Almost every Indian shop counter has a UPI QR sticker. It does one job well: take a payment. But customers scan counter codes for other reasons too: to save your number, find your other branch, check Sunday timings or join the Wi-Fi. So which should your counter code open: a UPI payment, or a page about your shop?
Option 1: A plain UPI QR code
A UPI QR code contains a payment link (upi://pay?pa=yourid@bank&pn=Your+Shop). Any UPI app reads it and opens the payment screen with your details filled in. You can make one with the free UPI QR code generator.
- Best for: the billing counter, where nearly every scan is a payment.
- Limit: the UPI ID is fixed in the printed code. Change bank, account or UPI ID and every sticker must be replaced.
- Limit: it can't do anything else; a customer who wants your number has to ask.
Option 2: A shop page with a Pay button
A business profile QR code opens a page with Pay (UPI) next to Call, WhatsApp, Directions, opening hours, Wi-Fi and a review button. The Pay button opens the same UPI payment screen, one tap later.
- Best for: doors, windows, visiting cards, packaging and flyers, where people scan for many reasons.
- Benefit: update your UPI ID, phone or hours without reprinting.
- Benefit: see how many people tap Pay, Call or Directions.
Use both, in the right places
Most shops are best served by a payment code at the billing counter and a shop page code everywhere else. The billing counter is for paying; the door, packaging and visiting card are for coming back.
Keep payments safe
- Use a merchant UPI ID from your bank or payment app if you take many payments. It gives payment alerts and settlement reports.
- Check the payee name shown in the customer's UPI app matches your shop, and tell staff to confirm the alert before handing over goods.
- Watch for sticker swaps. Fraudsters sometimes paste their own QR code over a shop's. Check your stickers regularly, especially outside.
- A payment QR only ever sends money. Customers never need to scan a code or enter a PIN to receive money.
With a shop page, the UPI ID is shown in plain text under the Pay button, so customers can check it, and you can change it from your dashboard if a sticker is ever tampered with.
Want a step-by-step guide to the payment code itself? Read how to create a UPI QR code.