Cardknox Is the Latest Player to Adopt QR Codes for Contactless Payments

As the popularity of using quick-response codes for payment at the point-of-sale grows, the trend toward offering the technology to software developers and merchants has gained momentum and now includes small and mid-sized processors. Omnichannel payment gateway Cardknox Development Inc. on Monday became the latest processor to enter the fray, offering its QR code application programing interface to software developers looking to add QR code-based payments to their application.

Cardknox’s API allows application developers to generate unique QR codes on customer receipts or point-of-sale devices. When scanned by consumers with a smart phone, the codes take them to an online payment form in which they can enter payment data. Cardknox is initially targeting developers in retail, healthcare, travel and hospitality, recreation, and amusement sectors.

“Our API plays on the whole contactless movement, which provides payment convenience for consumers, by enabling developers to add this feature to their application,” says Alex Varone, marketing supervisor for Cardknox.

Contactless payments have become increasingly popular with consumers during the Covid-19 pandemic, with eight in 10 shoppers saying they use contactless payments and 74% of respondents stating they will continue to use the technology post-pandemic, according to a Mastercard Inc. study.

Cardknox’s QR code API supports a variety of use cases. Restaurants, for example can print a QR code on a receipt for the customer to scan and pay at the table without servers or cashiers handling a consumer’s credit card. Healthcare providers can put a QR code on an invoice to direct the patient to a payment form that’s pre-filled with account information and dates of service.

In addition to providing contactless payments, QR codes are twice as fast as standard payments, according to Cardknox. In addition, payment data processed via the QR code’s Web page is hosted on Cardknox’s secure and PCI-compliant payment infrastructure.

“Our QR code solution allows independent software vendors and developers to set up merchants with a touchless checkout experience that consumers are demanding. We’re excited to add this to our lineup of payment features that cater to the rapidly evolving payment and retail landscapes,” Mark Paley, Cardknox’s vice president of sales, says in a prepared statement.

Since the pandemic hit, QR codes have become a popular offering among processors and gateways looking to offer merchants an alternative to NFC technology for contactless payment applications. In April, PayPal Holdings Inc. partnered with Fiserv Inc. to enable QR code payments for consumers using PayPal or Venmo at merchants Fiserv processes for through its Clover devices or Carat omnichannel payment systems.

Earlier in the month, OLB Group added support for dynamic QR codes to its payments gateway.