How Scan to Pay Can Improve Your Bottom Line

While QR code technology has been around for many years, it has recently exploded in popularity due to the pandemic. As a result, many businesses have reduced their dependence on cash (or quit accepting it entirely). As we move toward more mobile and remote payment options, scan and pay has taken off. This gives customers a QR code that they scan for mobile payment. Read on to learn about what scan to pay is, how it works, and why a scan to pay app may be right for your business.

What is Scan to Pay?

Scan to pay is essentially payment by Quick Response (QR) code. It is a mobile phone-based payment solution that leverages QR code technology to directly transfer funds from your customers to your bank account.

QR codes are similar to their predecessor, bar codes, but differ in a few important ways:

QR codes hold more data than a barcode. Because of their more intricate patterns, they can house more complex data.
You can still read damaged codes. With a barcode, if a portion of the code is damaged, it’s often useless. QR codes have a higher damage threshold of readability. This makes them more reliable in print.
You can scan them off a screen. It’s nearly impossible to scan barcodes off the digital screen of most devices. The ability to scan QR codes off both print and digital devices allows them to cut out some of the steps to payment.
They can be encrypted. The added data capacity of QR codes lets them store things like encryption–this is how they can be safe and secure enough for payment data.

How Does it Work?

Again, payment by QR code is possible because of the technology’s differentiating properties–it’s more reliable, safer, and scannable from a screen. So how can you complete a transaction leveraging this technology? It’s actually simpler than you’d think.

To complete a scan to pay transaction, you will need one of the following:

A smartphone with a built-in camera
A scanner that can process QR codes

Most smartphones have a QR code scanner built-in to their standard camera, which most of your customers already have. Therefore, your customer just needs to hover their open iPhone/Android camera over the QR code to use it.

The Different Options for Scan to Pay

There are a few different options to consider for scan to pay if you want to incorporate this technology into your business:

Scan to pay app. To scan for mobile payment, you’ll open your relevant scan to pay app and enter the transaction amount to generate a QR code. eCommerce websites that accept scan to pay can also generate these codes automatically, which is the main form of online payment in countries like The Netherlands. Your customer will then complete the scan for mobile payment by scanning the code (using their smartphone camera) and confirming the transaction amount. Money then goes directly from their bank account to yours without any additional hardware or software.
Your business scans the customer’s QR code. Some banking apps offer the option for “scan phone to pay.” This means that within their banking app, they can generate a payment by entering the amount in their device and generating a scan and pay code for your business to scan.
App-to-App. If you and your customer use the same scan to pay app, you can complete a transaction by using your phone to scan for mobile payment. All you need to do is open the app from both devices, scan the QR code, and confirm the transaction.

The Benefits of Scan and Pay

There are several benefits of scan and pay and reasons you should offer this payment method for your business. Let’s explore these benefits now.

Convenience

Scan and pay is a very convenient way to process transactions in a wide range of business environments. It’s contact-free and available wherever your customer has an internet connection. This makes accepting payments easier and more convenient on the go.

It’s quick

Scan to pay is also a very quick way to process transactions. The transaction completes itself within a few seconds and the money exchange happens instantly. With it, there’s no need to wait for a batch to close and process, which typically takes a few days.

Mobility: less hardware

There’s a lot of flexibility with scan and pay. There is no need for additional hardware, which makes payment easy and more mobile. With it, you don’t need to tie yourself to your bulky POS system. Instead, your customer’s phone becomes a POS system itself.

3 Verticals Scan to Pay Works Best with

Now that you have a firm grasp on the general benefits of scan to pay technology, let’s go over the individual industries it works best with.

Restaurants

If you own a restaurant, there are a number of ways scan to pay can create an easy and convenient payment option for your customers. Restaurants creatively leverage this technology by using either static or dynamic qr codes:

Static QR Codes: These codes are generated once. Multiple customers can scan these codes, which you attach to a single link. These are the codes you’ll see on flyers, cards, tables, menus, etc. inside a restaurant.
Dynamic QR Codes: These codes are generated as one-time or per transaction codes and can be printed onto receipts. These allow your customer to pay right as you drop off the ticket, eliminating the back-and-forth runs for your front-of-house staff. Dynamic QR codes can be altered to account for changes or updated links.

Either of these options is helpful for creating a seamless dining experience, where paying is less of a process and table turnover can happen quickly while giving the customer a better experience.

Retail

In retail, there are numerous ways to leverage scan-to-pay technology. Some retailers allow their customers to scan and pay to “skip the line” at stores. Therefore, offering them self-checkout options that were previously unavailable.

An example of this is Walmart–by using the Walmart app to scan items as they browse through the store, their customers can pay with a QR code at check out. They also offer a QR code on their receipts that allows their customers to scan the receipt for price match opportunities at other retailers. There is an infinite number of other creative ways to leverage scan and pay apps and QR code technology in the retail sector.

Contract workers

When working on a job site, it can be difficult to find an easy way to settle payments. The traditional options for this process were devices like a mobile card reader, or a terminal utilizing 3G connections. These options are often bulky with weak connections.

This weak (or spotty) signal often made these technologies unreliable out in the field. Processing payments using either device required a strong signal because a lot of data needed to be transmitted to complete the transaction. By using pay by scan technology, on the other hand, you can leverage technology that has a stronger connection with nearby cell towers and a smaller amount of data that needs transmitting without the added complication of bulky hardware.

Final Thoughts on Pay by Scan

As you can see, pay by scan is a great option for many industries. QR codes are on the rise in the United States, but they are already mainstream in other countries around the world. We can look to their example to see the potential for where this technology is headed.

There are many ways to leverage pay by scan technology to improve your bottom line by making the purchasing process seamless, thus improving the customer experience and increasing return visits/purchases. Businesses in just about any industry have the potential to creatively use the power of this technology to improve their bottom line.