Visa has collaborated with QR payment providers to allow consumers to use their digital wallets to scan and pay at point-of-sale QR when they travel abroad. The pilot programme will begin in Singapore, and more will be rolled out across the Asian region in the coming year.

Lakala in mainland China, Touch 'n Go Digital in Malaysia, FOMO Pay in Singapore, LINE Pay in Taiwan, VNPay and Zalopay in Vietnam will become Visa’s QR connectors, enabling their QR merchant networks to accept Visa payments. Users from participating digital apps can then scan these QR codes and pay seamlessly and securely.

Visa is providing technical capabilities to the QR payment providers by working with payments technology company Juspay.

“These partnerships represent a significant leap forward for the payments ecosystem in Asia-Pacific,” says T.R. Ramachandran, senior vice president, head of products and solutions, Asia-Pacific, Visa. “Consumers accustomed to QR payments at home can now enjoy the same seamless and secure payment experience abroad. Visa aims to provide a consistent and superior user experience across QR types and geographies, which can lead to higher adoption rates among consumers.”

At the same time, expanding QR payments can benefit merchants by lowering their costs while simplifying their operations. Small and medium businesses can expand their reach and serve more domestic and international consumers.

QR payments adoption is increasing across the region. Based on a recent Visa consumer payment attitudes study, while card payments continue to be the preferred mode of payment (34%) among Southeast Asian consumers, QR payments using digital wallets represent the second most preferred mode of payment (26%).

“As international commerce continues to evolve, we remain committed to building a more connected and inclusive payments ecosystem across Asia-Pacific. We have a game-changer here as we are also bringing financial inclusion by enabling lower-cost QR payments into the traditional cards network, while giving consumers and merchants more choice,” adds Ramachandran.