There is currently a ban on these quick response codes for that purpose in the country, but that could soon change
The central bank in China had previously suspended the use of QR codes for mobile payments following concerns about the level of security that is available through the application of these barcodes for that purpose.
That ban was established in March, but there are now some powerful rumors saying that this ban will soon lift.
As third party mobile payment services and banks start to hear that the ban on QR codes could soon be lifted, they have been quickly and quietly moving so that they will be ready to snatch up their share of the market once it is legal to do so. For example, WeChat has recently updated its swipe based payment services functions in a way that will allow consumers to display a quick response code on the screen of their smartphone so that it can be scanned by a cashier at a checkout counter, instead of needing to swipe a debit or credit card.
QR codes have also made their way into the plans for other services from various companies in China.
Alipay, the online payment branch of the massive Alibaba online marketplace, launched a promotion in August with the FamilyMart chain of convenience stores in Shanghai. This gave users of the Alipay Wallet the opportunity to receive a discount of 10 percent when they completed transactions before September 16.
The Postal Savings Bank of China was also using a QRcode based payment service in tests that were conducted in early August.
In terms of the swipe function update with WeChat, its use of the barcodes was permitted even before the barcodes were officially allowed to be used, but only after very strict safety mechanisms were put into place to keep the codes from being stolen, among other standards. Even then, they were allowed to use the service as a trial, only, at nine of its businesses, in order to determine if the function should be expanded after the results have been reviewed.
The lift or easing on the ban on mobile payments using QR codes has been reported as something that is approaching since July, but businesses are now making much greater actions to prepare for this time that they now feel is approaching quite soon.
