Tag: qr codes smartphone

The barcodes located on bills, combined with payment apps could bring an end to paper payments in Australia.

The quick and easy use of QR codes located on utility and other types of household bills could lead to the end of the use of paper checks sent through the mail as early as five years from now.

The convenience of simply scanning the barcode with a smartphone to pay a bill is very appealing to Australians.

These QR codes are now being found on a growing number of household bills, including from the massive utility companies Sydney Water and Australian Power & Gas. These are only the first billers to use them, but systems are now in place to allow a rapidly growing number of companies to print them on their invoices. For instance, BPay has just finished launching the technology in a big bank owned joint venture so that many more opportunities will soon begin opening up for customers.

This rapid growth of QR codes for making mobile payments could begin an important shift in transaction trends.

This is an opportunity for consumers and billers alike as the use of QR codes to help with bill payments is far less costly than using checks or even cash. The number of billers who will be introducing these barcodes on their paper bills is now about to experience a very rapid rise.

The advantage to consumers is that all that they will need to do to pay their bills is to use their smartphones to scan the QR codes using a free scanning app. This will automatically populate their own unique payment methods – such as their online banking page – with the details that they would need to type in manually using any other online technique.

Equally, the billers are able to benefit from the QR codes because it will rapidly and automatically reduce the number of data entry errors that can lead to delays in payments. The rapid support for the use of the new barcodes amidst additional plans by the banking sector to implement smartphone friendly strategy will have Australia heading forward with this type of plan at a much faster pace than many other countries of similar sizes and economies.

The barcodes will be launched for use by consumers in the United Kingdom, first.

Nestlé has just announced that it is updating its packaging to provide a more mobile friendly experience through the use of QR codes that will provide consumers with nutrition and other relevant information.

Scanning the barcode also reveals the social and environmental impacts of the company’s products.

The first consumers who will have access to these new packages that feature QR codes will be those in the United Kingdom. They will be available on the multipacks of the Kit-Kat two finger chocolate bars in Ireland and England. Consumers will be able to read more about the ingredients that make up the product and how they can be enjoyed as a part of a balanced diet and more healthy lifestyle.

The QR codes also reveal how the chocolate bars were produced to bring them to their store shelves.

The Nestlé product QR codes will direct consumers to mobile friendly websites which contain farm more information than could ever be printed onto the actual product labels on the packaging. The company intends to spread the use of these quick response barcodes across all of the products that it has to offer, and is only getting started with the U.K. and the Kit-Kat bars.

The goal is to help its customers to enjoy its products through more informed choices about what they are purchasing and eating. According to the head of strategic business units, marketing, and sales at Nestlé, Patrice Bula, “We hope that consumers, wherever they are in the world, will use these QR codes to learn more about our products.”

Bula went on to say that “We have a wealth of information about the nutritional value and the environmental and social impacts of what we produce, and it makes sense to share that with consumers.”

A simple scan of the QR codes using a smartphone or tablet that has a free scanning app will allow consumers to obtain added information about how to live a healthier lifestyle in general, even with the occasional treat such as a Kit-Kat. It includes guidance about proper portion control, healthier recipes, and the role that all of this plays in a balanced overall diet and lifestyle.