The smartphone transaction service will be rolled out across the United Kingdom before the end of 2016.
Tesco has announced that it will be rolling out its PayQwiq mobile payments service across the United Kingdom. Its services will become fully available now that it has undergone its trials successfully.
This mobile payments service is meant to make it faster and easier for customers to complete the checkout process.
The PayQwik mobile payments service lets consumers link credit and debit cards to the app. With this mobile application, they can pay for items purchased online or in store. To complete the transaction, they must scan QR codes displayed on-screen. The application also makes it possible to collect Clubcard points. Therefore, the points card doesn’t need to be scanned separately.
Until now, the PayQwik mobile payments app was available only in London and Edinburgh.
Moreover, the mobile app could be downloaded only by those with an invitation. That said, its availability will now be broadening to include consumers at 600 stores throughout those two original cities. Stores in Plymouth and Northern Ireland will also be included in this next wave. The app is compatible with Android and iOS smartphones.
This mobile wallet places Tesco in direct competition with Apple Pay and Android Pay within its stores. That said, the PayQwik mobile wallet functions only within Tesco stores so the competition stops there. Among the main reasons it has an advantage over the competition while in-store is that it lets customers use their Tesco Clubcard within the app.
This is appealing as it doesn’t require people to have to make PayQwik mobile payments only to have to fish a plastic loyalty card out of their wallets. Both types of transaction occur automatically and digitally. All that is required in order to complete both processes is the scan of a QR code.
A spokesperson from Tesco Bank explained: “At Tesco, we are always looking to make the shopping experience simpler and easier for customers and that’s why we’ve developed PayQwiq.” So far, customer feedback on the service has been “very positive,” said the Tesco spokesperson.
Quick response codes may soon be a prime way to identify which products contain GMO ingredients.
A huge debate is currently raging over the use of food label QR codes to reveal the presence of GMO ingredients. Supporters think this is a quick and easy way to provide consumers with this information. Those opposed feel that it is not enough to make the presence of GMO ingredients known.
A new law has been signed by President Barack Obama that requires GMO foods to be clearly labeled.
This law tells food manufacturers that they must show when genetically modified ingredients are used in their products. It must be presented in plain writing, include an icon created by regulators, or offer information via food label QR codes. That said, healthful food advocates have said that the quick response codes place a barrier between the consumer and the labeling information they need.
Food label QR codes would require the consumer to use a smartphone or tablet to scan with a dedicated app.
The advocates would like GMO ingredients to be labeled more explicitly than that. If a QR code scan is required in order to obtain the information, not all consumers will be able to easily access it.
According to the Just Label It advocacy group chairperson, Gary Hirshberg, “It is my hope that food corporations reject high-tech gimmicks like QR codes.” Similarly, the Organic Consumers Association activist group has launched a new online petition. The petition against the labeling law that allows GMO disclosures through barcodes currently has over 500,000 signatures. That total was achieved in its first week, and the number continues to grow.
At the same time, food manufacturers insist that using food label QR codes is not for deception. There is no subterfuge in their goals, they say. Food Marketing Institute senior vice president of industry relations, Mark Baum, said “I think it’s a red herring,” of the law’s critics. That institute conducted a study which revealed that only one in five American consumers will scan quick response codes to learn about food products. That said, Baum feels that the number of scanning consumers will rise as more detailed information becomes available through this method.
