A French woman has expressed her astonishment at the sheer ubiquity of digital payments in India, revealing that she was surprised to see QR codes embedded in even the most ordinary, everyday transactions.
A French woman has expressed her astonishment at the sheer ubiquity of digital payments in India, revealing that she was surprised to see QR codes embedded in even the most ordinary, everyday transactions. From roadside food vendors and chai stalls to autorickshaws and tiny neighbourhood shops, she found that paying by scanning a QR code was often as routine as handing over cash.
In a video shared online, the woman said she was already familiar with UPI before travelling to India. However, she admitted she had not anticipated just how deeply the payment system had permeated daily life. Whether she was buying street food, grabbing a cup of chai, taking an autorickshaw or purchasing a Rs 20 snack, she repeatedly encountered QR codes ready to accept digital payments.
She saw that UPI was not confined to metropolitan cities, shopping malls or established businesses. Instead, she found it thriving at humble roadside stalls, local stores, cafés, rickshaws and small neighbourhood enterprises.
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"Coming from France, this was one of those little everyday cultural differences that made me think, 'Wow… I really didn't expect this," she wrote in the caption of the video.
Several social media users highlighted the convenience and accessibility of India's digital payment ecosystem. Many pointed out that UPI has transformed even the smallest transactions, allowing customers and street-side businesses to operate with little or no cash.
UPI reach in India
Launched in 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI allows users to transfer money instantly, 24x7, through mobile apps linked to their bank accounts. Its staggering scale underscores how deeply it has become woven into India's commercial landscape.
In January 2026 alone, UPI processed 21.70 billion transactions worth more than Rs 28.33 lakh crore. The International Monetary Fund, in its June 2025 report on the growth of retail digital payments, recognised UPI as the world's largest retail fast payment system by transaction volume.
