Seoul taxis to implement QR code payment systems

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced Tuesday it will launch a platform which people can use to pay their taxi fares via QR codes. According to the city government, it will establish a standard for the “taxi QR code simple payment” system and implement it in all 71,845 Seoul taxis starting January. The platform utilizes a Dynamic QR code method, which can produce QR codes in real-time according to the fare.

The code system will also enable passengers to store and find cab information including the time they get in and out of the vehicle, the taxi license plate number, distance traveled and the total cost. The city government expects the system to facilitate foreign tourists, especially Chinese tourists who do not use credit cards often and thus have had to use cash for taxi services here. It will also prevent taxi drivers from overcharging foreign passengers, it said.

According to statistics from the Korea Tourism Organization, 13.3 percent of foreign tourists said they faced inconvenience when taking taxis. Nearly 40 percent of such people were Chinese. “Many countries in the world are using smart mobile payment methods. But only a handful of cities including New York have implemented the Dynamic QR code system for taxis,” Ko Hong-suk, chief of the city’s traffic headquarters, said. “We will swiftly develop the taxi payment standard to drastically enhance Seoul residents and tourists’ convenience.”

By Kim Hyun-bin

(Korea Times)