by Claudia Segre
Over the last five years, QR codes have gone from being an “emergency” solution to a true everyday infrastructure, at least in Asia, with China leading the way with WeChat and Alipay. No longer just an alternative payment method, they are now a simple and universal interface between people, services, the state, and the financial system.
We continue our overview of concrete examples of the evolution of the concept of digital citizenship, this time moving to Asia and the city-state that is also home to the world’s most famous and renowned Fintech Festival: Singapore. Over the last five years, QR codes have gone from being an “emergency” solution to a true everyday infrastructure, at least in Asia, as exemplified by China with WeChat and Alipay. No longer just an alternative payment tool, therefore, but a simple and universal interface between people, services, the state, and the financial system. Singapore, despite its size, is an extraordinary “laboratory of the future” and probably the most emblematic case of this evolution: an open-air laboratory where QR is not a technological gadget, but an ordinary part of urban life. Here, the leap in quality has not only been technological, but systemic. With SGQR, Singapore has solved one of the most concrete problems of the first phase of digital payments: fragmentation. A single QR code visible at the checkout, behind which multiple bank payment schemes and wallets coexist. The result? Less resistance and complexity for consumers, lower costs for micro-merchants, and above all, a consistent and recognisable experience. This is a lesson in forward-thinking institutional commitment rather than Fintech, and therefore in the sector itself.
The QR code has become a gateway to a much broader ecosystem, not just payments. With PayNow – the instant account-to-account system – the QR code connects directly to bank accounts, avoiding many of the critical issues and fees typical of traditional circuits. It is precisely this simplicity that has encouraged large-scale adoption: from hawker centres, typical Asian food centres, to small shops, markets, and public services. Where POS used to be a cost or a barrier, and remains so for the most part in Italy and, more generally, in Europe, today all you need is a card with a printed code, and you’re done. But the really interesting point is that in Singapore, QR codes go beyond the realm of “payment” and enter that of digital citizenship. In fact, ample space is given to public vouchers, environmental incentives, and subsidies: citizens receive credit and spend it by showing the QR code at the checkout. The code becomes a “civic interface”, i.e., a policy tool and a concrete way of making welfare provision immediate and traceable.
The evolutionary aspect in terms of social policy is that this model fits into a context of regulated trust. The introduction of the Shared Responsibility Framework by the Monetary Authority of Singapore marks a key transition: the growth of digital payments requires a redistribution of responsibilities between banks, telecommunications operators, and users to tackle fraud and phishing. This is a central issue because QR codes are, by their very nature, exposed physical objects and therefore potential points of attack. Here too, the answer is not “less digital” but more governance, which is part of a discourse on shared social responsibility. Nevertheless, there are ethical and evolutionary aspects to the business model that are in the spirit of EU directives such as CSRD and CSDDD, and which must be public as well as private.
This scenario is reflected in the experience of DBS Bank, which has recently pushed for the integration of QR codes, artificial intelligence, and everyday banking services. The vision outlined by CEO Tan Su Shan is clear: it is not enough to be a digital bank; you need to be an AI-enabled bank, but with a strong focus on human and social impact. In this model, AI is not just “backend” or invisible automation, but concrete support for decision-making, customer relations, and service personalisation. And this is where the discussion broadens, also in light of what we saw at CES in Las Vegas. There is increasing talk of Physical AI: artificial intelligence that not only exists on screens or in abstract models, but interacts with the physical world. Sensors, computer vision, smart objects, minimal interfaces. In this sense, the QR code is almost a forerunner: a bridge between the physical and digital worlds, readable by anyone, interpretable by a machine, capable of activating complex services with a simple gesture. The new phase is no longer “scan and pay”, but “scan and activate”: identity, trust, context, data, personalised services. In Asia, this transition is already underway, thanks in part to cross-border links between payment systems (Singapore-India, Singapore-Thailand, Singapore-Malaysia), which transform the QR code into a regional tool, no longer just a national one.
Looking from here to Europe, the distance is not so much technological as cultural and institutional. Asia shows us that innovation works when it is invisible, interoperable, and inclusive. When it does not ask the user to understand the technology, it adapts to their everyday gestures. And when AI is not just “computing power”, but also the ability to read the physical and social context in which it operates. Perhaps this is the most interesting message: the future will not be made up of increasingly complex interfaces, but of increasingly simple interactions, behind which intelligent, regulated, and responsible systems operate. The QR code, born as a trivial solution, is proving to be one of the most powerful tools of this transition.
