QR code payment to be used on Guangzhou buses

Passengers in Guangzhou who commute by bus no longer have to worry about having the correct change or whether they remembered their bus card, now that QR code payments have been added to the city's transport system.

QR code payment will be used on buses in Guangzhou by the end of August. [Photo/ycwb.com]

The new payment method is being tested on the city's Bus Rapid Transit and is scheduled to be rolled out by the end of August.

To use it, passengers need to download an app named Yangchengtong or a Wechat applet named Tencent Bus QR Code and scan the QR code generated on the app or applet on the bus or at the gate machine of the Bus Rapid Transit. The whole process can be completed within seconds.

Passengers can download the app Yangchengtong to pay for their bus tickets using their mobile phones. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

At the moment, passengers can pay using cash, coins or a bus card. The three ways are convenient but sometimes may cause trouble when passengers forget to bring change or bus card.

The new payment method adds yet another layer of convenience and explores a new way from offline payment with money or real bus cards to online payment, according to a spokesperson of Guangzhou Yangchengtong Company. 

Passenger can download the Wechat applet Tencent Bus QR Code to pay for their tickets in Guangzhou. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]