SINGAPORE: Consumers can scan and make e-payment through a unified Quick Response (QR) code payment label adopted by 27 e-payment schemes in the next six months.
The new SGQR, which replaces more than 19,000 versions of QR codes currently in the market, was launched by Education Minister and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) board member Ong Ye Kung on Monday, TODAY reported.
Achieving a global first, the SGQR streamlines both domestic and international QR code payment options into a single label, with payment schemes such as PayNow, Nets, GrabPay, Liquid Pay and Singtel DASH on board.
Businesses can do away with the clutter of having to put up multiple QR code payment labels on their store fronts or cashier counters, and consumers no longer have to remember to scan the correct QR code for their respective modes of payment.
SGQR will first be rolled out to merchants in the Central Business District from late September, before being introduced islandwide in the next six months.
During the transitional phase, merchants may still display multiple QR codes, and consumers can continue to make QR code payments using these existing labels through their usual payment applications.
The MAS is partially funding the replacement of these QR codes by providing a grant to a company that has been appointed to change the labels at merchants’ store fronts.