[signal11]

> UPI truly is a revolution. I can have a 6Rs chai tea (8 cents) from a road side tea stall and pay using UPI with zero transaction fees.

The main benefit of UPI is that it works really well for small amounts, e.g. the INR 6 tea. Such small transcations were traditionally too small/uneconomical for Visa/Mastercard.

However as the transaction size grows, say you're buying a laptop for INR 50,000 -- that's when the protections Visa/Mastercard build in against fraud start helping you and UPI's "no transaction fee" value proposition also starts looking like "no accountability".

Interestingly, India has a home-grown Visa/MC alternative called RuPay, which also waives transaction fees for small amounts and is a credible alternative to Visa/MC.

Unfortunately Indian startups have been obsessed with pushing e-wallets (PayTM et al) or direct electronic cash transfers (UPI) because it benefits them -- as the transaction size goes up it certainly doesn't protect the consumer.