Pionex Scan to Pay lets you use USDT in your Payment Account to scan merchant QR codes and pay in local currency. No need to exchange cash or link a bank card — just open the Pionex App, scan, and pay.

Currently live in Vietnam (VietQR, Momo), the Philippines (QRPH, InstaPay), Brazil (Pix), Argentina, India (UPI), Bolivia, and Colombia. See the tables below for each region's supported QR codes and transaction limits. More regions are coming soon.

After activation, transfer USDT from your Primary Account to your Payment Account.

On your Pionex App, click [More] → [Scan to Pay] → [Transfer]

Transfers are free and instant. Payment Account balance can be transferred back to your Main Account at any time. Once topped up, your balance starts earning 5% APY.

Tip: We recommend topping up a larger amount at once to avoid transferring before every purchase. Your Payment Account balance earns interest, so there’s no downside to keeping a balance.
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​Turn on Auto-transfer to skip manual top-ups

Turn on Auto-transfer and Pionex tops up your Payment Account automatically whenever the balance runs low — no need to transfer before every purchase.

How to turn it on:

To turn it off, tap the settings summary on the Transfer page (e.g. "Balance below 1,000 USDT, auto-transfer 5,000 USDT"), then tap [Disable Auto-transfer] at the bottom of that page.
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Note: make sure your chosen deduction source accounts have enough available balance — each auto-transfer deducts directly from them.

Scan a supported QR code to pay:

VietQR is the unified QR code payment standard promoted by the State Bank of Vietnam and NAPAS, integrated with over 55 banks and payment institutions across Vietnam. Offline merchant coverage is extensive, from large chain supermarkets to street stalls.

The following limits apply based on the merchant‘s country or region:

Scan to Pay uses the USDT balance in your Pionex Payment Account. The Payment Account shares a balance with your Visa card.

Fund transfers to the Payment Account are not subject to withdrawal review, enabling instant deductions. Fund changes in the Main Account go through risk control review, which is not suitable for real-time payment scenarios.

Passkey is the core security mechanism for Scan to Pay. It uses your device’s biometric authentication (fingerprint or face) to verify payments, replacing traditional payment passwords.

Advantages:

Click [More] on your Pionex App, then select [Scan to Pay]. You can view all Scan to Pay transaction records, including payment amounts, deduction details, exchange rates, and order statuses.

Q: What currencies does Scan to Pay support?

A: Currently only USDT. If your balance is in other currencies, you can convert to USDT via Flash Swap on Pionex, then transfer to your Payment Account.

Q: What if my Payment Account balance is insufficient?
A: It depends on whether Auto-transfer is turned on. If it's on, Pionex automatically tops up your Payment Account from your chosen source accounts once the balance falls below your set threshold — no action needed from you. If it's off, the system will guide you to quickly transfer USDT from your Primary Account at the time of payment; after the transfer, you can continue paying without rescanning. See "Turn on Auto-transfer" above to set it up.

Q: Will I be charged if the payment fails?

A: No. USDT is only deducted after a successful payment. If an exception occurs during the fiat payment process, the frozen USDT will be automatically returned to your Payment Account.

Q: How is the exchange rate calculated?

A: The system displays the current reference exchange rate and estimated deduction at the time of payment. The actual deduction is based on the exchange rate at settlement. The rate includes conversion costs, and no additional fees are charged.

Q: Do I need to be local to use it?

A: No. You can scan a supported merchant’s QR code and complete payment from anywhere — there are no location restrictions.

Q: What’s the difference between static and dynamic QR codes?

A: A static QR code is permanently displayed by the merchant; after scanning, you need to enter the payment amount manually. A dynamic QR code is generated by the merchant for each transaction, with the amount already embedded — it auto-fills after scanning.

Q: After a merchant cancels/refund a QR code payment order, how long will it take for the refund to be credited? Where will the refund be credited?

A: Once we receive the refund notification initiated by the merchant, we will process the refund immediately. The refund will be credited back to your Pionex Card Account (Payment Account) that was originally charged for the payment.

Q: Will the full amount be refunded for a QR code payment refund? Are there any fees or exchange-rate losses?

A: The refund will be fully refunded based on the actual amount paid for the original order. Currently, QR code payments do not incur any refund fees, so no amount will be deducted from the refund due to fees.

Q: How to apply to increase transaction limits?

A: Pionex does not support the increase of transaction limits and there is no way to apply for an increase.

Q: My Scan to Pay payment failed. Why, and what should I do?

A: You are not charged for a failed payment. Any USDT frozen for it is returned to your Payment Account automatically. To check the order, tap [More] → [Scan to Pay] and open it in your transaction history. Scan to Pay orders are only shown here, not in your Pionex Card transaction history.

A QR code payment usually fails for one of these reasons:

If it still fails, tap [Get Support] on the order. This opens a chat with Pionex Support, so you don't need to start a new conversation. Tell us the merchant name, amount and time of the payment. If the order is still pending, the button appears after 60 seconds.