McDonald's, Seamless Test Mobile Payments in Kuwait

McDonald's and Kuwait International Bank are partnering with Seamless to pilot Seamless' SEQR mobile payment system in Kuwait. 

Kuwait International Bank will be the first financial institution it the Middle East to use SEQR to execute mobile payments. Consumers use the SEQR app to scan a QR code or NFC signal at a point of sale terminal and then approve the payment by entering a PIN. Receipts are delivered to customers' mobile phones.

Retailers use SEQR by attacking a QR code sticker or NFC sticker on point of sale terminals. This approach is designed to reduce upfront deployment costs.

Seamless, which has also partnered with McDonald's in Sweden, enables more than 3.1 billion mobile phone payments a year at 525,000 locations.

"The launch of SEQR on the Swedish market has been very successful, and we hope that our partnership will help to make life simpler for many consumers in Kuwait," said Peter Fredell, Group President and CEO of Seamless, in a release.

McDonald's has tested mobile payments in Ireland and Canada.

Other fast food chains such as KFC and Dunkin Donuts have also adopted mobile payments. Starbucks handles 4.5 million mobile payments a week, the coffee seller said last month.