Google possibly working on implementing peer-to-peer payments via QR code

Google Pay has been primarily focused on both web and NFC tap & pay payments since its launch, however in the US at least, an option for person-to-person payments also exists. It appears Google is looking to make these payments easier by implementing a QR code to facilitate these transactions.

Discovered by developer Jane Manchun Wong on Twitter, the option will allow you to generate a QR code to send to someone making it easier to make payments. The interface for the QR Codes will look like this:

Google Pay is working on QR code for peer-to-peer payments pic.twitter.com/HxcYV8K2Be

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) September 21, 2018

QR codes are widely used in Asian countries including India – where Google previously launched a service called ‘Tez’ before rebranding to use the more widely known Google Pay last month.
In China, AliPay and WeChat QR codes are found at Point of Sale in most Chinese retail outlets – an option like this would allow for small business owners to also accept payments easily as well. It’s this reliance on QR Codes which sees Chinese focused phone brands opt out of including NFC hardware in their phones, simply relying on the camera to facilitate the payment.

We still don’t have access to peer-to-peer payments here in Australia, so this one may only launch in India, or even just the US. It’s also possible we may not see it launch at all, but it looks ready to go as far as the screenshots go.

Would you use Google Pay to make peer-to-peer payments?