How it works
* To use the BharatQR code you need to have a smart phone with an Internet connection and a bank application that is compatible with the new code. BharatQR code is of two types — static and dynamic.
* If you are using the static QR code then you will have to first scan the merchant’s unique code and enter the amount to be paid on your smartphone.
* The payment has to be authorised with a PIN. But if you want to opt for a dynamic system, the merchant will generate a new QR code each time. If you simply scan and enter the PIN, the applicable amount will be credited to the merchant
Rivals in the payments technology space — National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Mastercard and Visa — have joined hands to launch ‘BharatQR’, the world’s first smartphone-based standardised, interoperable Quick Response (QR) code payments solution.
A QR or quick response code is a type of two-dimensional bar code that is used to provide easy access to information through a smartphone.
So, next time you visit a mall or a neighbourhood store displaying a QR code on the storefront, and you have a smartphone with a downloaded payment/ mobile banking app, you can conclude a transaction in a jiffy by just scanning the code with your handset and entering the transaction amount.
With the ‘BharatQR’ code (unique to each merchant), the merchant will receive the money instantaneously. In the case of a card-based transaction at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, the merchant receives money only the next day.
According to a joint NPCI, Mastercard and Visa statement, BharatQR has many benefits — consumers need not scan different QR codes at the same merchant provided by different payment networks; merchants will only need to display one QR code at the storefront or through the acquiring bank’s mobile application.
AP Hota, Managing Director and CEO, NPCI, said: “We believe that integration of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in this service will boost the adoption rate among merchants as well as consumers at large.”
Hota added that the ‘BharatQR’ feature will be integrated with UPI in the next couple of months.