5 ms·

> and 4 isn't borne out in my experience To bolster your point, aren't there whole countries where stores and street sales float on top of QR codes?

matsimitsu 2y ago
In China, QR Codes are used for public transport too, and I found them just as fast as NFC readers (and faster than the slow readers used by the NS in The Netherlands)
- ralferoo 2y ago
  Until you go to another city and discover that the local bus company has decided that instead of just letting you pay by Wechat pay or Alipay, you need to install their proprietary app to generate the QR code for the bus to scan, at which point the app then just turns it into a Wechat pay or Alipay transaction at the end. No benefit to the user, it just allows the bus company to extract all your PII in the process. Actually, they're not all proprietary apps, but there are several from competing companies, and you have to use whichever one the city has chosen. Actually, I think part of the reason is that so they know who's on the bus in case it's involved in an accident, because if you buy a ticket from a bus station for a "short distance" (so out of the city, but within about 40km), you also have to provide them with a phone number even though they never call you or send you an SMS using that number.
  - pizzalife 2y ago
    >Actually, I think part of the reason is that so they know who's on the bus in case it's involved in an accident The CCP certainly do want to know who's on the bus, but not for the reasons you stated.
defrost 2y ago
Yes- of interest: China's Big Tech companies taught Asia to pay by scanning QR codes, but made a mess along the way https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/17/asia_qr_code_obsession/ https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/17/asia_qr_code_obsessio...
rswail 2y ago
Those QR codes are validated online. Transit has to work offline.
rswail 2y ago
The time to process a payment at a retail outlet is ~1s+, the time required for public transport is usually <0.5s including mechanical release of barriers etc. QRs are dramatically slower than NFC.

matsimitsu 2y ago

In China, QR Codes are used for public transport too, and I found them just as fast as NFC readers (and faster than the slow readers used by the NS in The Netherlands)

ralferoo 2y ago
Until you go to another city and discover that the local bus company has decided that instead of just letting you pay by Wechat pay or Alipay, you need to install their proprietary app to generate the QR code for the bus to scan, at which point the app then just turns it into a Wechat pay or Alipay transaction at the end. No benefit to the user, it just allows the bus company to extract all your PII in the process. Actually, they're not all proprietary apps, but there are several from competing companies, and you have to use whichever one the city has chosen. Actually, I think part of the reason is that so they know who's on the bus in case it's involved in an accident, because if you buy a ticket from a bus station for a "short distance" (so out of the city, but within about 40km), you also have to provide them with a phone number even though they never call you or send you an SMS using that number.
- pizzalife 2y ago
  >Actually, I think part of the reason is that so they know who's on the bus in case it's involved in an accident The CCP certainly do want to know who's on the bus, but not for the reasons you stated.

defrost 2y ago

Yes- of interest: China's Big Tech companies taught Asia to pay by scanning QR codes, but made a mess along the way https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/17/asia_qr_code_obsession/ https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/17/asia_qr_code_obsessio...

rswail 2y ago

Those QR codes are validated online. Transit has to work offline.

rswail 2y ago

The time to process a payment at a retail outlet is ~1s+, the time required for public transport is usually <0.5s including mechanical release of barriers etc. QRs are dramatically slower than NFC.