National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed a BharatQR code to push less cash transactions in the country. This BharatQR code will require the merchants to display only one QR code instead of multiple ones. Conceptualised on the direction set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in September last year, it will make payments seamless for buyers as they just have to “scan to pay” for transactions instead of swiping their credit/debit cards.
QR code or Quick Response code is a two-dimensional machine-readable code made up of black and white squares and are used for storing URLs or other information. These can be read by the camera of a smartphone
Visa and Mastercard have also helped NPCI in devising the BharatQR code.
“It is completely ‘Made in India’… We look forward to leveraging our technology backbone and partnering with the government and the industry to create a robust, safe and secure digital payments ecosystem,” said Porush Singh, Mastercard Country Corporate Officer (India) and Division President (South Asia) in conversation with The Economic Times.
SBI, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Citi Union Bank, Development Credit Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, RBL Bank, Union Bank of India, Vijaya Bank and Yes Bank are ready to deploy BharatQR codes and others will soon follow.
Mobile wallet companies like Paytm are already working with QR codes. The company is planning to invest Rs.600 crore in the next 10 months to further strengthen its QR based solutions
