Planning a weekend road trip or a cross-country flight? Get ready to encounter to a new, no-touch normal filled with lots of QR codes.
During the coronavirus pandemic, businesses big and small are looking for ways to offer customers a touch-free experience. One of the CDC’s new guidelines for travel is to use contactless options whenever possible.
That means cash and credit cards are out and touch-free payments are in. At restaurants, paper menus are out and digital menus are in.
Many of these contactless technologies are built around QR codes — shorthand for Quick Response codes. These boxy, square-and-dot-filled designs have been around since the mid-1990s, but they are making a huge comeback during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Basically, a QR code works in the same way as a barcode at the supermarket. When your smartphone scans the code of black squares and dots, it translates that information into a link that leads to something recognizable — like a PDF of a restaurant menu.
How to Read a QR Code With Your Smartphone
Got an iPhone or iPad? It’s a snap to scan QR codes, because Apple built a QR code reader right into the camera. Simply open the camera app, hold the rear-facing camera steady so the QR code is clearly visible. Don’t hit the shutter button. Your device will recognize the code and show you a notification, which you can tap to go to the desired function.
Most Android phones also have a QR code reader built into the camera but if not, you can download the Google Lens app. (If you’ve never enabled your phone’s Google Lens setting, open the Google camera app, swipe to the “More” tab, then “Settings.” Select “Google Lens Suggestions.”) Now simply point your camera’s viewfinder at any QR code. The link associated with the QR code will appear near the bottom of the screen. (Enabling Google Lens means you can now use your camera to do a ton of other cool things like translate text, identify plants and landmarks, save business cards as contacts and a whole lot more.)
If, for whatever reason, you can’t figure out how use your phone’s built-in QR reader, there are many free easy-to-use QR code reader apps available for iOS and Android.
PayPal for QR Code Payments
Even before the coronavirus changed how we do just about everything, mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and other tap-to-pay methods were more secure than credit cards because they mask users’ personal data through a process called tokenization. If an establishment is hacked, your credit card number is safe because it was never exposed.
That’s great advice if you’re shopping at a chain store or dining at a chain restaurant. But mobile wallet payments have yet to become ubiquitous at small businesses.
A potential game changer came last month, when PayPal rolled out a new feature in its mobile app that lets you pay at restaurants, shops, farmers’ markets or anywhere else simply by scanning a QR code with your smartphone camera. PayPal makes it easier for small merchants to offer touchless payments without needing to purchase any new equipment, so it’s bound to become a bigger player in everyday shopping.
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