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Only half-a-century ago, every customer on the UK high street would have their wallets full of banknotes and coins. Cash was the status-quo for many centuries.
Yet with rapid technological advancement, how we pay evolved quickly. Firstly, the plastic chip-and-pins claimed space in our wallets; soon enough the physical wallets themselves became obsolete, moving conveniently into our mobile phones.
Mobile transactions are now the new king – with 93% of UK households having at least one smartphone, according to Statista. Contactless mobile payments accelerated during the global pandemic, when even the smallest physical touch was life-threatening.
Mobile e-wallets, now preferred by half of the British adults, are only one way to remunerate via mobile. QR payments are also picking up steam – they work by scanning a 2D square grid of black and white pixels. Crucially, unlike digital wallets, QR payments in physical stores do not require a terminal.
Noda launches QR payments for UK physical shops
One of the businesses at the forefront of barcode transactions in the UK is a payments company, Noda. In March 2025, they introduced QR codes for pay-by-bank transactions in physical shops.
Noda’s network connects to 2,000+ banks in the UK and Europe, available in seven currencies. The company was established in 2018, with an investment from entrepreneur Dmitry Volkov, yet in 2023 Noda-Volkov connection was ended, and the businessman divested his stake.
Noda’s QR codes are an important development for two reasons. First, pay-by-bank was traditionally available only to online businesses. Second, it moves payments away from a global reliance on bank cards.
End-to-end flow of a QR payment
Returning to the example of Noda payments, the checkout works as follows. The shop does not need a terminal or any additional device. They build a personalised payment page (without coding needed) in the Noda dashboard, including the product description and amount, then generate a payment link, which is converted into a QR code within minutes.
The QR code is shown to the customer, who scans it on their phone and is redirected to the payment page in their mobile browser. If they choose direct bank payment, they are then taken to their banking app to authorise the payment directly from their account. The process is quick, efficient, and seamless end to end.
Noda reviews from UK street shops
The success of QR payments in store is evident from the latest Noda payment reviews. The company has rolled this solution for numerous UK merchants – such as plumbers, car and van rental, barber shops, tour companies, cafes and hospitality, and many more. On their website, they published case studies about three businesses:
- Double Deli –a Brazilian food shop in south-west London
- Barber Browns –a family-run barber shop in Glasgow
- Reeta Fashions –a Glasgow-based bridal boutique (opted for payment links, but still used in physical stores)
As we can see, the nature of businesses is quite wide – from food to retail to beauty services. They all appreciated the payment method for its intuitive design and smooth experience. For example, Reeta Fashions said that customers “complete their purchases quickly and confidentially”, while the owner of Double Deli Kelly Ferreira was surprised at “how quickly people started using it”.
Why consumers prefer open banking
Importantly – it’s not just the QR payments on their own that bear the fruit, but their pairing with pay-by-bank, as shown by Noda. QR codes enable this payment method for in-store purchases.
A few words on this for context. Driven by PSD2 regulation in Europe and the UK, this payment method allows buyers to remunerate directly from their checking accounts, without the need of cards.
This is more efficient on multiple levels: cheaper for shop owners, and a polished user experience for buyers, who authorise the payment directly in their banking app. It also reduces friction and failure points in the payment flow, which is evident in the skyrocketing adoption in the UK – currently, at over 15 million active users.
Will QR payments become mainstream?
While still a niche payment method by volume, QR payments are expected to see significant growth. The UK supermarkets have already experimented with the barcodes – using them for cash returns, and product information, yet barcode payments are still not mainstream. Yet the UK high-street usage is so far limited, as seen from Noda reviews.
However, that’s not the case around the globe. Barcode transactions are enjoying widespread appeal in China, which accounts for 5.5% of the global QR code payments market in 2024. AliPay and WePay are the major players – the barcodes direct customers right into their e-wallets for payment. Users cite convenience of usage and efficiency as hefty advantages.
Another example is Sweden’s mobile payment platform, Swish, which boasted over nine million users as of early 2025. It enables instant bank-to-bank transfers via QR codes and dominates in-store payments in the Nordic country, accounting for 44% of all mobile transactions in 2024.
This suggests that the UK market is still only beginning to find its footing. Grand View Research, for example, projected that the UK QR code payments will reach over £3.8 billion in revenue by 2033, growing at a compound annual rate of 19.9%. Perhaps barcode payments will be picked up by digitally-native generations: Gen Z, for example, who show more openness to innovative technology.
Crucially, informing customers about the benefits of QR codes paired with open banking can go a long way. As mentioned above, they are not just cost-efficient for merchants. They also provide superior UX, bank-grade level of security, and near-instant settlement. Why use cards, if a better way of paying already exists?
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This content is brought to you by Sajid Saeed
Photo provided by Noda.
