How to use UPI in India as a foreigner or NRI (2026 guide)

UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is India’s real-time payment network, run by NPCI. Merchants display a QR code and customers pay from their phone. Many small vendors — chai stalls, autos, street food, local markets — prefer UPI or cash and may not take foreign cards at all, which is why visitors without UPI end up carrying cash.

Regular UPI needs an Indian bank account and phone number. Visitors use a prepaid UPI wallet instead: a wallet issued under RBI’s prepaid payment instrument rules that you load with an international card, then spend at any UPI QR.

ZikPe’s UPI wallet for tourists and NRIs works this way: you top up in your own currency, see exactly how many rupees you’ll get first, and pay like a local.

1. Download ZikPe and sign up with your passport and visa — no Indian bank account needed.
2. Top up with your international Visa or Mastercard. The app shows the rupee amount, fees included, before you confirm.
3. Scan any UPI QR and pay. Tickets, food, autos, shops and stays.
4. Leaving? Request a refund of what’s left to your original card, as permitted under RBI rules.

• Regulation: is the issuer authorised by the RBI, and are funds held in escrow?
• Exchange rate transparency: do you see the rupee amount and fees before you pay?
• Refunds: can you get unused money back when you leave?
• Acceptance: does it pay any UPI QR, not just selected merchants?

• Always check the merchant name shown in the app before you confirm a payment.
• Keep a little cash for places with poor mobile signal.
• Never share your PIN or approve a payment request you didn’t start.