Apple Pay QR Code: Can You Make One, and What Works Instead

You can't make an Apple Pay QR code to receive money. Apple's own guides describe three ways to pay with Apple Pay: holding the iPhone near a contactless reader in a store, tapping the Apple Pay button online or in an app, and scanning a code that a checkout page shows on a computer screen. That last code is created by the checkout for one payment, and it is not something you can print. What a business can print is a regular QR code that opens a checkout page offering Apple Pay. On an iPhone, the customer pays with Apple Pay from there.

The Apple quotes below come from Apple's support pages, read on October 29, 2026.

Is there an Apple Pay QR code?

Not one you can create. Apple's article Make purchases using Apple Pay (published October 23, 2026) lists where Apple Pay works:

• In stores, "wherever you see the appropriate contactless payment symbols". You "Hold the top of your iPhone near the contactless reader".
• Online and in apps, "when you see Apple Pay as a payment option".
• On other computers, "by scanning a code with your iPhone or iPad".

None of these is a personal code tied to your Apple Pay or Apple Cash.

The code you scan at checkout

The scannable code is for paying on a computer whose browser isn't Safari, such as Chrome on a PC. Apple's steps are short: "Tap the Apple Pay button or choose Apple Pay as your payment method. A code will be presented to you on the screen. Use your iPhone or iPad camera to scan the code." You then confirm the payment on the iPhone or iPad.

The checkout makes that code for the purchase on the screen, so there is nothing to save or print. Apple's merchant page lists an iPhone with iOS 18 or later, or an iPad with iPadOS 18 or later, for testing it, and adds: "This feature is not available in all markets. Software requirements apply." In China mainland, Apple says, "using Apple Pay with a third-party browser is not available."

Can you receive money with an Apple Pay QR code?

Not with a QR code. Between people, Apple's tool is Apple Cash. Apple's guide to sending and receiving money with Apple Cash (published September 14, 2026) covers three ways: in Messages, in the Wallet app, and with Tap to Cash, which works "with someone nearby without sharing your phone number or email". None of the steps uses a QR code. The same guide says that to send and receive money with an Apple Cash account "you must be 18 and a U.S. resident."

If you want people to pay you by scanning something, you need a payment page from a payment provider, and a QR code that opens it.

How a business can take Apple Pay from a printed QR code

The setup has two parts:

1. A checkout page that offers Apple Pay. Most payment providers have a hosted payment page or payment link. Stripe's documentation, for example, says Apple Pay works on its Payment Links and hosted Checkout without additional setup, and that Stripe doesn't show Apple Pay when the customer's device or browser doesn't meet the requirements. Those customers pay with a card instead.
2. A QR code that opens that page. Any QR code generator can encode the link. Print it on the counter, the invoice, the flyer or the delivery bag.

A customer with an iPhone scans the code, the checkout opens in the browser, and Apple Pay appears as a payment option. Everyone else sees the provider's other payment methods.

Step by step

1. Create a payment link or hosted checkout page in your payment provider's dashboard, and check that Apple Pay is turned on.
2. Open the link on an iPhone and confirm that Apple Pay appears.
3. Create a QR code that points to the link. A dynamic QR code lets you change the link later without reprinting. See how to create a dynamic QR code in CodeQR.
4. Print a test copy and scan it with an iPhone and with an Android phone before you print the rest.

Why a dynamic QR code fits a payment link

Payment links change when prices go up or a link has to be regenerated. A static QR code holds the link itself, so any change means reprinting. A dynamic QR code holds a short link that you can point to the new payment page, and the printed code stays the same.

A dynamic code also counts its scans, so you can see how many people opened the payment page from each printed code. If you use Stripe, our guide to Stripe conversion tracking shows how to connect each payment to the code or link that brought it, which in CodeQR is available on Pro and above.

If you meant a QR code in Apple Wallet

Some people searching for an "Apple Pay QR code" want a QR code inside Apple Wallet, such as a ticket, a loyalty card or a membership card. That is a Wallet pass, and a scan of it does not make a payment. Our help article shows how to add a QR code to Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, and these wallet pass ideas show what businesses use them for. In CodeQR, wallet passes are available on Business and above.

When the Apple Pay code at checkout doesn't work

• Update the iPhone or iPad. Apple's merchant page tests the feature on iOS 18 or later and iPadOS 18 or later.
• Check where you are: Apple says the feature "is not available in all markets", and in China mainland it is not available with third-party browsers.
• Check the checkout: Apple Pay appears only where the merchant offers it. On a Mac, Safari can show Apple Pay without the code.