How QR payments work
Canadian merchants can take QR code payments so a phone opens online payments without another reader on the counter. You generate a QR code tied to a payment link or your checkout. The customer scans it with their phone camera, a secure payment page opens in the browser, and they pay with a card or a wallet. No app download and no dedicated reader are required for the person willing to scan. The page should show the amount, or a clear place to enter the total you quoted, and it should name your business. A code that opens the homepage looks broken. Test the print in daylight and on cellular, because venue Wi-Fi drops and a wrinkled code fails the camera.
Where they shine
QR codes are a strong fit for pay-at-table dining, market stalls, events, donation drives, and printed invoices. They turn a table tent, a laminated card, a poster, or a receipt into a checkout, which helps when staff are few or the line is moving. A cramped stall can prop one code by the cash box. On a printed invoice, the code should open that invoice, so you are not matching a typed total to a different bill all week. Guests who will not scan still need another path, such as a reader for Interac tap, when that line exists at your table.
Why customers love them
Scanning is fast, contactless, and familiar. Customers control the transaction on their own phone, which keeps the card in their hand, and they can pay with the wallet they already use. Skipping an app download means the sale does not stall on an install. For you, a printed code tied to a payment page is one of the lowest-hardware ways to accept the payment, at a table, a stall, or on an invoice you already send. The page still has to be the live bill, with an amount they recognize. When staff use the code as the real path, guests treat the scan as the normal way to pay.
Getting started
Pair QR codes with payment links so each code opens a page that names you and shows the amount. Print a spare, test the card in daylight, and load the page on cellular. At a counter that also takes tap, keep a reader for guests who will not scan, and pick one path per table so staff are not carrying a terminal to every cheque. Explore online payments or book a demo if you want the code and the link made together. The first live scan should show a confirmation the buyer can hold up, in the same reporting you already reconcile.
A market stall that printed one code
A market vendor printed a single QR code, laminated it, and propped it against the cash box. The stall was too cramped for a second gadget, and the buyer already had a phone. The code opened a payment link. The buyer scanned, paid on their own screen, and showed the confirmation, with no app to install. The page had to show the amount, or let them enter the total you called out, and it had to name the stall. When the market Wi-Fi died, the buyer's cellular still loaded the page. People who will not scan still need a reader that takes Interac tap, so keep one if that line exists at your table. Link setup is in payment links versus hosted checkout. Print a spare card. Start from online payments.
Staff habits that make a good code fail
A cafe put a QR tent on every table and still walked a terminal over for every cheque. Guests ignored the code because staff had taught them it was optional. Pick one path per table. Test the print in daylight, because a wrinkled code or a logo over the corner will not scan when the room is bright. The page it opens has to be the live payment page for that bill. A code that dumps people on the homepage looks broken. On a printed invoice, the code should match that invoice so you are not reconciling a typed total against a different bill all week. In person, the terminal option is on in-person payments. Book a demo if you want the code and the link created together.