In the US you really have no options. It’s card, or card, or maybe even card. There’s Zelle, which is irreversible. PayPal and friends, which charge a fee, so no. And crypto, which is used for drugs.
Salesman can scream the amount, the customer can zoom and scan without meddling through the crowd and make the payment from a distance while the loudspeaker announces the payment.
Imagine using cards there, people will riot :)
Shops in general are wary of cards. Busy shops simply won't tolerate cards as they require someone to enter the figure.
Busy shops will shudder. Goto banglore, visit a busy street chai shop, ask him to accept cards, he will shudder.
Besides the whole Tap to Pay itself is problematic as it puts the customer at the mercy of the receiver and his device. UPI ensures customer controls how much money is being transferred. More secure. Less hassle. No physical cards. More modern
Not sure what's making you shudder about carrying a payment instrument that doesn't need its batteries charged, doesn't need to run firmware or an OS, doesn't need a network connection independent of the payment terminal, and isn't simultaneously a surveillance device, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.
Why should I have to carry physical cards with me in 2026. Almost all have a capable Turing machine in their pockets.
Backwards means backwards. No euphemism. Period.
If you insist on defending a relic from a bygone age, then by all means do it.
Sure. Just as the people walking away from the cliff edge are literally going "backwards" in relation to the folks whose trajectory will take them off the cliff.
You can make whatever comparison you want in terms of short-term convenience, but none of it addresses the inherent risk and diminished reliability of the solutions you're arguing for.
> If you insist on defending a relic from a bygone age, then by all means do it.
I'm not "defending a relic from a bygone age", but rather defending what actually works in the present-day status quo against idealized notions advancing a clearly inferior and more dangerous solution for the sake of pure novelty.
If you still have the audacity to claim that cards, an inherently inferior payment method, as forward, then I have nothing else at my disposal.
Physically a hassle, technically inferior, putting customer at the mercy of the merchant device, unusable at busy merchants, etc... and the list goes on.
The American Empire is alive and well.