Sweden’s Seamless Unveils QR Code-Based Mobile Payment Solution

Sweden-based Seamless has launched a new mobile payment solution designed for retailers and online traders. The new tool, called SEQR, utilizes quick response codes to allow customers to directly pay for their purchases using their mobile device.

Customers can scan a QR code at the cash register and authorize the retailer to draw the payment from their bank or credit card account. Through the SEQR, retailers are able to completely bypass the credit card companies and avoid paying the high fees that these financial institutions charge.

For retailers who use the SEQR, their cash registers will have cashier integration as well as a unique code with the Seamless ER 360° platform, which enables them to directly send the total amount of the transaction to a customer’s handset for authorization. Once the sum is authorized, it will be automatically withdrawn from the customer’s account.

The software innovation company’s ERS 360 system provides the muscle power for this new solution. It is also responsible for the transaction management, the security, and the links to bank accounts or credit providers.

The ERS 360 is currently handling over 2.4 billion transactions in 26 different countries. Seamless says that its presence in these countries means that it can quickly implement the new solution without major technical problems.

For retailers who are worried about a complete overhaul if they opt for the new mobile payment tool, Seamless assures that there’s no need to be. According to the company’s CEO, Peter Fredell, they are making use of existing hardware and retailers only need to stick a QR code on their cash registers, so the new system can be implemented quickly and without investment costs on their part.

Fredell adds that U.S.-based retailers alone who start using SEQR could save a total of up to $24 billion every year. That is more than half of the $49 billion in credit and debit card fees that American retailers actually pay on a yearly basis.

The company filed patent applications for the SEQR in the U.S. and EU on October 12, 2011. Patent for the new mobile payment solution is pending currently in 41 different criteria.