When I visited last year, I had heard that some of the bigger cities started a UPI pilot program for international visitors without a local phone number or local bank account, but the only way to get it was at an airport. Not sure if they have expanded it since.
Wow. I just looked into this. I wasn't aware of it at all. It appears on arrival to India going to the forex counter you can sign up for "UPI One world" and use your passport for KYC.
This appears to require a local bank account. But I appreciate the tip. I'm flying from Hyderabad to Delhi next month and will ask them about both before I leave the airport. But from a quick search it doesn't look like it'll solve my issues.
It is also surprising very easy if you have an Indian phone and Indian Rupee Google Pay. USD-INR will fall under foreign exchange and so all the apps are limited in functionality, rightly so - else, it would be ideal for all the hawala/mafia folks
Get a cousin/friend to g-pay or phone-pe for you :)
Haven't heard of wise card. Will look this up. USA credit cards (including internal friendly ones) tend to fall over if the merchant doesn't let you input the country/billing address. Generally online India based merchants don't seem to support my USA based CC.
I use Wise (formerly TransferWise) because I can spend in whatever country or own accounts in multiple countries. It’s particularly good for this scenario.
I can share my referral code if you want to try it.
Comments
Get a cousin/friend to g-pay or phone-pe for you :)
https://support.google.com/pay/india/answer/13949170?hl=en#:~:text=Turn%20on%20UPI%20International&text=Tap%20Scan%20QR%20code.,you%20want%20to%20pay%20from.
Please inquire
I can share my referral code if you want to try it.