Cashless stories
How QR payments took over Southeast Asia and Latin America, country by country, and what that means when you visit.
Cashless stories6 min read
Your First 24 Hours Cashless: Paying for the Airport Ride, SIM Card, and First Meal in Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh, and São Paulo
The roti canai stall at a Bukit Bintang mamak has a DuitNow QR sticker on the counter and no card terminal. You will hit the same problem in all three cities.
Read more
How to pay7 min read
How Brazilian Merchants Decide Between Pix and Card Machines, and Why It Changes What You Can Buy
The feira vendor in São Paulo selling queijo coalho has a laminated Pix QR code taped to her cart.
Read more
Cashless stories7 min read
The Jeepney and Tricycle Problem: Why Cash Still Wins Over QR for Micro-Fares Across the Region
The driver has fifteen pesos in loose change rattling in a repurposed Milo tin, a route sheet taped to the dashboard, and eight more stops before he turns around.
Read more
Cashless stories8 min read
Why Some Merchants Prefer a QR Scan Over Tap-to-Pay Even When Both Work: A Cost Story From the Other Side of the Counter
Merchants who can accept both a tap-to-pay card and a local QR code often steer customers toward the QR code, and the reason is not convenience. It is arithmetic.
Read more
Cashless stories6 min read
Why Some Countries Print Three QR Codes at One Counter and Others Print Just One
Walk up to a coffee stall in Kuala Lumpur and you will see a single laminated square taped to the register.
Read more
Cashless stories7 min read
Singapore's PayNow Left Off the Map: Why Regional QR Wallets Skip the City-State
At a hawker stall on Bendemeer Road in Singapore, you scan a QR code with your regional travel wallet and nothing happens. Your DuitNow app works flawlessly in Malaysia's night markets. Your KHQR scanner opens every…
Read more
Cashless stories7 min read
Why Malaysian Hawker Centers Post Three Different QR Codes at the Same Stall
You walk up to a nasi kandar stall at Restoran Line Clear in Georgetown or a char kway teow cart at Old Town in Petaling Jaya and you see the same thing taped to the counter: three, sometimes four, laminated QR codes…
Read more
Cashless stories4 min read
The QR Codes You Can't Scan
The QR Codes You Can't Scan
Read more
Cashless stories5 min read
The QR Code That Ate Cambodia
The woman selling num pang outside Kandal Market in Phnom Penh doesn't have a cash register. She has a baguette station, a squeeze bottle of chili sauce, and a laminated card zip-tied to her cart with a red QR code on…
Read more
Showing 9 of 20
Read up, then pay like a local.
Scan local QR codes from your own bank or card, with no local account.