No Tin Cans As Chinese Beggars Now Accept QR Code Mobile Payments

Harin - Jul 16, 2019

Chinese people, as well as tourists, are having to deal with beggars who have gotten rid of tin cans to use QR codes for collecting money.

For different cultures around the world, giving a beggar some loose change can be considered “doing good.” And beggars have their own ways of forcing people into giving them money. However, things can get annoying sometimes.

At some point, people have tried to use the excuse “no spare change” to fend off annoying beggars. But what if beggars have now adapted to convenient payment methods? Things might get a little bit tricky. And that is exactly what Chinese people, as well as tourists, are having to deal with.

Beggars in China have gotten rid of tin cans as they use QR codes for collecting money.

Chinese-beggars-use-QR-codes — A beggar with his QR code.

Reports suggest that these pesky beggar strategically stand at crowded tourist areas to ask for money. In China, most people use e-wallet apps like WeChat Wallet and Alipay or other mobile payment apps to scan and read QR codes for payment.

With China’s huge technological boom, “QR code beggars” can be found easily on the streets. Compared to other countries around the world, China’s transformation to a cash-free economy is faster. The company’s economy relies on the scannable codes.

Beggars don’t need a mobile phone to use QR codes. They only need a library to set up an account and a digital wallet.

Tweet — In China, even beggars need to have QR codes.

Since 2016, Indians have been getting used to PayTM app for instant payments.

While cashless payment is common among Chinese beggars, things can get shady too. Reports state that some local start-ups and small businesses pay e-beggars for every scan that they receive.

So where’s the shady part you may ask? The thing is, with these scans, these businesses can extract user data through e-Wallet apps. All of the collected data is then sorted out and sold for marketing later.

Financial Express reports that Rs 7 to Rs 15 is how much beggars get for each scan. Beggars are not the only ones to use the QR code as it has been a prominent payment method in China, from paying at restaurants to brides wearing a QR tag to collect tips and gifts.

Denso Wave, a Japanese company invented the QR code system in 1994 for the tracking of vehicles during manufacturing. After that, the coding system slowly made it to online payments in Japan and South Korea. But no other countries have seen great success like China in using this payment system.