QR code: goodbye to cash?

The QR code is not so new in Cuba. It was at the end of 2020 when it began to be implemented in the commercial network as part of the company’s computerization policy.

Gradually, establishments in the sector added to this payment alternative that eliminates the use of cash, to provide more security and lower costs for the parties involved.

However, despite the benefits it offers, the truth is that its use is null or almost null in many units where a QR code is displayed that nobody knows what it is for.

This was confirmed by this editor in the El Palacio store, in the city of Yumurina. When asking the clerk if she could use the road to pay, the young woman, completely unaware, inquired with her colleague from the nearest area, who answered no.

The refusal was surprising, since the personalized QR code is displayed on the window of said department. However, he had already experienced the same frustration in the bodega where he bought in the neo-poblana neighborhood. There, the winery also told me that I could not access this method of payment.

From its very beginnings there was a rejection by those who work in certain entities of the sector that do not recognize the benefits of the alternative. They also lack the preparation to assume it.

Another of the difficulties that have prevented it from taking hold, especially in the wineries, is that the attendees are generally people who are unaware of these options, in addition to the fact that some do not have a phone with features to install the EnZona application and, in Sometimes they don’t have a magnetic card either.

The gastronomic entities have had a little better luck, although the number of registered operations is related to the offers and the fact that the user is often forced to pay for the gateway if he intends to obtain the product, an imposition that he seeks stimulate their use, but leave customers with no choice.

Even though electronic commerce constitutes one of the experiences of the computerization process of society that is closest to the population, and the country’s leadership is committed to extending its benefits, there is still a long way to go in this regard.

While some proposals have found great acceptance, others such as the QR code have been left behind and with reservations. Making them visible must be a priority to extend their use and achieve the computerized society to which we aspire.

Translated  by Casterman Medina de Leon