How That Pattern Is Used in Countries Around the World - The Situation in Japan / China / India / Africa

Japan - The Country of Invention, Yet Slow to Adopt

The square black-and-white pattern was invented in Japan in 1994, but it was only from 2018 onward that it spread widely among general consumers. The trigger was PayPay launching its service and running large-scale cashback campaigns. Until then, IC card payments such as Suica and PASMO were mainstream in Japan, and there was little need for payments using the pattern.

In Japan, its use as a "link to information" stands out more than payment. Restaurant menus, guides at tourist sites, detailed product information, and contact details on business cards. Japanese people tend to see the pattern as a "convenient link" rather than as a "means of payment."

China - A Society Where You Cannot Live Without the Pattern

China is the country in the world where the pattern has spread the most. The two major services, WeChat Pay and Alipay, cover every situation in daily life. Roasted sweet potatoes from street stalls, taxis, hospital bills, utility bills, and money transfers to friends. People who do not carry cash have become the majority.

What is distinctive in China is that the pattern also serves as "proof of identity." The health code (introduced as a COVID-19 measure) was a system that displayed an individual's health status as a pattern and determined whether they could enter facilities. There are concerns about a surveillance society, but the fact that it functioned as infrastructure for managing the movements of 1.4 billion people cannot be denied.

India - UPI, Which Achieved Financial Inclusion for 1 Billion People

India's UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is one of the most successful examples of payment using the pattern. Since the service launched in 2016, the number of monthly transactions has exceeded 10 billion, and the annual transaction value has reached 2 trillion dollars. Hundreds of millions of people who had no bank account were able to access financial services for the first time with just a smartphone and the pattern.

The key to India's success was the government-led adoption of an open standard. Without depending on any particular company, pattern payments can be made from any bank's app. With multiple apps such as Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm competing, the quality of service has improved and fees are kept low.

Africa - Sending Money Even Without Banks

In Africa, there are many regions with few bank branches and ATMs, and hundreds of millions of people cannot access conventional financial services. Kenya's M-Pesa launched its service in 2007 and built a system for sending money via short messages (SMS) on mobile phones. It now also supports smartphone pattern payments, and about 50% of Kenya's GDP passes through M-Pesa.

A farmer in a rural area receives payment for a harvest through the pattern and sends money to family in a distant town. School tuition is paid with the pattern. Everyday financial activities like these are made possible without a bank account. It is a good example of technology providing financial infrastructure to a "society without banks."

Europe and the US - Quiet Adoption in Card-Based Societies

In Europe and the US, payment by credit card and debit card had long been established. For that reason, the need to rush to adopt QR code payment was not as strong as in some Asian countries. Adoption has been relatively gradual, but the situations in which QR codes are used are steadily expanding, as contactless menus in restaurants and as a simple means of payment at stores. A characteristic of this region is that, amid an already convenient card culture, QR codes have blended in as one option rather than as something that replaces cards.

Southeast Asia - Spreading to Cross-Border Payments

In Southeast Asia, QR code payment rapidly became familiar along with the spread of smartphones. The fact that even street stalls and small shops can introduce it easily has helped it spread. What draws further attention is that efforts are under way to connect the payment systems of multiple countries so that people can pay in the same way even when visiting a neighboring country. Precisely because this is a region where people frequently come and go for tourism and trade, expectations are rising for the convenience of something usable across borders. Moves to raise convenience across the region as a whole are a feature unique to this region.

When You Encounter It in Various Countries as a Traveler

Even with the same pattern, how it is used and which systems it supports differ depending on the country you visit. It is not unusual for a payment app you are used to in one country not to work as it is in another. If you want to be ready for situations where you use QR codes on a trip, it is reassuring to research in advance which methods are widely used in that country. You can avoid the confusion of scanning a code only to find that your app does not support it. Even if the technology itself is the same worldwide, having the perspective of using it differently to suit the circumstances of each place makes your trip more comfortable.

Commonalities and Differences - Culture Determines How Technology Is Used

Comparing the four regions, an interesting pattern emerges. What they have in common is that "the spread of smartphones drove the spread of the pattern." Without smartphones, consumers would have no means of reading the pattern. The difference is "what it is used for." For Japan, information links; for China, payment and social management; for India, financial inclusion; for Africa, a basic means of sending money.

Even if the technology is the same, how it is used changes when the challenges of society differ. In Japan, "improving convenience"; in developing countries, "the foundation of daily life." The same black-and-white pattern plays completely different roles depending on the country. The value of a technology is determined not by the technology itself but by the problems it solves.