Aussie payments regulator sets out QR code guidelines

The Australian Payments Network (AusPayNet) has issued new guidelines around the use of Quick Response (QR) codes as a payment method.

Aussie payments regulator issues QR code guidance

The payments industry self-regulatory body says the publication of its voluntary guidelines for QR code payments follows the widespread public use of the technology as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The guidelines are directed at financial institutions, payment service providers, merchants and other payment industry participants, and are designed to “encourage consistency”, the regulator says.

AusPayNet CEO Andy White says QR codes are yet another option in a “rapidly evolving” payments landscape for merchants and customers, offering “a quick, efficient method of digital payment”.

White adds: “It is important that consumers and merchants know when they use a QR code that it will work the same way, every time.

“Australians became familiar with and comfortable using QR codes during the pandemic and it is likely they will become more commonly used in payments. AusPayNet’s guidelines will be a useful reference tool as they do so.”

The regulator says the adoption of QR codes stems from the fact they do not require specific hardware and allow richer data to be encoded in a payment transaction, making them useful to merchants when transactions are linked to loyalty, identity and reconciliation applications.

AusPayNet’s QR code payment guidelines are set out in two separate documents: the Merchant-Presented Mode QR Code Standard and the Short QR Code Standard.

The purpose of the Merchant-Presented Mode QR Code Standard is to offer the Australian market an interoperable QR solution for payers and payees while the Short QR Code Standard’s aim is to enable a consistent interface for the creation and scanning of Short QR codes for payments and related transactions.