Global QR code payments are expected to reach $2,21-trillion in value this year and then continue rising to $2,71-trillion by 2025.
This is according to data presented by AksjeBloggen.com, which also forecasts that, as the world’s largest QR code payments market, China will generate 85% of that value.
Compared to contactless payments, QR code transactions have a low acceptance cost, making them appealing to retailers in emerging markets, with the lack of card infrastructure.
In 2020, the entire market hit $2,11-trillion transaction value, revealed the Statista and Juniper Research data. After rising to $2,21-trillion this year, the combined value of all QR code payments worldwide is expected to jump by another $495-billion by 2025.
As the world’s largest QR code payments market, China is set to reach $2,37-trillion transaction value by 2025, or 46-times more than all other regions combined. Although there are a number of QR code schemes around the world, none of them is more successful than the two primary Chinese players, Alipay and WeChat Pay. In February 2021, Alibaba Group`s Alipay was the leading payment app in China, with over 658-million monthly active users.
However, other markets, especially the emerging ones, are set to witness a staggering growth of QR code payments.
Although the smallest of all regions by total transaction value, Latin America is expected to see its QR code payments explode by 3 500% and hit $21,2-billion value by 2025, compared to $582-million in 2021.
North America is set to witness a 205% growth in this period, with the transaction value of QR code payments rising from $8,9-billion in 2021 to $27,2-billion in 2025.
The statistics show that national QR code payment standards, like SGQR in Singapore, will be powerful accelerators to the global growth of QR code payments. In the next four years, national QR code payment schemes will account for 22% of all QR code payments, up from 8% in 2020.
Although Europe also witnessed an increase in QR code payments in recent years, its growth rate is considerably lower than other regions.
The providers of six mobile e-wallets in Europe, including Austria’s Bluecode, Finland’s ePassi and Pivo, Oslo-based Vipps, Spain’s Momo and Portugal’s Pagaqui, are collaborating with China’s Alipay in a QR code mobile payment network that allows users of each wallet to pay for their purchases across ten countries in Europe.
Statistics show the combined transaction value of all QR code payments in European countries is expected to grow by 37% to $2,2-billion in 2025, which is 12-times less than North America and nine times less than Latin American countries.