting broad faster payments adoption in this country. For more information, please visit FasterPaymentsCouncil.org.