PayPal QR Codes Score First Airport Landing In Munich

Munich is now the first European airport to launch PayPal QR codes for mobile, cash-free purchases in all of its shops and Eurotrade retail subsidiaries, ftnnews.com reported on Monday (May 10).

Running 41 shops, the retail subsidiary of Munich Airport covers entities in news, watches, jewelry, and fashion brands. Customers can now shop contactless using their smartphones without cash or card readers by using QR (quick response) codes.

“Again we were pioneers in the introduction of innovations such as payment systems,” Sven Zahn, managing director of Eurotrade Handels-GmbH, said per ftnnews.com. “The option of contact-free payment via a QR code means further growth in service quality and security for Munich Airport, especially in times like these.”

Jörg Kablitz, managing director for PayPal Germany, Austria and Switzerland, said, “The pandemic accelerated the demand for touch-free payment options. With our new integrated QR code solution, we are offering an ideal answer to this demand, especially for large enterprises and retail chains.”

The QR codes will be streamlined into existing checkout systems that are secured. Customers wanting to pay can open the QR code in the PayPal app and show it during the checkout process.

Rainer Beeck, head of commercial activities at Munich Airport, said its “commitment as a 5-Star Airport” is also “part of its travel retail.” 

PayPal and Fiserve have both helped facilitate mainstream traction with QR codes, the “ubiquitous patterned codes, boxy in shape, with their genesis from the 1990s,” per a PYMNTS report.

QR codes “have long been popular for payments, information access, Wi-Fi logins, counterfeit detection and a host of other services, but the technology has relatively humble beginnings.” 

The optimism in the travel industry is “tangible but still tentative,” per a PYMNTS story in April. Chuck Huang, CEO of mobile wallet payment provider Citcon told Karen Webster that QR codes “will see a wide embrace.”