EMVCo, the global technical body that manages the EMV® Specifications, has created a QR Payment Mark to promote global interoperability across EMV QR Code payments. EMVCo has developed reproduction requirements and a free licensing structure to enable all implementers of EMV QR Code solutions to use the mark.

QR Codes are two-dimensional machine-readable barcodes, increasingly used to facilitate mobile payments at the point-of-sale. In 2017, EMVCo published the EMV® QR Code Specifications to address two prevalent QR Code payment use-cases:

• Consumer-presented – the consumer displays the QR Code on their mobile device and the merchant uses an optical scanner to read the code.

• Merchant-presented – the merchant displays the QR Code and the consumer uses their mobile device to scan the code.

The QR Payment Mark may be used to inform consumers that a merchant accepts EMV QR Code payment solutions. Supplemental messaging to consumers will confirm whether merchant-presented transactions, consumer-presented transactions, or both, are supported. The QR Payment Mark may also be used as an application indicator on a consumer mobile device when initiating a consumer-presented transaction. A royalty-free trademark license agreement and reproduction requirements are available in EMVCo’s Trademark Centre.

“As momentum builds for leveraging emerging technologies, EMVCo is committed to facilitating worldwide acceptance and interoperability for EMV QR Code payments,” comments Jack Pan, EMVCo Executive Committee Chair. “The development of a uniform, recognisable QR Payment Mark that can be used on a royalty-free basis is an important step towards providing a universally consistent experience for both merchants and consumers.”

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