Today in North America, credit and debit cards are still the main payment methods.
Facebook is finally launching QR code payment, almost 8 years later than WeChat, which opened this feature in August 2013.
According to foreign media reports, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed that Facebook Pay will launch a QR code payment function. Users can scan the QR code to achieve peer-to-peer payment in offline scenarios . In addition, Facebook Pay will also launch a personalized payment link, which will automatically lead to a secure page where users can transfer money to a designated account.
As early as March 2019, Facebook CEO Zuckerberg publicly expressed regret that he did not “learn” WeChat 4 years ago. Subsequently, the company carried out major strategic transformations, including private chat, payment, e-commerce, etc. The new features are very similar to WeChat.
Facebook Pay came out in November 2019. It is a payment ecosystem that Facebook directly competes with PayPal, Google Wallet, and Apple Pay. Facebook Pay supports online payments such as debit cards, credit cards and Paypal, and has been applied to apps such as Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
As far as the current payment pattern in North America is concerned, payment by credit card and debit card still accounts for half of all online shopping spending, and more than two-thirds of physical store spending.
According to eMarketer data, in 2019, the U.S. population using near-field mobile payments was nearly 80 million, accounting for 24% of the total population of 330 million. Apple Pay has 30.3 million users, accounting for 47.3% of near-field mobile payment users in the United States. Google Pay and Samsung Pay account for 19% and 16.8%, respectively.
Some analysts say that in the context of the epidemic, QR codes may be more accepted as a contactless payment method. In May 2020, PayPal launched the QR code payment function in 28 markets around the world. According to statistics, as of the end of 2020, about 600,000 merchants support the QR code of PayPal and PayPal’s Venmo.