In some countries there is a payment system that works by generating QR codes at checkout and scanning those with your phone. I don't know if Wero intends to also support those, but it could make for a direct integration into live checkout.
I think the Digital Euro initiative is closer to replacing contactless payments than Wero is, but it'll depend on the country I think.
I don't think it's as big of an issue. China seems to be doing just fine when it comes to payment processing, and it's not the only country that works that way.
From a software freedom perspective, I actually prefer QR codes. The UX of tapping a card is a little better (though it also opens up an avenue for theft) but I think every phone I've held the past ten years has had some way to quickly scan a QR code from the lock screen, even if not every phone made the possibility obvious.
Yes. Physical cards are probably going away or becoming unusual in the medium term. A "credit card" or "debit card" will still exist, but not usually as a physical piece of plastic.
Instead of tapping or swiping the card, you tap the phone or watch, or scan a QR on your phone and then confirm in the bank app. Both ways seem to have similar useability to me, and an equivalent result. I've done both in different countries, and neither really bothered me. Yes, the tap method has higher potential for petty theft.
But why would we want to take a step back when we have contactless right now? This makes little sense... It is worse UX and does not work (I think) for quick things like taking the bus or underground.
Again, China has what is has because people had phones but no payment cards, and they don't have "software freedom" either (whatever that means): They are fully bound to the two providers (Alipay and WeChat) which provide accounts to a point now that is much worse that my dependency or Visa or Mastercard here in Europe because most places now do not accept anything else.
What would make sense is for the likes of Wero to find a way to support contactless so people can just tap exactly as they do now. As said by another commenter, this does not require a physical card (and already exists with Apple Pay and Google Pay). Frankly, Wero is a solution looking for a problem at this point in time...
QR codes also decouples merchants from POS systems, so it's massively more flexible and step forward if people want to do stuff and get paid. Contactless payment is faster, but PRC also rolling out palm to pay which is much faster/convenient vs tap. IMO optimal coverage is probably QR codes and skipping tapping straight for palm scanning.
QR codes aren't a replacement for contactless. Contactless will stay, although unfortunately Dutch banks have recently discontinued their own contactless payment system and moved to Google Pay, which was a terrible decision.
I think this is the point, they have different use-cases.
Contactless requires the acceptor to have a specific piece of hardware that comes with a contract.
The QR code is an image, that AFIAK contains instructions on a specific transfer (target account number, amount, reference etc) in a machine-readable format, that the sender can chose to scan and accept or not.
You don't need a QR code "across the internet". A QR code is for in-person payments. That may be convenient for private individual to private individual (which is a niche market) but for stores or things like transport contactless, which we already all have, is clearly superior UX and there is neither a demand nor a point in having QR codes instead.
My take-away from this tedious thread is that Wero does not currently support contactless. It is fine to admit it (I don't why people turn into fanboys over randopm things) but that does make it of limited use for in-person transactions apart from niche use-cases and, certainly, this means NOT "Goodbye to Visa and Mastercard" just yet.
Wero doesn't support contactless because it's a different use case. Contactless is only for in-person payments. Wero is for internet payments. QR codes can be used for either, but I mostly see them in internet payments. When I buy something on Steam, I can get a QR code for my iDeal payment through my phone app. I'd expect Wero to support that too. And that means you can use it for in-person payment if the seller has or can produce a QR code, but that's not the primary use case for Wero, because we already have contactless.
Although contactless through banking app go through Google Wallet these days, which I hate, so I would prefer if there was a European alternative for that. Could be part of Wero, but it doesn't have to be. As long as it's not part of Google.
I think the Digital Euro initiative is closer to replacing contactless payments than Wero is, but it'll depend on the country I think.