Santiago, May 2023. Open the phone camera, scan the code and approve the transaction. It is that simple! Chileans favor debit as a payment method; however, thanks to their agile, user-friendly experience, digital wallets have gained ground and now account for about 20% of purchases.

QR technology enables quick, easy purchases without directly using physical cards. According to Transbank data shared by Paola Ledezma, the company’s Product and Innovation Division Manager at the Santiago Chamber of Commerce’s E-commerce Day, over seven million users and more than 500,000 businesses currentlyuse the ecosystem.

How can you access this technology? In Ms. Ledezma’s talk entitled “The future of digital payments: Step-by-step integration of the QR ecosystem and invisible payments," she said that ecosystem development and its rapid adoption by Chileans had earned the technology a place not only in Onepay but also the digital wallets of sevenbank and retail issuers: Banco de Chile, Santander, Scotiabank, Itaú, BCI, Líder BCI and abcvisa. QR payments can also be made through Webpay and the Cobro QR App. 

Ms. Ledezma also mentioned the great growth opportunities, including incorporating QR into other customer contact points like Smart POS, retail hosts, self-service totems, printed QR codes and utility bills. 

“The main challenge for a cutting-edge company, like Transbank, is to adopt new technology and make payments as invisible as possible, without losing sight of them. In this sense, we continue working to create a unique payment experience for our customers," said Ledezma.

Why has Chile adopted QR soquickly?

There are three factors behind the digitalization and adoption of these new technologies in Chile:
    1. Trustrooted in Transbank's track record and payment ecosystem growth in Chile.
    2. Security and uptime. 
    3. Chile’s digitalization: high levels of internet and celular penetration make Chile a hyper-connected  country.

QR case studies ine-commerce: El Container

During the presentation, El Container CEO, Guillermo Vega, shared his experience as a Transbank customer using electronic payment methods and QR at his business. He receives

“We need to leverage QR technology and OneClick to offer a better, quicker user experience that makes our customers' lives easier," Vega said.

In that context, Paola Ledezma added, "Transbank introduced e-wallets and QR payments in 2018. Today, these technologies are being adopted by Chileans and enhanced by several ecosystem players. Chile is a fairly advanced country in terms of payment methods. It is prepared toin corporate world-class, state-of-the-art technology."