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QR Codes for Mobile Payments and Social Media

A QR code, or Quick Response code, is a 2D barcode that can store more than 4,000 alphanumeric characters in a limited space. QR codes are often used to link directly to a URL, including social media properties, but that’s not the only way QR codes can be used. There are a number of ways businesses can use QR codes for sales and marketing efforts, with new applications being introduced all the time – especially as use of smartphones continues to become more prolific. Take these two recent topics in business and marketing: Mobile payments and Facebook Rooms.

QR Codes for Mobile Payments

Mobile payment has been buzzed about for a while, but the launch of Apple Pay in October made this a hot topic. Although some think Apple has the power to make mobile payments commonplace, a number of high-profile companies have joined forces on the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) to launch their own mobile payment secure service, CurrentC, which could become an Apple Pay rival. Here’s where QR codes come in: instead of NFC readers, CurrentC uses QR codes displayed on a cashier’s screen and scanned by the consumer’s phone or vise versa to complete the transaction.

QR Codes in Social Media

During the final weeks of October, Facebook introduced Rooms, a new chat room-based app. In order to join or invite people to the rooms in Facebook’s new app, users are encouraged to screenshot an image that includes a QR code which allows users to share invites both online and off. Although not much has been published about Rooms’ adoption, the QR code-only invitation sets the app apart from social networks that share other similarities, including Like buttons and photo-sharing. When it comes to reading QR codes, smartphones are a popular choice, but sometimes businesses need to be able to read QR codes without an iPhone or Android smartphone. Wasp’s WDI4500 2D barcode scanner rapidly reads 1D and 2D barcodes, including QR codes. Learn more about the Wasp WDI4500’s practical applications, including streamlined date entry.