India's central bank on February 8 announced that it will soon allow foreign travellers to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for making payments in India. "To start with, this facility will be extended to travellers from the G-20 countries, arriving at select international airports. Going forward, this facility will be enabled across all other entry points in the country," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. For the uninitiated, UPI allows users to scan a QR code (or enter a payment address) using any UPI-enabled app on their smartphone, which is linked to their bank account, to make payments at stores or online. It is the most popular form of digital payment in India with over a 60 percent market share. Why does this matter: Thus far, UPI has only been available to Indian citizens and non-residential Indians (NRIs) with Indian bank accounts. For the first time, the payment technology will be open to foreigners. Currently, foreigners in India pay using converted cash or debit/credit/forex cards. With UPI, they will be able to pay using their smartphones. This will benefit travellers in two ways: UPI is more widely accepted in India than debit and credit cards Travellers won’t need to carry large amounts of cash on them Not clear how this will work, but here are some ways: The mechanics of how this will work remain unclear. RBI said that it will issue operation guidelines shortly, but here are some ways it could work: Upon landing in an Indian airport, foreigners can go to a UPI kiosk…
