5 ms·

The rise of the QR code in China

58 points by kawera 9y ago

hdhzy 9y ago
Very cool. Does anyone have more technical info on what exactly is embedded in these payment QR codes?
- lihan 9y ago
  Code relies on payment app, Alipay, Wechat. It embeds the minimal info that shall be sent to those App to continue the payment process. It could be a simple URL. I see that everywhere and feel sick of it. Like white pollution everywhere on electric line poles and bus stops.
- Magnets 9y ago
  The beggar shown links to a personalised url on qq.com which redirects me to wechat
_nalply 9y ago
Switzerland plans to switch to payment slips with QR codes based on the ISO 20022 standard. I wonder whether the QR codes in china also use this standard? Or is this something completely different?
- Double_a_92 9y ago
  That standard is much more than just the QR code. It describes how transaction data should be handled in europe. The swiss QR code is a normal QR code, just the data in it has a special format (and also the design of the QR). https://www.iso-20022.ch/lexikon/qr-rechnung/ https://www.iso-20022.ch/lexikon/qr-rechnung/
smaili 9y ago
Slightly off topic but one thing I never understood was how they're able to add additional art to their QR codes and still have phones successfully read and decrypt the code. Are there parts of the code that don't actually provde any value and can be replaced? Or do they use a modified protocol that enables them to use custom QR codes?
- jaflo 9y ago
  QR codes have error correction that can be set to four levels (http://www.qrcode.com/en/about/error_correction.html http://www.qrcode.com/en/about/error_correction.html). If you set the level high enough, you can cover parts of the code and it will still be readable.
- BjoernKW 9y ago
  QR codes contain error correction bits. Depending on the error correction level up to 30% of the information can be restored. This allows you to add overlays that conceal some of the information while the code will still scan correctly.
- jbarham 9y ago
  See https://research.swtch.com/qart https://research.swtch.com/qart by Russ Cox
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Markoff 9y ago
Chinese users can't afford phones with NFC and more importantly shop owners can't afford NFC POS terminals or for what's worth any terminal for your contactless bank card (Visa paywave/MC Paypass). Thus they resorted to QR codes, which are now promoted as something modern etc. in these propaganda pieces similar to WeChat propaganda (which usually fail to mention that pretty much all int competitors were blocked or would be blocked if they would start gaining any traction + your wall posts and even private messages are censored if they contain sensitive keywords, of course no encryption, no SMS, etc). Meanwhile in west I am pretty much forgetting my PIN because I can pay almost everywhere with wireless debit card just by touching terminal without preparing some application in mobile which must be charged, entering PIN code to unlock app, scanning/providing QR code and confirming, soo convenient those QR codes... And lets not forget if there are people in front of you who are just preparing when they should be already paying, which makes everything slower than cash (real life experience from China). Was living in China for years, you can consider Wechat payments convenient only if you are Chinese who never used contactless bank card like Visa Paywave/MC Paypass available at majority of shops. Plus on top of this these mobile payments are widespread because chinese online banking is horrific and you can't use it on computer without installing certificates, special USB dongle, etc. while in west it just works in browser without anything.
- narrator 9y ago
  Is the horrible usability of Chinese bank websites due to the awful security situation on desktop Windows, or it's it for some other reason?
  - germainelol 9y ago
    I have no idea to be honest, I remember with all of my bank accounts I would have to download software and use a USB dongle just to login as the OP said. I think it's partly because of how awful the security on Chinese websites is, but no idea really.
    - narrator 9y ago
      That's interesting. I was thinking that perhaps the usability of WeChat for banking is partly due to the lack of pervasive keylogging and remote access tool malware on Android that exists on Windows. All those security threats may be the reason desktop banking requires all the dongles and such.

58 points by kawera 9y ago

hdhzy 9y ago

Very cool. Does anyone have more technical info on what exactly is embedded in these payment QR codes?

lihan 9y ago
Code relies on payment app, Alipay, Wechat. It embeds the minimal info that shall be sent to those App to continue the payment process. It could be a simple URL. I see that everywhere and feel sick of it. Like white pollution everywhere on electric line poles and bus stops.
Magnets 9y ago
The beggar shown links to a personalised url on qq.com which redirects me to wechat

_nalply 9y ago

Switzerland plans to switch to payment slips with QR codes based on the ISO 20022 standard. I wonder whether the QR codes in china also use this standard? Or is this something completely different?

Double_a_92 9y ago
That standard is much more than just the QR code. It describes how transaction data should be handled in europe. The swiss QR code is a normal QR code, just the data in it has a special format (and also the design of the QR). https://www.iso-20022.ch/lexikon/qr-rechnung/ https://www.iso-20022.ch/lexikon/qr-rechnung/

smaili 9y ago

Slightly off topic but one thing I never understood was how they're able to add additional art to their QR codes and still have phones successfully read and decrypt the code. Are there parts of the code that don't actually provde any value and can be replaced? Or do they use a modified protocol that enables them to use custom QR codes?

jaflo 9y ago
QR codes have error correction that can be set to four levels (http://www.qrcode.com/en/about/error_correction.html http://www.qrcode.com/en/about/error_correction.html). If you set the level high enough, you can cover parts of the code and it will still be readable.
BjoernKW 9y ago
QR codes contain error correction bits. Depending on the error correction level up to 30% of the information can be restored. This allows you to add overlays that conceal some of the information while the code will still scan correctly.
jbarham 9y ago
See https://research.swtch.com/qart https://research.swtch.com/qart by Russ Cox

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Markoff 9y ago

Chinese users can't afford phones with NFC and more importantly shop owners can't afford NFC POS terminals or for what's worth any terminal for your contactless bank card (Visa paywave/MC Paypass). Thus they resorted to QR codes, which are now promoted as something modern etc. in these propaganda pieces similar to WeChat propaganda (which usually fail to mention that pretty much all int competitors were blocked or would be blocked if they would start gaining any traction + your wall posts and even private messages are censored if they contain sensitive keywords, of course no encryption, no SMS, etc). Meanwhile in west I am pretty much forgetting my PIN because I can pay almost everywhere with wireless debit card just by touching terminal without preparing some application in mobile which must be charged, entering PIN code to unlock app, scanning/providing QR code and confirming, soo convenient those QR codes... And lets not forget if there are people in front of you who are just preparing when they should be already paying, which makes everything slower than cash (real life experience from China). Was living in China for years, you can consider Wechat payments convenient only if you are Chinese who never used contactless bank card like Visa Paywave/MC Paypass available at majority of shops. Plus on top of this these mobile payments are widespread because chinese online banking is horrific and you can't use it on computer without installing certificates, special USB dongle, etc. while in west it just works in browser without anything.

narrator 9y ago
Is the horrible usability of Chinese bank websites due to the awful security situation on desktop Windows, or it's it for some other reason?
- germainelol 9y ago
  I have no idea to be honest, I remember with all of my bank accounts I would have to download software and use a USB dongle just to login as the OP said. I think it's partly because of how awful the security on Chinese websites is, but no idea really.
  - narrator 9y ago
    That's interesting. I was thinking that perhaps the usability of WeChat for banking is partly due to the lack of pervasive keylogging and remote access tool malware on Android that exists on Windows. All those security threats may be the reason desktop banking requires all the dongles and such.