[mkl95]

Not sure it qualifies as debt. It's just an agreement with your bank to give them that money in a few weeks / days. And if you commit to spending some small amount per year with your card (usually something like $1500), the bank will offer you some nice perks on their products that you don't get by using other payment methods. If you use something like UPI and you are making some kind of deal with your bank, you are basically losing money.

[programmer_dude]

Credit card annual interest rates can be as high as (or even higher than) 50%. This is not trivial, it can (and does) ruin lives. It is a type of debt (though conditional).

[mkl95]

I don't know about other areas, but in the West the overlap between credit card users and people who can get a decent loan at a <10% interest rate is very high. Which is why for most credit card users, credit is a no go if they are not paying it back quickly. UPI counterpart's use case is to send a bit of money to your friend when you share a meal etc.

[programmer_dude]

You have to remember to pay back your credit card debt before the clock runs out. Once you make a UPI payment the transaction ends there (because the money is debited from your bank account and you are not taking on a conditional loan). You don't have to remember to pay the UPI company anything after the fact. I hope this explains how UPI is different from credit cards.

[mkl95]

> You have to remember to pay back your credit card debt before the clock runs out

In my experience paying with credit is a fire and forget action, since the money is debited automatically at the end of the month, with no interest. The UX is great, since it only takes a card swipe [as long as I have the funds to pay it back and I'm within my credit limit].

In an scenario where you are not debited right away, I agree completely. But I would only expect that to happen by accident or if the user lacks the financial literacy to understand there are better ways to buy whatever they want. I may be missing some financial corner cases.

[Indian_in_US]

I don’t remember when was the last time I’ve paid my credit card, I’ve set it on auto pay. Plus I accumulate enough points at the end of the year for one way trip to India.