QR code innovation is enabling low-cost digital acceptance in Pakistan | Vocalink Mastercard

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Design in Design Innovation | 0 Comments

“When Mastercard introduced QR acceptance in Pakistan… we immediately knew that this would be a game changer in improving our customers’ experience. We wanted to be the pioneers in exploring the digital payments space with [Mastercard’s] help.”

Even for such a big franchise as Pizza Hut, the process for accepting payments via QR was seamless. “Having the amount transferred directly from the customer account to the merchant proved to be efficient and fast. It required lower capital cost and was easy to integrate,” says Arsalan. The same benefits of low-cost acceptance solutions for micro merchants are amplified a hundred-fold for a business that’s a hundred times the size.

The speed, security and convenience afforded to customers by solutions like Mastercard QR has driven the adoption of QR payments at scale. “The instant popularity and acceptance of QR payments in Pakistan was faster than any other country in our region,” Arsalan says. The success of introducing QR acceptance solutions for Pizza Hut in Pakistan has since been used as a case study for Pizza Hut Middle East to popularise similar payment options throughout the region.

Accepting payment by QR code allows more people to transact more simply and securely. The ease in opening online bank accounts and making payments digitally introduced a whole new market segment. “In [a country] where the major part of the population was still getting used to conventional banking and plastic money, digital payments proved to be a catalyst in improving the customer [payment] experience.” It also helps to reduce their reliance on cash.

QR payments for goods bought online and other use cases

QR acceptance solutions also have the potential to displace cash in payment on delivery scenarios, where merchants commonly use third-party delivery agencies. Typically, delivery personnel collect cash from customers, and are trusted to pass it to a money depositing agent at the end of the day. The agent then makes an electronic transfer into the merchant’s account — minus a service fee. It’s slow, costly, and there’s a high risk of theft or fraud.

Cheetay is the fastest growing NOW-commerce platform in Pakistan, which allows people to order food, groceries and medicines for delivery in ten cities. The lifestyle app supports more than three thousand vendors and has more than half a million active users who place more than fifteen thousand orders a day.

“Cheetay is committed to digitisation of the economy and local SME business enhancement,” says Ayesha Jalil, Manager for Alliances and Partnerships at Cheetay. “Previously, payment by card or cash on delivery were the only options available via the Cheetay app. “Now, we offer not one, not two — but nine payment methods.” These include payment on delivery using Mastercard QR.

“We launched Mastercard QR just prior to COVID-19 hitting Pakistan, and it made a big difference for our customers in terms of health and safety”, she says. Cheetay is the first and only eCommerce service in Pakistan to accept payment this way.

To accept payment, the merchant simply registers a unique QR code as a proxy for their bank account details. On arrival, the rider presents the merchant’s QR code within their rider app for the customer to scan. The customer then enters the amount to pay and authorises the payment. Merchants benefit from lower costs and improved security, while riders benefit from reduced risk from carrying cash.