Payments through the QR code or quick response code tripled in the department of Maldonado in January of this year if we compare the figures with the same month of 2021.
In addition to businesses, which already had this payment option, the ice cream vendors and inns of the main Uruguayan resorts began to include this modalityaccording to data reported by the company Mercado Pago.
Since December 2020, companies from different sectors installed in this department, such as restaurants, fashion stores, self-service stores, craft fairs and service stations, began to include the scan code in their collection menu. To date, there are more than 1,000 Fernandino businesses that have this option.
But, this summer, Fernandino paradors and street vendors were added to the conventional items. According to Mercado Pago data accessed Coffee & Business, more than 20 inns along the coast of Maldonado began operating with QR. In addition, thanks to an alliance with Conaprole, all the ice cream vendors on the department’s beaches also began to work with this payment method.
“The adoption of the Mercado Pago QR grew strongly in the resorts of the East this season. This trend is notorious, both among users who choose the QR as a way of paying, and among businesses and entrepreneurs who choose to charge with QR”, said Patricia Blanco, country lead of Mercado Libre in Uruguay.
“The case of these businesses is paradigmatic because they were the only ones that were handled with cash,” Blanco pointed out. In this line, street vendors “highlighted the agility” with which they make the sale when using this tool.
This payment option also landed in Rocha during this summer. In fact, 10 inns in La Paloma, La Pedrera, Punta del Diablo and Cabo Polonio also started operating with the QR code during this high season. In this sense, Blanco explained that in this department they already operated in 100 shops and that “the growth in Rocha is more remarkable”.
Canelones is another of the spa areas where QR payments are gaining ground. in that department, the number of businesses that use it grew 180% in the last year, mostly by stores located in Ciudad de la Costa, Paso Carrasco, Las Piedras and Salinas, according to data reported by the company.
with trajectory
The QR code is a sort of barcode that can be scanned with the smartphone and allows to specify, for example, money transactions. Its origin dates back to 1994, when a Japanese company subsidiary of the multinational Toyota advanced with this technology to efficiently manage the parts produced by it.
The tool began to consolidate in the country in 2012, when the National Tax Directorate (DGI) decided that businesses should place one of these QR codes in a visible place in the premises. By scanning it, the person accessed the company’s information, such as the RUT number or its company name, which was backed by the state.
Currently, new items consider collection through this technology and include it in their menu of options —such as cash, debit or credit— to finalize transactions with the customer.
