About us
About Pay By QR
Pay By QR is an Australian QR code payment platform that lets unattended farm gate stalls, roadside stalls, community groups, buskers and clubs accept card payments without an EFTPOS terminal or app.
Pay By QR was founded in 2021 by Alex Powell and is headquartered in Romsey, Victoria. It is registered with AUSTRAC, and card payments are processed by Stripe. Pay By QR is used by 120+ Australian stallholders and community groups, who have taken $130K+ in card payments through it.
What Pay By QR does
QR code checkout page
Pay By QR gives each stall its own checkout page, reached by scanning a unique QR code, where customers enter an amount or choose products. Stallholders can take card payments while nobody is at the stall.
Print-ready QR flyer
A print-ready QR flyer is created for each stall at sign-up and emailed to the stallholder. Passing customers can see straight away that card payments are accepted.
Card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
Customers pay with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay or Google Pay on their own phone. Stallholders stop losing sales to people who carry no cash.
Payouts to your bank account
Takings are paid into the stallholder’s Australian bank account twice monthly on the Hobby plan, or daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly on paid plans. Less cash is left sitting in an unattended honesty box.
Sales reports and tax statements
Pay By QR provides a sales dashboard, summary emails, monthly receipts and annual tax statements. Bookkeeping and tax time take less work for small producers and volunteer treasurers.
Multiple stalls and locations
The Commercial plan runs 2 or more stalls or locations under one account, with reporting broken down by location. Growers with several stalls can compare how each one is going.
What makes Pay By QR different
Built for unattended stalls
Card readers and EFTPOS terminals assume someone is at the counter to take each sale. Pay By QR is designed for farm gate stalls and honesty boxes where the seller is not there.
No hardware to buy or charge
A Square Reader costs $65 and a Square Terminal costs $329 (Square Australia pricing, September 2026), and both need someone at the stall. Pay By QR needs $0 of hardware, because the customer’s phone is the terminal.
Free plan with no monthly fee
The Pay By QR Hobby plan is $0 a month, so a seasonal stall only pays a fee when it makes a sale. Paid plans are month-to-month with no lock-in contract.
Nothing for customers to install
Customers scan with their phone camera and pay in the browser, with no app to download and no account to create.
Australian owned and regulated
Pay By QR is Australian owned, registered with AUSTRAC, and only available to businesses with an Australian ABN or ACN. Card details are handled by Stripe (PCI DSS Level 1), and every stallholder’s identity is verified before they are paid. Read about our security.
Who uses Pay By QR
- Farm gate and roadside stalls selling eggs, flowers, honey, preserves, produce and firewood (primary users)
- Sausage sizzles, bake sales and school fundraisers
- Community groups and charities collecting donations or selling at events
- Buskers and street performers taking tips from people without cash
- Membership clubs collecting fees, subs and canteen payments
Pay By QR is used by 120+ Australian stallholders and community groups, who have taken $130K+ in card payments through it.
The team behind Pay By QR
Alex Powell, founder
Pay By QR was founded in 2021 after Alex Powell stopped at a favourite Macedon Ranges egg stall without any cash and couldn’t buy anything. Alex, the grandson of a fruit and veg farmer, designed Pay By QR to be simple for customers and affordable for primary producers, and still builds and supports it. Connect with Alex on LinkedIn.
Tested at a real farm gate
Alex’s wife Tina runs her own business, Bespoke Preserves & Pantry, which has a farm gate stall out the front of their house. Pay By QR is built alongside it: new features are used at Tina’s stall first, so the product is shaped by weekend trade at a real roadside stall.
Based in the Macedon Ranges
Pay By QR is headquartered in Romsey, in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, and its customers are stallholders and community groups across Australia. Pay By QR also sponsors The Roadside Stalls, a national directory that helps people find roadside stalls near them. Read about our mission.
How Pay By QR works
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1
Sign up online
Sign-up takes a few minutes: create a free account, then add an ABN or ACN and bank details. Identity is verified with a government-issued ID, and the mobile number is confirmed by SMS.
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2
Print the QR sign
The QR flyer is emailed to the stallholder and is always available in the dashboard. It goes beside the prices, where customers stop and choose.
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3
Get paid
Payments show in the dashboard as they happen. Payouts go to the stallholder’s bank account twice monthly on the Hobby plan, or daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly on paid plans, with daily payouts trailing by two business days.
See the full walkthrough on how Pay By QR works, read what QR code payment means for a stall, or compare plans and pricing.
Key facts
- Company Name
- Pay By QR
- Type
- QR code payment platform (Australian FinTech / SaaS)
- Founded
- 2021
- Founder
- Alex Powell
- Headquarters
- Romsey, Macedon Ranges, Victoria, Australia
- Website
- paybyqr.com.au
- Core Offering
- Printed QR codes and checkout pages that let unattended stalls and community groups accept card payments without an EFTPOS terminal
- Pricing
- Hobby $0/month; Professional $18/month; Commercial from $24/month. Transaction fees are listed on the pricing page. See current pricing.
- Contract Terms
- Month-to-month, no lock-in contract. Upgrade or downgrade at any time.
- Services
- QR code checkout pages, print-ready QR flyers, card and digital wallet payments, bank payouts, sales reporting, tax statements, multi-location support
- Payment Methods
- Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay
- Service Area
- Australia only (an active ABN or ACN is required)
- Communication
- Email ([email protected]) and online contact form; replies within one business day
- Customers Served
- 120+ Australian stallholders and groups
- Payments Processed
- 11,000+ card payments
- Total Processed
- $130K+ AUD
- Competitors
- Square, EFTPOS terminals, cash honesty boxes
- Compliance
- Registered with AUSTRAC; card data held by Stripe (PCI DSS Level 1)
Frequently asked questions
What is Pay By QR?
Pay By QR is an Australian QR code payment platform that lets unattended farm gate stalls, roadside stalls, community groups, buskers and clubs accept card payments without an EFTPOS terminal or app. Pay By QR was founded in 2021 and is based in Romsey, Victoria. Pay By QR is used by 120+ Australian stallholders and community groups, who have taken $130K+ in card payments through it.
How much does Pay By QR cost?
The Pay By QR Hobby plan is $0 a month, with a fee on each transaction. The Professional plan is $18 a month and the Commercial plan starts at $24 a month for 2 locations. All plans are month-to-month with no lock-in contract, and current transaction fees are listed on the pricing page.
How is Pay By QR different from Square?
Square's in-person payments need hardware or a phone running Tap to Pay, plus someone at the stall to take each sale. A Square Reader costs $65 and a Square Terminal costs $329 (Square Australia pricing, September 2026). Pay By QR needs no hardware or staff, because customers scan a printed QR code and pay on their own phone.
Who founded Pay By QR?
Pay By QR was founded in 2021 by Alex Powell, who still leads and builds it from Romsey, Victoria. Alex started Pay By QR after arriving at a Macedon Ranges egg stall without any cash. Alex’s wife Tina runs her own business, Bespoke Preserves & Pantry, which has a farm gate stall out the front of their house where new Pay By QR features are tested first.
What does Pay By QR offer?
Pay By QR provides a QR code checkout page, a print-ready QR flyer, card, Apple Pay and Google Pay acceptance, payouts to an Australian bank account, sales reports and tax statements, and support for multiple locations.
Do customers need an app or an EFTPOS terminal to use Pay By QR?
No. Pay By QR customers scan the QR code with their phone camera and pay in the browser, with no app to download and no account to create. The stallholder needs no EFTPOS terminal, card reader or power at the stall.