In yet another move to aid digital or cashless payments in the post-demonetized economy, the government launched BharatQR on Monday, its own QR code platform. BharatQR will be the first platform with interoperability which will allow payments from various cards, including Visa and Mastercard.
In yet another move to aid digital or cashless payments in the post-demonetized economy, the government launched BharatQR on Monday, its own QR code platform. BharatQR will be the first platform with interoperability which will allow payments from various cards, including Visa and Mastercard.
QR code or Quick Response code is a two-dimensional machine-readable code made up of an array of black and white squares, used for storing URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone.
The launch of BharatQR will be a step forward in digital payments at retail outlets. It will make payments seamless for the buyer, making them possible without card swiping machines. It will also enable the buyer to make payments to retailers without using the merchant's ID or number.
What sets BharatQR apart is the fact that it is jointly developed by - the National Payments Corporation of India, the creator and issuer of RuPay cards, MasterCard, American Express, and Visa. The Bharat QR has been formulated under the instructions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
This means, payments can be made on the platform through MasterCard, Visa, AmEx, or Rupay. Commenting on the development, Manoj Adlakha, CEO American Express Banking Corporation said, "BharatQR is a path breaking initiative to bring quick, easy and affordable payments to both merchants and consumers. American Express is proud to be a part of this 'global first capability', which will significantly contribute towards growth of Digital India."
According to a report in the LiveMint, BharatQR will also let the users make Aadhaar-enabled payments and through UPI.
MasterCard said about the launch:
The launch of BharatQR comes at a time when the government is pushing for digital payments, clamping down on cash transactions in a bid to bring all the transactions on record and increase the taxpayers' base.
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