The barcodes are already popular in many of the countries, so they now aim to make them compatible
Japan has joined a number of other Asian countries in an effort to create a QR code payments system that ca be used across all their borders, making it easier for the digital transaction services to be used from one country to the next.
There are a number of Southeast Asian countries involved
Among the countries joining the QR code payment system collaboration is India, among several other Southeast Asian nations.
Payments Japan Association general director Yoshio Fukuda said that Japan will be working with individual Chinese digital payment services to move this system forward. The Payments Japan Association operates the Japanese payment system based on quick response barcodes, called JPQR.
Fukuda recently discussed with the media the goals and advantages of building this type of mobile payments system.
QR code mobile payments are very popular in Japan, where several options are available
There are several different operators already offering payment transactions using barcode scans in Japan. They’re often found in stores, where the barcodes from each system were displayed next to the cash register. Unfortunately, the system is often clunky and takes time to complete a transaction as there were so many different operators and they were all slightly different. Moreover, one service was not compatible with the next.
JPQR was the first company in the country to unify the QR code payments so that all providers could operate on the same system, eliminating much of the clunkiness, time, and inconvenience for consumers who want to use them to pay for their purchases.
As this has worked so well within the country, JPQR has set its targets on a much larger market, starting in Asia, but eventually expanding outward.
There are eight countries that are joining Japan in this strategy to collaborate on the mobile payments system. The goal is to have the system up and operating by the Osaka World Expo next year. This will mean that one QR code will be used by all systems to complete transactions through hundreds of Asian payment companies.
