[davelondon]

I was in India earlier this year, and found there was no way (and I spent hours trying) for a foreigner to get access to the UPI system. This meant:

1) There were some cashless fast food outlets that I couldn't eat at

2) There was no way for me to book an intercity bus ticket

I eventually managed to get a bus ticket by sweet-talking someone in a shop to use their personal UPI account in exchange for cash.

I fear there's going to be more problems like this for travellers as communities go cashless around the world.

[vinay_ys]

There are two ways for a foreigners to use UPI.

1. If you are from one of G20 countries (for now, will expand to other countries), you can get a prepaid UPI digital wallet at the airport where you land. Just go to the money exchange counters and enquire about this. Airport information desk should help you as well. You don't need an India phone number or India bank account. You can load money into this prepaid wallet via your foreign account or credit card etc. You can use your passport as document for KYC purposes. This is most convenient for short visits. The UPI app issued will be by some forex company. When you leave India, whatever Rupee balance in the app will be refunded to you at the airport. The UPI apps that are most popular with Indians (GPay, PhonePe, PayTM) won't work for this.

2. If you are not from G20 or you are going to be in India for longer than a week, you are likely to get a local phone number. You can get a local prepaid phone number sim at the airport. Then, you can open a bank account in India, tied to that phone number. This account type is called NRO Rupee account – Non Resident Ordinary account. This entire process of opening an NRO account can be done at a bank branch physically or online via your mobile phone. Once you have that bank account, you can use any UPI app like any Indian does.

See:

1. https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/opening-bank-account-indi...

2. https://rbi.org.in/scripts/FAQView.aspx?Id=16

3. https://wise.com/in/blog/upi-international-transfers

[pcthrowaway]

> Just go to the money exchange counters and enquire about this. Airport information desk should help you as well.

> You can get a local prepaid phone number sim at the airport.

Worth noting, do all this before you leave the airport. Assuming you land in Delhi, once you leave the airport there's no way to get back in unless you have flight information to show

This turned into a pretty big problem for me on my first trip to India once I exited the airport with no way to make phone calls, no data, no sense of where anything was, and no rupees (I hadn't exchanged cash yet)

[mattigames]

Yeah no, it seems likethe best idea it's to not go to India at all and avoid all that trouble.

[user3939382]

Riiight.. there’s a problem with money exchange at the airport so the solution is to completely write off an entire subcontinent that’s the home of one of the oldest, richest human cultures.

[pb7]

If it’s a massive burden to do something as simple as pay for goods and services then why not? There is a whole world out there that doesn’t suffer from this problem.

[mavelikara]

Currency notes and credit/debit cards work well.

[mattigames]

Totally, Im sure thats the one and only problem you will face there.

[kryptozinc]

Thanks, we don't want people like you visiting either.

[pb7]

People that want to be able to pay for things during their stay?

[kylehotchkiss]

1) This is never explained to visitors in way that'd get their attention - for example, getting a paper from immigration explaining that's available. Too complicated for now. Maybe once this is available outside the airport it's more viable. Strongly recommend visitors to just take out cash, and carry the amount they need per day + 50% on them. Personally I got by living in India for several years primarily using my American Express card which was accepted at more places than I expected.

2) I wouldn't advise visiting foreigners to get a sim as it requires passing your passport scans to untrustworthy low-level staff at the cell companies. It worries me how they take the passport to a backroom to scan it. I worry they're selling/distributing copies. I realize hotel staff also scan passports but they have reputations to protect and are less likely to. Google Fi/T-mobile roaming or an e-sim via Airolo are much more appropriate and wise choices for short term travelers. If you know somebody in India however, asking for a SIM is totally fine. You can pay to add funds via an international service like Xoom or an American Express card in the Airtel app (which worked for me occasionally)

Protip about American Express cards in India, and the reason I mention it several times. I lost mine last time I was visiting and they sent a new one to my hotel in under 48 hours.

[signal11]

1) is somewhat impractical, because it’s easy to miss the airport desk which does this, and if you miss the opportunity it’s not easy to go back there (Indian airports don’t really allow you back in if you’ve exited)

2) opening an account isn’t practical for tourists, but of course if you’re living in India for even a short while, it’s worth it.

3) Allegedly UPI will work for NRIs / OCIs with foreign phone numbers. In reality most banks haven’t implemented it yet.

tl;dr - “onboarding” onto UPI for short-term visitors is mired in burdensome bureaucracy, and this isn’t a technical issue with UPI, it’s a result of conscious choices by Indian regulators.

The real win would be if you could load up a UPI wallet like you’d do with PayPal. Perhaps initially restricted to people with a valid visa. But regulators haven’t figured that out yet.

[sudshekhar]

Mentioned this on the parent thread, but there are new UPI apps coming out in the market which don't need a bank account.

https://chequpi.com/

For example

[iDon]

I used the Cheq app to make UPI payments via smartphone / QR code, during a holiday in India in July. The app listed locations for completing the Know Your Customer (KYC) process - I did this at Transcorp in Bengaluru. It was worth the effort - it is far more convenient than cash in most cases. Most vendors kept little change, and even restaurants were not keen on receiving a 500R note for a 200R meal. Similarly for museums, art galleries, historic buildings. Auto-rickshaw drivers were happy with cash, and had a reasonable amount of change. I did find a couple of vendors who weren't registered as merchants for UPI, and I could only transfer to merchants, not other users. For travellers I'd suggest setting up UPI beforehand if possible; as mentioned you can do it as you fly in (Thomas Cook offers this service in the airport), but the KYC might take a while.

(Side-tracking from payments to SIMs : ) Several historic buildings had an online-only ticket process with a QR code displayed outside. The user experience of the websites was variable (navigating the forms and input widgets on a phone while standing in the street could be trying), and they required a lot of information, eg. Passport number and sometimes home address, usually including authentication via one time password sent to mobile phone number and possibly they only work for Indian SIMs. Those sites accepted credit card payment, including international. I couldn't count the number of times I gave my phone number, for all sorts of purposes, e.g. when checking in my phone at a temple, I was photographed and gave my number - simple id and method for finding the phone among all the others (when I realised that I switched the phone back on). And for all of these a local phone number is required, so pick up a local SIM at the airport or in the city. I did both, and I think the airport process was quicker. They do require full id for SIMs, including a local address, e.g. a hotel. A 28-day SIM cost only 299 rupees so I got a second one for increased coverage and capacity, because the networks are over-subscribed. (That's less than the daily rate at home). A dual-SIM phone makes that easy, and I could also run with one local SIM and my home SIM to receive SMSs. I was able to download maps and apps while travelling on buses and trains, and use tracking apps - which helped with knowing when a bus was approaching my stop.

[signal11]

This looks really promising, thank you. (And oh, it’s a YC company!)

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7094460...

Is there a page which lists others like this?

[sudshekhar]

https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/3rd-party-apps

https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/upi/ppi-apps

These two links list all the approved UPI apps in the Indian fintech market. As you can see, the ecosystem is vibrant and ever-growing :)

We are the first ones to focus exclusively on serving foreigners and NRIs in India and have issued the most number of international wallets till date.

Fave app and First Rupi(from IDFC) are alternatives you can try if interested.

[signal11]

> We are the first ones to focus exclusively on serving foreigners and NRIs in India and have issued the most number of international wallets till date.

Awesome! I look forward to trying out your app!

[kryptozinc]

Tried the app on two different phones with two different USA numbers. Never received the OTP on either. What if this happens when executing a transaction that requires OTP?

[sudshekhar]

UPI transactions thankfully don't need an OTP for verification. As long as you have internet, your payments should work fine

You'll just have to enter the transaction PIN (which you decide while creating the account).

Sim binding generally fails because the individual is unable to send an sms due to recharge/network issues. Can you raise a ticket with the support team? Someone will quickly get in touch and help you onboard.

[unmole]

I saw a 040 support number and got a bit excited for a minute. But looks like you guys are based Bengaluru.

[sudshekhar]

Our team is based out of Bangalore. But Transcorp, our partner, has branches in 22 cities across India.

People can get themselves verified for the Cheq wallet at any of these locations.

[vinay_ys]

Nice and clean! Congrats!

[vinay_ys]

> 1) is somewhat impractical, because it’s easy to miss the airport desk which does this, and if you miss the opportunity it’s not easy to go back there (Indian airports don’t really allow you back in if you’ve exited)

These money exchange counters are before airport security and accessible without "entering" the airport.

[signal11]

Those (before airport security) don’t perform UPI onboarding for foreign tourists. The usually-solitary shop/desk that does this is present in select airports for international arrivals (not departures) and needs to be used before you leave the secure area. And oh, good luck finding it staffed if your flight arrives outside business hours.

Your meta-point though is “oh there’s a workaround” or “if you go through hoops it’s doable”.

My meta-point is, the whole “do it at specific shops in the airport” is problematic and needlessly limiting.

Why an airport? Why’s it special? Could it be more convenient?

Asking these questions of digital systems (any digital system) is what HN is about. Not defending needless limitations.

[vinay_ys]

hey, I'm just trying to be helpful for visiting foreigners. I don't have any need to defend UPI on HN and moreover UPI needs no defending, its stats speak for itself.

[signal11]

Except the ‘helpful’ steps you mentioned don’t really work. (Another commenter linked to some up and coming apps which are far more promising[1], I’d definitely urge interested folk to look into those.)

> moreover UPI needs no defending, its stats speak for itself.

The law of large numbers applies to UPI like it does to almost everything in India: you’ll get huge numbers which look good on slides.

In reality, UPI is a bit above 10% of India’s cash transaction volume, so yeah, the reality of “UPI is ubiquitous” isn’t quite there yet.

And “UPI needs no defending” is the exact uncritical thinking I expect when there’s any forum discussion of UPI. The thread started with people saying UPI doesn’t work for tourists & short term visitors, which I believe is valid criticism.

There are many other criticisms of UPI, including and especially the governance around it. (On a more optimistic note, all of this is fixable.) But that’s for you to figure out if you’re interested!

[1] https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/JDX-cheq-upi-digital-pa...

[wtmt]

> This entire process of opening an NRO account can be done at a bank branch physically or online via your mobile phone.

Online method is not possible since banks and other providers insist on providing Aadhaar number and completing OTP authentication for that mode. Aadhaar is a number given for residents, i.e., anyone who has legally resides in the country for more than 182 days. So a foreigner landing in the country isn’t going to be eligible for it until six months have passed.

[kylehotchkiss]

Having been in a situation where I've asked for one of these accounts, the bank asks for FRRO registration paperwork. If you've ever been to a FRRO, you know they won't actually grant those :)

[mavelikara]

Thanks for this information. I am a NRI and I do have a NRO account. Can I use that account for getting a UPI wallet?

[sudshekhar]

Hey @davelondon,

Sudhanshu here, from Cheq UPI.

We're a part of YC S23 and our team launched the Cheq UPI payments app specifically to help international citizens and NRIs avail UPI.

https://chequpi.com/

Some testimonials from our early customers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ct5WY9vOz4

We launched officially in August, and are growing fast. Next time you travel to india, do give us a try :)

PS: We don't need an Indian bank account to help you make payments.

[fuzztester]

What's the Cheq UPI business model? Standard VC-backed startup one, of get bought or IPO, or stay in biz and make profits. If profits, how?

[sudshekhar]

The goal is to build a sustainable business which helps customers enjoy the lowest cross border forex rates for purchasing in India.

We're trying to stay away from unsustainable economics

1) Cheq charges a 10$ joining fees to everyone who activates their wallet.

2) We'll eventually charge an add money markup for topping up your wallet using an international card

[fuzztester]

Thanks for the info.

[kylehotchkiss]

As a foreigner who's lived in India for several years, what I'd really prefer is the ability to make payment using the instruments I have and not having to do a whole "KYC" process that no other country would ask me to. Context - within my home USA, I can open bank and credit cards accounts without ever even showing an ID. Having to ask very local shops to scan your passport/visa is an extremely uncomfortable request for people from abroad who have been told to protect that document from identity thieves their whole life. Nobody wants to give their address or phone number to a shopkeeper. I wish you guys all the best, but ultimately what India needs is more of those awesome Pine terminals which reliably take foreign cards and Apple Pay support. Then they get the lost card and chargeback protection they get everywhere else. So many foreigners are willing to come and spend money at small shops, why not better enable them to with the tools they have?

[sudshekhar]

The pine terminals and credit card acceptance cost the merchants hefty fees. Which many of the small businesses prefer not to pay, specially given the infrequency of card purchases.

You can always stick to cash and card as your preferred mode of payments in India.

Having a UPI wallet can be a convenient backup for travellers though. You won't have to run around finding an ATM in case you get stuck.

And the verification process might seem "difficult" but its one-time and less painful than visiting a doctor.

Given the applicable forex regulations, I guess that's the best we're allowed to enable right now.

[eddtests]

When I moved to Sweden I had the same issues because of a dependency on Swish and BankID (and personal ID numbers). It can be a real pain for things when you’re staying a little longer than a weekend and want to go to a gym for example. I went to one cafe where I literally had no way to pay as a foreigner

[daneel_w]

A normal European debit card works everywhere. Cash-only establishments are uncommon. With that said I don't know how complicated the procedure is for a non-EU citizen to get a bank account (and with that a normal debit card) after moving to Sweden and having obtained a permit for residency. For EU citizens it's not a hassle.

[Tijdreiziger]

I lived in Sweden for 6 months in 2018 and didn’t have any such problems.

My Dutch Maestro debit card worked in all shops and cafés I visited, and online I was usually able to use a MasterCard.

Personnummer was really only required for things like phone plans and store loyalty cards, which you don’t really need. I just used EU roaming on my Dutch SIM, but if you’re non-EU I believe you can get PAYG/prepaid SIMs without needing a personnummer.

[Leherenn]

I don't know about Sweden in particular, but things have moved very quickly in this space, especially since Covid. It's very common that things that used to be cash only (food trucks, car parks, ...) have moved to $local_system since then.

[Tijdreiziger]

I don’t recall any cash-only businesses even back then. I did carry some cash, but I barely used it.

[folmar]

That's great for you, but most countries don't have Maestro so no luck in Sweden. And no, Mastercard does not work nearly as well.

[Tijdreiziger]

I think Swedish banks issue MasterCard or Visa as their standard debit cards, so it seems to me that it should work (although I didn’t have reason to try it when I was there). See e.g.:

https://www.swedbank.se/en/private/cards-and-payment/debit-c...

https://www.handelsbanken.se/en/personal/accounts-cards-and-...

https://www.nordea.se/privat/produkter/kreditkort-bankkort/n...

[eddtests]

There's a big push on Swish which is a mobile banking app and only available to people with BankID - there are smaller places that are Swish-only which means you cannot pay with a card or cash but a Swedish-specific app. I am now with Handelsbanken so this issue is solved but when I first visited it was an issue!

But regardless of those more niche issues, did you try joining a Gym before getting a Swedish card/personnummer?

[folmar]

Nordea -> issues Visa Electron. That is not the same as regular Visa!

Swedbank -> issues Maestro, https://www.swedbank.se/privat/kort/bankkort/bankkort-maestr... (yes, the English page lists only a quarter of the available ones)

Handelsbanken -> issues Maestro, scroll down a bit

I was there a few year ago with both Mastercard and Visa in my pocket and the success rate was 60-70% for that combination (i.e. some one third of the places would not accept either). But steadily improving.

[robin_reala]

If you move from another EU country this is the problem that EMPSA are trying (though with no visible success) to solve: https://empsa.org/

[illegalmemory]

You can soon do UPI even if you don't have Indian bank account, you can just download an app and connect any payment source to your UPI ID.

https://inc42.com/buzz/japan-may-join-the-growing-list-of-co...

[deskamess]

I was back there 2 months ago. That facility was not available and I was from one of the 20 countries that are allowed (you can specify a US/Can phone number). I downloaded PhonePe and PayTm. You at least needed a NRE (rupee) account. What seemed to work always was tap. But I think the tap amount was always < us 200.

If you have guidance on how to setup Google Pay/other with UPI it would be appreciated. I even tried updating my Google Pay software to get the Indian version in the hope it would work.

UPI is great and I hope it becomes worldwide. I think they started in France recently. If you are an Indian citizen/OCI holder encourage your foreign banks to get involved. I do not have much hope for Canadian oligopoly banks but if a bank in the US got it I would move some of my money there.

[devoutsalsa]

American here. I visited India in June of 2023. I tried using various apps to access UPI, but I was unable to figure it out. I couldn't find a way to connect a USA account (bank, credit card, PayPal, etc.) as a payment source. Hopefully it will be easier soon.

[blueblisters]

I have friends who are Indians living outside. They don’t have a UPI account and find it difficult to get around when they visit India for a few weeks. The simplest solution would be an app that can use a credit card to load to a UPI compatible wallet. I’m guessing the market is not big enough for such a use case or the regulations are too onerous.

[tavish1]

That is why I hate seeing people equating this to 'development' or some other metric of improvement. This excludes not just you, but people who do not have a phone, do not know how to use one, cannot use one, have access to just cash etc.

In contrast, in Japan, they may have NFC payments by card/phone, online payments, but every single bus/train/cab/boat accepts cash as the lowest common denominator. Forget payments, all public offices still support paper + post for all procedures I've had to do, with the option of doing things with a phone or a PC. In India, however, for several things I've had to do, they would rip out the old system and replace it with a online portal with dubious implementation, and often disregarding laws (for example using UID number as legal identity proof, while it shouldn't have been, by law).

[pulse7]

And this "more problems" is called "the future" and if you don't embrace it you are "so far behind on adoption of financial technology"...

[itsbits]

Now Indian airports have outlets to create UPIs for foreigners visiting the country

[Mandatum]

Can’t wait to hand over my passport and drivers license to some random person after security wearing a uniform and holding an iPad after I get off an 8 hour red-eye.

Surely nothing can go wrong.

[sofixa]

It's the same as the kiosks to get a local SIM card which also often require ID. Also optional.

> drivers license

A driver's license is rarely accepted as a valid ID document outside of the US which rarely has anything better.

[Mandatum]

https://internationaldrivingpermit.org/how-to-apply/

[master-lincoln]

An international driver license is not an id. It can be used to show to local law enforcement what vehicles you are allowed to drive. To use it you must have the original driver license with you too

[eddtests]

This is not as useful as you’d assume, some places just don’t acknowledge non-State ID’s regardless of what they try to sell you

[avianlyric]

Have you ever seen and IDP? They’re a complete joke as an identity document, a child with a potato could forge one.

[kylehotchkiss]

This KYC stuff required to get a sim/temp UPI makes me very happy an address isn't put into US passports. Who else is going to get that address if there was one there?

[scatters]

Those kiosks are a thing of the past, now that you can get an e-sim.

[flangola7]

Rarely has anything better? What does that mean?

[sofixa]

Lots of countries around the world have an ID card which is the default ID mechanism and is often mandatory to have (compared to say a driver's license, which many simply don't have because they never drive). The US doesn't widely have that, altough there are some slow efforts to that effect AFAIK.

[kylehotchkiss]

You'd be surprised how well a US Passport Card is accepted as an ID around India. Most people are just looking for something official in a card-sized format. There's no address, no real passport number on it. It's a more harmless document to identify yourself abroad.

[sudshekhar]

The physical verification process is required to respect the AML guidelines established by the RBI. The process itself takes less than 5 minutes but must be done once the foreigner lands in India.

In Blr/Mumbai/Delhi, our team can arrange for home verifications as well.

https://chequpi.com/

[kylehotchkiss]

This is very valid feedback - foreigners do not want to deal with this nonsense KYC stuff to make payments. No assurance is ever given that the passport details will be kept safe and not sold off to people doing identity theft stuff

[deskamess]

Really? Which airports? I was there 2 months ago.

[dilliwal]

any source?

[kmlx]

> I was in India earlier this year, and found there was no way (and I spent hours trying) for a foreigner to get access to the UPI system.

never been to India. do they not support credit cards like the rest of the planet? visa/mastercard/amex? only UPI?

[berkes]

"the rest of the planet" doesnt accept visa/Mastercard just anywhere and certainly not amex. In e.g. The Netherlands, mostly cashless society now, creditcards are hardly ever used by locals and so many POS won't have the infra to accept CC payments.

The world is not the US and the US isn't the world.

[kmlx]

> the rest of the planet" doesnt accept visa/Mastercard just anywhere

most of the developed world does. even Eastern Europe have transformed themselves into a NFC bonanza.

> The Netherlands

the netherlands is the wrong example. it has always been an outlier when it comes to card payments. case in point: you can't even make a Visa/Mastercard payment in an AH supermarket, you need a Maestro card.

> The world is not the US and the US isn't the world.

i have travelled quite a bit. most the of the developed world (except for the Netherlands of course) has full support for Visa/Mastercard NFC. and Amex support is more and more spread (e.g. i have seen more and more Stripe in Greece lately). the world is moving on from the idea you have of it.

[avianlyric]

Visa/Mastercard aren’t as ubiquitous as people imagine, despite Visa/Mastercard trying to acquire their way to global market dominance.

The are many developed and developing countries that operate their own card networks, peer-to-peer payment technologies, and generally cheaper faster alternatives to Mastercard/Visa, with many merchants preferring them to their U.S. counterparts.

Visa/Mastercard may have dominance in the English speaking west, and many tourists location for the English speaking west, but assuming Visa/Mastercard is some gold standard the world should aspire to is very naïve. In reality alternatives like UPI and other peer-to-peer systems are more likely to be the payment systems of the future. Continued Mastercard/Visa dominance in its current form only really makes sense in countries with outdated and inadequate banking infrastructure, like the U.S.

[kmlx]

> In reality alternatives like UPI and other peer-to-peer systems are more likely to be the payment systems of the future.

i find that very hard to believe as the user interaction for qr codes is a step backwards from using an nfc with a phone’s wallet. and once you use the nfc solution it’s very hard to switch back to a system that is less friendly.

of course, if you take the QR codes out of the equation and replace with NFC then i see no issues.

> Continued Mastercard/Visa dominance in its current form only really makes sense in countries with outdated and inadequate banking infrastructure, like the U.S.

you are wrong. if anything the system is getting more widely used. europe for example has very advanced banking infra and is all in on nfc, with mastercard/visa/amex widely accepted, and the system is being adopted everywhere.

[avianlyric]

> of course, if you take the QR codes out of the equation and replace with NFC then i see no issues.

There’s no reason p2p payments can’t operate over NFC. It’s just a short distance communication technology, it’s little more than an implementation detail in a payment network, and not significant to fundamental operation or economics of a payment network.

The fact Mastercard/Visa have a monopoly on NFC payments on phones is a big reason why the EU is investigating ApplePay and Apple NFC API restrictions.

> you are wrong. if anything the system is getting more widely used. europe for example has very advanced banking infra and is all in on nfc

I don’t think you appreciate the timeline here. Contactless payments have existed in Europe for over a decade, it basically at peak adoption already. Alternative P2P payments and technology like OpenBanking is only just getting started, and Mastercard/Visa are already worried, they’ve already made big acquisitions in Open Banking tech and alternative payment networks to ensure they don’t get cut out of the profits long term.

Ultimately payment technologies are chosen by merchants, not customers. If alternatives offer cheaper payments, and more importantly, faster merchant settlement, then merchants are going to start exploring those options. If companies like Apple are forced to open up their NFC stacks, and let others build alternative wallet and payment networks on them, then Mastercard/Visa current technical advantage will disappear very quickly.

That very advanced banking infra you speak off will forms the backbone of alternative payment technologies, why would anyone want to pay a middleman for a service their bank can provide directly, and provide much cheaper?

[captn3m0]

I paid almost eveywhere in Amsterdam with my Indian Visa card and it worked quite well.

Even the GBV Transport network lets you use NFC cards directly, without having to buy a separate card or ticket. You get a charge 6 days later after they tally up your trips.

I like UPI, but paying with NFC Cards is so much simpler, easier, and faster.

[berkes]

Amsterdam is a tourist hub. And even in Amsterdam, local focused places, like supermarkets or a pharmacy will often only take maestro.

[arapacana]

absolutely ridiculous that the class-based "developed world" label is still around, as if most parts of Asia aren't at the same developmental and infrastructural level as America. India is up there :)

[Semaphor]

Germany is another outlier. Mainly big chains will accept amex, and small places might not accept credit cards in general, though that has been getting better thanks to SumUp.

[kmlx]

yes, germany loves cash. always has.

[leesalminen]

The vast majority of businesses in Costa Rica are required by law to accept cards, Amex included.

[tbbfjotllf]

> "the rest of the planet" doesnt accept visa/Mastercard just anywhere

India does have the infrastructure and accepts credit cards but it's not available everywhere and UPI is more widespread in India. It can be found in street side sellers to massive retail stores. While the street side sellers won't have the methods to accept credit cards, massive stores probably will and there are always ATMs so cash is a thing. For travel we have Uber, and Uber accepts credit cards. so, You don't need UPI but it's a great convenience to have. On the other hand, Not having Internet access after you get out of the airport is definitely a problem.

[Tijdreiziger]

The transition from Maestro/VPay to MasterCard/Visa debit cards in the Netherlands is now nearly complete: https://www.betaalvereniging.nl/betaalproducten-en-diensten/...

[deskamess]

They accept credit cards in most well to do stores. However street side shops probably do not. Most business avoid it due to the fee. UPI has them hooked with no-fee right now but fees are expected in the future. But right now, they have a no-fee option which is better than mc/visa/amex.

[kmlx]

thanks for the comment. yeah, i expected as much.

[kylehotchkiss]

Amex acceptance in India is really good. Hotels, malls, Ubers, restaurants all take it without issue. I mean you can't buy food from local stalls, but as a foreigner visiting it's better to stick with branded restaurants to avoid food sickness (and if you're going someday, pack Imodium, best thing to get back on your feet after just a day)

[chupchap]

It is accepted in most restaurants and shops, but for transactions of lower amounts UPI is preferred due to the fee involved with visa and mastercard

[perfopt]

I have not seen a single eatery that does not accept cash.

Booking bus tickets - RedBus and other portals accept credit cards. To use cash one must book at the terminal.

[devoutsalsa]

I couldn't pay for lunch at my friend's office. They only accepted UPI as payment. It would have been nice to be able to pay for tuk-tuks and car taxis without using cash, too. If you only have "large" bills, the drivers never seem to have enough change.

[tamirzb]

RedBus and many other Indian apps & websites don't accept foreign credit cards. It can become a real headache when traveling in India as a foreigner.