1. Introduction

@PayOn development group

In September 2019, the Working Group on Common QR Code Standard for Retail Payments in Cambodia (the “WG”) was established. The WG aims to develop a common QR code specification for retail payments in Cambodia, which will facilitate merchants, especially SMEs, in using a single QR code to accept payments via different payment service operators. Members of the WG include the Cambodia Monetary Authority, payment network operators, banks, stored-value facility (SVF) licensees and merchant acquirers. A full list of the WG Members is at Annex A.

The standardization of QR code specification for retail payments will help promote wider use of mobile retail payments in Cambodia and provide consistent user experience for merchants and consumers. It can enable interoperability in the payment industry. By prescribing a QR code standard, it will enable the use of a single common QR code that can encompass QR code payment solutions from multiple payment service operators. A common QR code would facilitate payments among different payment schemes, e-wallets and banks and would encourage small merchants to adopt QR code as a payment method.

The WG agreed to focus the work on a common merchant-presented QR code. Having studied various options, the WG agreed to develop a common QR code specification by using the EMV® Merchant-Presented QR Code Specification for Payment Systems (EMV QRCPS) published by EMVCo1 as a basis, as it offers an effective solution to ensure interoperability. This specification should be read in conjunction with the EMV QRCPS. The notational conventions used in this specification are the same as those used in EMV QRCPS.