Virtual QR Codes via Augmented Reality for Initiating Mobile Payments

To enable customers to initiate payment via a digital payment application requires businesses to display payment codes, e.g., quick response (QR) codes, prominently so that customers can scan the code to obtain merchant information. When printed QR codes are not available or are unreadable, initiating payment can require costly interaction between customer and merchant. This disclosure describes the use of augmented reality techniques to display virtual payment QR codes at any business location. The virtual QR code can be automatically generated based on a business registering with a payment platform. The virtual QR code is associated with the merchant and encodes payment information as well as other information for the business. To initiate payment, a customer can start their digital payment app and receive guidance towards the physical location of the virtual QR code. Upon scanning the virtual QR code, the customer can view information about the business and initiate payment

Location-based Automatic Payment Prompts for Merchant Payments

Initiating digital payment to a merchant via a payment app requires users to scan a code identifying the merchant’s payment identifier. Scanning QR codes requires explicit user action, and can be time-consuming, cumbersome, and error-prone, especially in busy stores. The absence of prominently displayed QR codes at some merchant establishments further complicates the process. This disclosure describes techniques that improve the process of initiating digital payments to a merchant. With user permission, location-based triggers are used to determine likely payment intent and automatically provide a suitable prompt to the user, thus eliminating the need for manual scan of QR codes. The merchant payment address can also be automatically identified, and multi-merchant payment prompts provided when appropriate