Over the years, QR code payments have witnessed impressive but fragmented global growth, with significant transaction value differences between the regions. Their ability to combine payments and loyalty makes them ideal for retailers seeking to leverage valuable transactional data, while their low-cost nature is expected to drive growth in the years to come.
According to available data, global QR code payments are expected to reach $2.21trn value this year and then continue rising to $2.71trn by 2025. As the world’s largest QR code payments market, China is forecast to generate 85% of that value.
QR Code Transactions in Latin America to Soar by 3,500% by 2025
Compared to contactless payments, QR code transactions have a low acceptance cost, making them appealing to retailers in emerging markets, with the lack of card infrastructure.
In 2020, the entire market hit $2.11trn transaction value, revealed the Statista and Juniper Research data. After rising to $2.21trn this year, the combined value of all QR code payments worldwide is expected to jump by another $495bn by 2025.
As the world’s largest QR code payments market, China is set to reach $2.37trn transaction value by 2025, or 46 times more than all other regions combined. Although there are a number of QR code schemes around the world, none of them is more successful than the two primary Chinese players, Alipay and WeChat Pay. In February 2021, Alibaba Group`s Alipay was the leading payment app in China, with over 658 million monthly active users.
However, other markets, especially the emerging ones, are set to witness a staggering growth of QR code payments.
Although the smallest of all regions by total transaction value, Latin America is expected to see its QR code payments explode by 3,500% and hit $21.2bn value by 2025, compared to $582 million in 2021.
North America is set to witness a 205% growth in this period, with the transaction value of QR code payments rising from $8.9bn in 2021 to $27.2bn in 2025.
The statistics show that national QR code payment standards, like SGQR in Singapore, will be powerful accelerators to the global growth of QR code payments. In the next four years, national QR code payment schemes will account for 22% of all QR code payments, up from 8% in 2020.
European QR Code Transactions Lag Behind
Although Europe also witnessed an increase in QR code payments in recent years, its growth rate is considerably lower than other regions.
The providers of six mobile e-wallets in Europe, including Austria’s Bluecode, Finland’s ePassi and Pivo, Oslo-based Vipps, Spain’s Momo and Portugal’s Pagaqui, are collaborating with China’s Alipay in a QR code mobile payment network that allows users of each wallet to pay for their purchases across ten countries in Europe.
Statistics show the combined transaction value of all QR code payments in European countries is expected to grow by 37% to $2.2bn in 2025, which is twelve times less than North America and nine times less than Latin American countries.