Visa continues its cashless quest. As the following article reports, Visa is backing the new global Quick Response (QR) code specifications from EMVCo, which will benefit merchants looking to accept digital payments.

Mobile commerce and e-payment have got a boost following Visa’s announced its support of the new global Quick Response (QR) code payment specifications from EMVCo. EMVCo is the global technical body that manages the EMV specifications. The specifications are central to both consumer and merchant-presented QR code use cases to enable digital payment. QR Codes are two-dimensional machine-readable barcodes, used to facilitate mobile payments at the point-of-sale.

Visa and the other EMVCo members worked to develop these new globally interoperable EMV specifications. Visa, a global payments technology firm, has already successfully enabled the merchant-presented QR technology in 15 countries around the world, with India, Kenya and Nigeria currently live in market with both bank and merchant partners, the firm said in a statement yesterday.

The global payments tech firm has enabled the growth of merchant-presented QR code payments around the world with its innovative mobile payments solution, mVisa. mVisa 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.

As digital payments help continue a shift toward a cashless future, this new global specification is an important step that promotes interoperability and standardizes the fast growing ecosystem of QR code payments across the world. Already, 33 banks and over 328,000 merchants in India, Kenya and Nigeria have adopted the interoperable standards as they accelerate their QR code digital payment programs.

Many countries have made serious strides toward cashless commerce. With the widespread use of cellphones, consumers are looking to adopt mobile payments, and the QR code has become a relatively easy way for merchants to accept non-cash payments. Some countries such as India do not have high utilization of bank cards, so mobile payments become their best option. Many mobile apps have incorporated QR technology so this will continue to be a payment option favored by both merchants and consumers alike.

Overview by Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group

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