The counter code that replaces 'cash only'
For a small shop, market stall, or solo trader, a payment QR code is often the cheapest way to accept digital money: no card machine rental, no monthly terminal fees, just a printed sign that customers scan to pay. It suits counters, delivery handovers, invoices, and market days. It also has failure modes that cost sales: the wrong code type, a sign nobody notices, or payments the owner cannot match to customers at day end. This guide explains how to set it up properly for a small business.Setting up counter payments
The right setup depends on how your payment provider issues codes in your country. The principles below hold across providers.- Use your provider's official code Generate the payment code inside your bank or payment app, or order the official printed kit the provider offers. A code made from your account details by a third-party site is a risk you do not need. - Choose static or dynamic deliberately A static counter code encodes your account and the customer types the amount. A dynamic code, shown per sale, includes the exact amount and reference. Counters usually start static; delivery and invoice payments reconcile better with dynamic. - Print a sign designed to be used The code should be the biggest thing on the sign, at least 5 centimetres wide, with your business name above it and one line of instruction: Scan to pay with your banking app. Customers pay faster when they are sure the code is yours. - Confirm before handing over goods Teach staff to see the customer's success screen or your own payment notification before the bag leaves the counter. A screenshot can be old or fake; your notification cannot. - Reconcile every evening Match the day's payment notifications against the till or order book while the day is fresh. Unmatched payments are easy to resolve on the day and painful a month later.
Getting customers to actually use it
A payment option nobody sees is not an option. Placement and habit do the work.- Put the sign where the payment conversation happens: at the till, facing the customer, at hand height, not taped to the side of the counter facing staff. - Mention it during busy times: Card or QR is fastest today. Queue-weary customers act on permission. - Keep a second copy for the delivery driver or the market stall table. Payments happen in more places than the till. - Check the code weekly by making a tiny real payment to yourself. Provider changes and damaged signs are silent failures. - Display the name the customer will see in their banking app on the sign, so the confirmation screen matches their expectation.