The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the issuance and implementation of a new standard, the Kenya Quick Response Code Standard 2023 (KE-QR), which is an exact copycat version of Ghana’s underutilized Universal GHQR.
The new KE-QR standard will guide how Payment Service Providers and banks regulated by the CBK will issue Quick Response (QR) Codes to businesses and consumers accepting digital payments.
Kenya’s move comes after Ghana had been lauded at the maiden Mobile World Congress Africa in Rwanda for being the only country to have attained maturity stage in the access to financial inclusion on the back of its financial inclusion triangle comprising of mobile money interoperability, e-wich and the GHQR.
This was during the launch of the AfricaNenda State of Instant Payments in Africa report, where Kenya’s CBK rep among the speakers admitted to the difficulties the country faced in trying to figure out how to rally all stakeholders to rollout an effective universal instant payments system.
The Kenyan rep, like his counterparts from all the other countries present at the launch, gravitated towards Ghana’s rep, Archie Hesse, CEO of Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlements Systems (GhIPSS), who are the custodians of the Universal GHQR to understand how Ghana achieved that feat.
In less than one year after that experience, Kenya has introduced a copycat version of Ghana’s Universal GHQR, which is the most affordable, safe and secure channel for digital payments and yet the most underutilized in the country as of now.
Kenyans are most likely to rally around the KE-QR and deploy it across Africa, including in Ghana, while merchants in Ghana are still dragging their feet in the adoption of the Universal GHQR in spite of its enormous benefits for the merchants, customers and even the government.
QR codes are machine-readable codes containing information that provide an alternative way of initiating and accepting digital payments made by customers at various points of sale. They are arrays of black and white squares that are scanned by customers using their mobile phones to initiate payments. Customers will now be able to make digital payments in an easy, fast, convenient, and secure manner using QR codes. Previously, customers had to manually input different payment codes and numbers, creating friction and cumbersome payment processes that are prone to errors.
According to the Kenyan regulator, the standard will promote inclusion by enabling institutions of various sizes and customer focus to increase the adoption of digital payments. In the long-term, use of standardized QR Codes will facilitate the launch of innovative products and deepen the benefits already enjoyed by customers making payments across various institutions and mobile money networks.
The KE-QR Code Standard 2023 is based on the EMVCo QR Code Specification and has been developed through collaboration between CBK, Payment Service Providers, banks, card schemes, among others. The Standard will be rolled out in a phased approach as these players align their operations to requirements set out in the Standard and increase customer awareness.
The regulator said the issuance of the Standard marks an important step in the implementation of the National Payments Strategy 2022 – 2025. The Strategy was launched in February 2022 to support the adoption of key standards and align Kenya’s National Payment System to global best practice. With the launch of the QR Standard, Kenya is joining other leading markets that have implemented the standardized approach to issuing QR codes for facilitating payments. These countries include, Philippines, Jordan, South Africa, Singapore, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, India, and China.
The new standard will ensure that QR Codes issued by Payment Service Providers and banks conform to a uniform format and are interoperable with other institutions and mobile money networks. The CBK hopes that implementation of a standardized QR Code system will also promote competition and innovation among Payment Service Providers and banks, leading to better services for customers.
