UPI not working abroad: Indian traveler shares frustration over GPay not working in Singapore; networkers react | Today’s news
User X, Nikhil George shared his experience with UPI on social media. He tried to complete the transaction at Singapore Changi Airport.
Nikhil tried paying at The Cocoa Trees at the airport. The cashier warned him that it might not work. But he insisted on trying anyway.
“The cashier warned me in advance that it almost never works, but I insisted on trying. Scanned the QR with GPay and it just stopped…” he wrote.
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“Unable to get conversion rate. Try scanning again,” the UPI app said.
User X noted that amid reports of India’s UPI going global, ground reliability abroad remained weak.
“Despite all the headlines about UPI going global, basic reliability abroad still has a long way to go. Keep your cards handy,” he added.
Reaction on social networks
This post generated many reactions from other users. According to one of them, exchange rates kill such systems anyway.
“Even if it works, the exchange rate will kill it. Both UPI abroad and ONDC are DOA products,” the user wrote.
Nikhil replied that the transaction rails would need to be fixed first. Forex rates can be addressed later for sustainability reasons.
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Other users have shared their own tax refund questions. One asked about GPay working on international booking sites. Nikhil clarified that these sites mostly used international cards, not UPI directly.
“I think PhonePe is the most successful for international UPI,” said another user. In response, Nikhil said that he will try the UPI app next time.
“It’s GAS as always, no substance. Beating our chests that it’s global… As of October 15th it’s domestic with TAX,” wrote one user
One user complained that Indian cards were causing problems abroad.
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“Not to mention that using an Indian card abroad is a nightmare. You can’t use Apple Pay and contactless doesn’t work for amounts over $50. Also, many apps reject the card because they require continuous verification,” the user wrote.
One user wrote that he “tried it (UPI) at several places in Sri Lanka”. “It failed everywhere,” he added.
‘it works’
One user disagreed, saying failure at one trader does not mean total failure everywhere. He said that UPI has worked for him in France every time.
“I’ve used it in France and it’s worked every time. It’s most likely a merchant configuration error,” he added.
One user shared that his colleagues have successfully used UPI in duty free shops.
“It’s working. Colleagues used their UPI to buy alcohol at duty free rate and also secured additional discount for UPI transactions. Not sure why you encountered the problem,” the user wrote.
