Retail payments via QR code to rollout by Christmas

Consumers will soon be able to pay for their groceries and other retail purchases by scanning a QR code, with payments provider Eftpos set to rollout the new checkout option by Christmas.

Major banks CBA and NAB, alongside supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, have partnered with Eftpos to launch its new eQR payment platform which it expects will significantly transform Australia’s payments landscape, similar to the introduction of ‘tap and go’ payments in 2007.

Eftpos chief executive Stephen Benton said he expected uptake of the new payment option to be swift given how familiar shoppers are with QR codes due to the pandemic.

‘‘We expect eQR will quickly become the QR equivalent of Eftpos tap and pay on debit cards,” he said. ‘‘COVID has changed customer behaviour and Australians are now ready for the enhanced payment experience offered by eQR.”

Several local merchants have already been trialling the payment option since it was completed in July. The system will allow shoppers to pay, scan loyalty cards and receive digital receipts all in one, and comes with greater levels of security compared to other payment methods.

Chief product officer Matt Barr said QR payments would also end the ‘‘one-way handshake” of historical payment systems, with retailers and other merchants set to glean more data from customers who pay through the new option.

‘‘It gives merchants the ability to have a richer conversation with consumers as opposed to the tap and pay, one-way handshake that exists today,” he said.

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