MarketWatch

PayPal Holdings Inc. said that it was doing a broad rollout of a QR code feature that will let buyers scan seller QR codes in order to pay for items in a touch-free manner using their PayPal wallets.

Sellers will be able to display their codes on their phones or on a printed piece of paper. The feature is coming to 28 markets including the U.S., the U.K., France, Hong Kong, and Canada.

PayPal said in a release that it is “waiving our standard seller transaction fees incurred on for sales conducted using a QR code” for a limited time due to the pressures on businesses from the COVID-19 outbreak. “Our rollout of QR codes for buyers and sellers incorporates the safety, security and convenience of using PayPal in person and enables ongoing social distancing requirements and safety preferences for in-person commerce,” John Kunze, PayPal’s senior vide president of branded experiences, said in the release.

Chief Executive Dan Schulman told MarketWatch after PayPal’s last earnings report in early May that the pandemic was going to “lead to a tremendous need for contactless payment” and that PayPal was “accelerating [its] rollout of in-store capabilities as a result of that.” QR codes are a popular way to pay in China but the technology has yet to catch on in a meaningful fashion in the U.S. PayPal shares have increased 18% over the past three months as the S&P 500 has declined 13%.

Source