QR Codes may be insecure, but they have found a foothold in the payments world.

It’s a simple use case: a code comes up and is scanned by a reader, which then yields the information in the pattern of squares. Most famously, this works at the counter at your local Starbucks. The user opens the app, a code is displayed, and the point-of-sale device behind the counter scans the code and accepts the payment. (Brett King posted a video showing the Starbucks payment process several years back.)

Pixeliris, a French company best known in the banking space for its CopSonic soundwave payment technology, seems to have unearthed a new use case, however. The company sent out a digital greeting card with two QR codes: one for Android and another for iOS. Scanning the code takes the user to an app download. The app is called CarteVoeux, “greeting card” in French. Opening the app displays a simple camera function. When the smartphone camera, used within that app, is aimed at the image, as seen in the video below, well, take a look. You can download the app here.

This mobile-image generator, in our view, has other potential uses beyond just a greeting card. The app can be used to send a “secure” message for a particular user (or set of users, such as the users of a particular app) that could then send a message to just one specific smartphone (or smartglasses — remember the sunglasses from “They Live”?). This could be an offer for affluent customers, for example. Paired with iBeacon technology, this could mean a further refinement of offers for marketers, and perhaps a great deal more beyond that.

Note that to see the Pixeliris image, one must be in the Pixeliris app. The smartphone camera is only accessible within the app environment, which limits the usefulness of websites optimized for mobile that might rely on imaging — for remote deposit capture of checks, for example — to be fully functional.

The smartphone camera outside the app environment loses much of its power, but within the app, it seems we’re just scratching the surface of what it can offer.

Learn more about what’s next in banking at Bank Innovation 2014 on March 3-4 in Seattle. Request an invitation here.