When I first saw a QR code, I shrugged my shoulders and thought “one more piece of technology looking for a solution”.

I’m not cynical … I’ve just lived through years of expectation for smart cards and contactless cards only to see the technologists and vendors more excited about the product than consumers ever were.

Now I found myself staring at a black and white digital pattern slightly more intriguing than a bar code, and wondering what all the fuss was about. My disdain for QR codes has grown into mild fascination as I have experienced their use on a personal level and have witnessed how brands are using them to efficiently engage customers and grow their business.

Newspapers have made good use of the codes, allowing readers to instantly shift from print to online sources of content, in the process bringing a print story to life with a video or blog. Promotions and offers have been mixed in with content delivery to award readers for taking time to read the codes and explore an online version of the publication.

Retailers, especially local merchants fighting to win mind-share from the national brands, are using QR codes to effectively keep the store open “24/7″ by highlighting featured inventory or take viewers to online stores where they can shop at their leisure.

I’ve also seen the use of QR codes stretched beyond what consumers can digest. A local realtor comes to mind who substituted codes in a monthly print ad for the usual four color pictures of listed properties. The presentation was a bit too obscure and I noticed that the realtor reverted to pretty pictures the next month with one QR code in the corner directing readers to a web site.

Speaking of web sites, the most common use of QR codes I have seen in business so far is the inclusion of a code on a business card or online profile offering another way for visitors to link to a web site home page. Even though I created the code in this post with the same linkage, it’s an unimaginative use of the technology.

QR codes are much better used to send visitors to micro-sites, videos, or other dynamically changeable content that serve a specific business purpose. They could also be used in single-use format to enable reward redemption at point-of-sale.

With Nielsen projecting the penetration of smartphones in the US to exceed 50% by the end of 2011, more people will be able to easily access the information available. It might be merely an anecdotal commentary, but I’ll bet that the people who do have smartphones today represent an audience willing to take a digital shortcut to view useful content and get needed information from their phones without having to type clumsy URL’s into their browser.

Like most technology, the real fun starts when people apply their imagination to use applications in ways not anticipated by the inventors. QR codes have high potential for imaginative use and we expect to see more of them in both B2C and B2B settings.

The beauty of business travel has to be the opportunity to see life through a different lens. At least I am claiming this as a benefit as there has to be an offset to long airport security lines, expensive food, and uncomfortable airline seats that compose the rest of the experience!

When we remain sequestered in the US, we tend to believe that the way we do things is the “only” way. But while we naval-gaze on how we can leverage the continual wave of innovative technology to add efficiency and cost savings to our business, we miss the bigger point. There are still lots of gaps to be closed in markets outside the US and quite a few of them can be closed with minimal effort or thought. For example, when I find reward program operators hoping to add online rewards redemption or upgrade technology, I can confidently provide advice without stretching the limits of imagination.

On the other hand, I often encounter situations where technology is more advanced or a business model different enough that loyalty program operations are enabled well beyond what we can execute within our borders. The fact that many banks are both issuers and acquirers of cards opens up all sorts of possibilities for POS messaging and reward redemption that is a much bigger challenge to implement in the US.

At the end of a busy day in Toronto this week, I was seeking a little caffeine boost and stopped into Tim Hortons, Canada’s favorite coffee and donut provider. Waiting to pay, I saw a sign on the counter informing me that Debit cards were not accepted at Tim Horton’s “to maintain our high speed of service“. I posted the photo on my Pikcur account and share it with you here just in case you don’t believe me.

I’m really not sure how to interpret Tim Hortons’ policy on Debit Cards. Visa had a long running campaign illustrating how debit cards bring speed and convenience to daily shopping experiences and the launch of contactless debit cards several years ago raised the ante on moving the “Q” through check out.

Maybe its really not speed that Tim Horton is worried about. In fact maybe their policy is less about adding convenience to the customer experience and more about reducing processing costs. Even that argument falls short as the cost of cash-handling has been proven to be significant in the QSR world.

Sometimes we don’t have all the answers, but we can observe and document for the moment, hoping that the dots are connected somewhere down the road. For now, I’ll just put Tim Horton in my “Questions about Debit Cards” file.

The beauty of business travel has to be the opportunity to see life through a different lens. At least I am claiming this as a benefit as there has to be an offset to long airport security lines, expensive food, and uncomfortable airline seats that compose the rest of the experience!

When we remain sequestered in the US, we tend to believe that the way we do things is the “only” way. But while we naval-gaze on how we can leverage the continual wave of innovative technology to add efficiency and cost savings to our business, we miss the bigger point. There are still lots of gaps to be closed in markets outside the US and quite a few of them can be closed with minimal effort or thought. For example, when I find reward program operators hoping to add online rewards redemption or upgrade technology, I can confidently provide advice without stretching the limits of imagination.

On the other hand, I often encounter situations where technology is more advanced or a business model different enough that loyalty program operations are enabled well beyond what we can execute within our borders. The fact that many banks are both issuers and acquirers of cards opens up all sorts of possibilities for POS messaging and reward redemption that is a much bigger challenge to implement in the US.

At the end of a busy day in Toronto this week, I was seeking a little caffeine boost and stopped into Tim Hortons, Canada’s favorite coffee and donut provider. Waiting to pay, I saw a sign on the counter informing me that Debit cards were not accepted at Tim Horton’s “to maintain our high speed of service“. I posted the photo on my Pikcur account and share it with you here just in case you don’t believe me.

I’m really not sure how to interpret Tim Hortons’ policy on Debit Cards. Visa had a long running campaign illustrating how debit cards bring speed and convenience to daily shopping experiences and the launch of contactless debit cards several years ago raised the ante on moving the “Q” through check out.

Maybe its really not speed that Tim Horton is worried about. In fact maybe their policy is less about adding convenience to the customer experience and more about reducing processing costs. Even that argument falls short as the cost of cash-handling has been proven to be significant in the QSR world.

Sometimes we don’t have all the answers, but we can observe and document for the moment, hoping that the dots are connected somewhere down the road. For now, I’ll just put Tim Horton in my “Questions about Debit Cards” file.