XYZ | By David Hiscox – May 13, 2022
How is this any easier than just giving someone a $100 note and getting change for it? Because face it, when was the last time you spent less than fifty bucks at the supermarket?
Supermarket giant Woolworths has rolled out a groundbreaking new QR code payment system that it says will make shopping faster and more secure.
From today, shoppers in Woolworths and Big W stores around the country will be able to pay for their groceries using a QR code that is linked to a digital wallet on their smartphone.
Dubbed “Everyday Pay”, the technology has been built by Woolworth’s payment arm Wpay and is one of the first of its kind in the country.
The way it works is simple: customers can download the Everyday Rewards app and then punch in the details of their preferred credit, debit or gift card.
Then at the checkout, all customers have to do is scan the QR code presented by the terminal, upon which the app will automatically deduct the transaction from the nominated account.
Woolworths says the new system will make shopping faster because customers will no longer have to scan their Everyday Rewards card prior to paying normally.
It’s problem-reaction-solution. What if you don’t want an everyday rewards card because you don’t want to be in their system and the “rewards” are negligible, and you just want to get change for that $100 note?
This whole “we’re making payment simpler” line is completely stupid. They made it unnecessarily complicated in the first place, then offered a solution which just happens to involve centralising all your personal information and all your banking in the one spot.
They have been trying to push this nonsense for two decades. One of my first jobs when I entered the workforce was promoting EzyBanking, an scheme involving the Commonwealth Bank and Woolworths which would allow you to do all your banking at the supermarket.
