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French woman surprised by India’s digital payment culture: ‘Street food, chai, auto? Just scan the QR code’
A French woman said she was surprised by how widely UPI was used for everyday payments across India.
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A French woman has shared her surprise over how widely digital payments are used in India, saying she did not expect to find QR codes everywhere, from roadside food stalls and chai shops to autorickshaws and small local businesses.
In a video shared on Instagram, the woman, who goes by the handle @experiencesacree.inde, spoke about one aspect of everyday life in India that particularly stood out to her.
(Also read: Mumbai man flags how UPI AutoPay mandates quietly drain money: 'Most people never notice a ₹79 deduction')
“As a French woman, I never expected to pay for almost everything with my phone in India, and I mean... everywhere. Street food? Just scan the QR code. Chai? Scan the QR code. Auto? Scan the QR code. Even a tiny little shop in the middle of the street? QR code. Coming from France, this honestly surprised me,” she said.
‘I didn’t realise how deeply digital payments are integrated’
In the caption accompanying the video, she said she was already familiar with UPI before travelling to India but had not realised just how common it was in everyday transactions.
“One thing I never expected to discover in India… Before coming to India, I knew about UPI, but I honestly didn’t realize how deeply digital payments are integrated into everyday life. A chai? Scan the QR. Street food? Scan the QR. A tiny local shop? Scan the QR. Even a ₹20 snack? Scan. Pay. Done,” she wrote.
She added that what surprised her even more was that the system was not confined to big cities or upscale establishments.
“You can find QR codes at small street-food stalls, local shops, cafés, rickshaws and businesses of all kinds,” she wrote, describing it as one of the everyday cultural differences she had not expected to encounter.
Watch the clip here:
Post sparks reactions
The post received several reactions from social media users. One person wrote, “Foreigners are so underinformed. This has been going on for 10 years. I haven’t touched cash in four years. We know everything about your country.”
Responding to the comment, the woman said, “I completely agree that travelling opens the mind, especially when we travel with enough curiosity to realise that our own experience of a country is not the same as knowing everything about it.” She added that travelling beyond the “tourist bubble” can help people discover different realities within the same country and leave more room for “curiosity, nuance and the possibility of learning something you didn’t already know.”
(Also read: ‘I stopped using UPI for 3 months’: Delhi woman reveals how cash changed her spending habits)
Another user commented, “UPI really makes everyday payments effortless.” Someone else said, “India’s digital payment system is on another level.” A fourth person simply wrote, “Yes i agree with you.”
HT.com has reached out to the user for her comments, and the copy will be updated once her response is received.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
