Asia Continues to Lead Global Surge in QR Code Payments

The value of QR code payments in Asia Pacific will grow by 300% by 2029, up from $290 billion this year, according to Juniper Research. The Asia-Pacific region continues to grow at twice the rate of Europe and North America.

Countries including Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines are leading this growth. QR code payments, powered by wallets or account-to-account (A2A) payments, will heavily displace cash use in these nations, presenting a key opportunity for digital payments providers. Near-field communication (NFC) technology is gaining traction in more developed markets. However, Juniper Research expects that NFC will fail to challenge QR codes in Southeast Asia.

High infrastructure costs and low card penetration mean that NFC payments create poor market prospects, with QR being well placed to lead payment digitalisation efforts. “One key limitation of QR code payments is the lack of interoperability when compared with cards, which use universal standards. To scale prospects in Asia, local wallets must collaborate on standards to fully realise the potential of digital payments,” explained research Author Daniel Bedford.

Juniper Research believes that while initiatives such as Alipay+ are boosting interoperability of wallet-based payments, far greater efforts are required to enable both consumers and merchants to properly capitalize on digital payments growth. Regulators will continue to mandate interoperable QR code payments individually, but region-wide regulator alignment will be required to solve the interoperability challenge.