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Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

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Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#101

Post by sudshekhar »

OJFord wrote: post #90
linolo wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup they will. Because of Reserve Bank of India guidelines, Cheq needs to at least show that they are making an effort to prevent domestic transactions being made outside India

What's the reasoning here? AML somehow? Or just that large amounts transferred in should be subject to import tax (that just doesn't seem like it would be RBI concern)? Because, on a basic high-level look, why would a country not want inflows of foreign cash, typically you do want to sell goods/services for foreign money, good for GDP.

I agree.

In principle, there shouldn't be a concern allowing people to access their own money from anywhere in the world.

However the product category itself is very new right now.

We'll have to demonstrate strong customer need before approvals might be granted.

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#102

Post by sudshekhar »

iprathik wrote: post #57
sudshekhar wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're also a part of the same initiative. Behind the scenes story below : Until last year, there was no way for Indian fintechs to provide UPI services to international citizens. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided in January 2023 to issue UPI enabled wallets to international citizens visiting India during G20. We got a call late at night asking if our team can quickly deliver this solution. Our team stepped up a…

who called?

In our case, it was someone from the RBI

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#103

Post by sudshekhar »

shri_krishna wrote: post #74
sudshekhar wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the encouragement. I hope you get to use this app on your next visit. > charge a lot more and make it a lot more convenient. We're trying to introduce doorstep verification services. And establishing good unit economics is definitely our current biggest problem. 50$ will make our investors very happy but then customers might complain.

> 50$ will make our investors very happy but then customers might complain. Look at the pain points of customers. It is obvious they are willing to pay higher price for convenience. Anyone visiting India would not complain about $50. Especially since you say it is a one time fee for opening the account. You need to rethink your price. You can even make it an annual fee so you have consistent revenue. The current pric…

The 3.5% is basically the international credit card markup, cheq doesn't make any money on this.

A flat $30-$50 fee will easily cover for most of these costs though.

We can cover the 3.5% markup plus provide doorstep verification service to customers

Thanks for the suggestion. We'll definitely try a variant of this soon

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#104

Post by jrumbut »

SSLy wrote: post #71
jrumbut wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey best of luck with this! I would have loved something like this on my trip to India. To get anywhere and do anything required increasingly elaborate setups and even personal password sharing between myself and new inlaws that hardly knew me. A lot of time and money was wasted and somehow in the process I was banned from Uber for several months. I have the same advice for you I would give to basically every other b…

> It's so difficult to get around before you get some kind of digital payment setup. FWIW your outside-of-India Uber account should Just Work™.

Oh it very much did not just work (this was a little over a year ago so maybe things have changed?). Neither did anyone else's in my group.

Eventually I tried adding an Indian friend's payment card and I got an email saying I had been banned for suspicious activity or something.

The email made it sound permanent and I never got notified of my unbanning but my Uber account now works in the US and Canada again.

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#105

Post by SSLy »

jrumbut wrote: post #104
SSLy wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's so difficult to get around before you get some kind of digital payment setup. FWIW your outside-of-India Uber account should Just Work™.

Oh it very much did not just work (this was a little over a year ago so maybe things have changed?). Neither did anyone else's in my group. Eventually I tried adding an Indian friend's payment card and I got an email saying I had been banned for suspicious activity or something. The email made it sound permanent and I never got notified of my unbanning but my Uber account now works in the US and Canada again.

Well, I've spent a month in India just a year ago and my Uber experience was indeed very smooth. I've just used my Polish card, phone number, etc. with no attempt to swap those things to Indian ones.

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#106

Post by shri_krishna »

sudshekhar wrote: post #103
shri_krishna wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 50$ will make our investors very happy but then customers might complain. Look at the pain points of customers. It is obvious they are willing to pay higher price for convenience. Anyone visiting India would not complain about $50. Especially since you say it is a one time fee for opening the account. You need to rethink your price. You can even make it an annual fee so you have consistent revenue. The current pric…

The 3.5% is basically the international credit card markup, cheq doesn't make any money on this. A flat $30-$50 fee will easily cover for most of these costs though. We can cover the 3.5% markup plus provide doorstep verification service to customers Thanks for the suggestion. We'll definitely try a variant of this soon

Even if you put a flat $30-$50 fee, make it have limited validity (with an expiration date). Like you have in SIMs. Many foreigners buy throwaway SIMs on arrival. Most of these SIMs have limited validity. You can use the same concept here as well. It makes no sense to charge a flat fee for eternity. Also, coming to think of it, tying up with a SIM provider would be a great idea. In the same kiosk/booth, foreigners can purchase SIM as well as get a Cheq verified account. You can share a % revenue with SIM provider and not have to hire extra staff. The SIM provider would have all the necessary setup anyways for physical verification. Just reuse that setup.

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#107

Post by jrumbut »

SSLy wrote: post #105
jrumbut wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh it very much did not just work (this was a little over a year ago so maybe things have changed?). Neither did anyone else's in my group. Eventually I tried adding an Indian friend's payment card and I got an email saying I had been banned for suspicious activity or something. The email made it sound permanent and I never got notified of my unbanning but my Uber account now works in the US and Canada again.

Well, I've spent a month in India just a year ago and my Uber experience was indeed very smooth. I've just used my Polish card, phone number, etc. with no attempt to swap those things to Indian ones.

Yeah this appears to be a US specific thing. No American stuff worked, people from countries that were not the US were fine.

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#108

Post by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK »

Yeul wrote: post #67

In the Netherlands we just let dumb foreigners use their creditcard instead of making things complicated for them. You'll be charged an arm and a leg for it though but if you stick to the approved tourist areas your Visacard will be accepted.

Had no use for cards, they take euros at bars and "coffee" shops all right.

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#109

Post by shivekkhurana »

sudshekhar wrote: post #86
shivekkhurana wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3.5% is brutal. Wise is a near 0% solution, with just one time setup fee. I get the convenience aspect, but most people foreigners visit would accept a card (i guess?)

I can understand why 3.5% might sound high. But cross border payments are expensive to facilitate. And this is the best rate we've been able to figure out currently. Btw, In the US, Most ATMs are charging 3-5$ extra each time I withdraw cash. Plus the currency conversion charges. Our prices are definitely better.

> But cross border payments are expensive to facilitate

Although that sounds logical, there are multiple services that offer 0% fx conversion. Wise, Monzo, Niyo etc. These travel cards are what I carry around in a different country.

Re: Show HN: Cheq UPI – India's first UPI payments app for foreigners

#110

Post by jrumbut »

sudshekhar wrote: post #50
jrumbut wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey best of luck with this! I would have loved something like this on my trip to India. To get anywhere and do anything required increasingly elaborate setups and even personal password sharing between myself and new inlaws that hardly knew me. A lot of time and money was wasted and somehow in the process I was banned from Uber for several months. I have the same advice for you I would give to basically every other b…

Thank you for the encouragement. I hope you get to use this app on your next visit. > charge a lot more and make it a lot more convenient. We're trying to introduce doorstep verification services. And establishing good unit economics is definitely our current biggest problem. 50$ will make our investors very happy but then customers might complain.

> 50$ will make our investors very happy but then customers might complain.

I definitely am suggesting a higher touch service, so you're providing real value for that higher price and can keep the $10 service for the budget traveler (that would be very nice of you).

That said, there are a lot of moving parts and surprises when starting a business, so keeping it simple to start makes sense.

I just want to encourage you as someone who has suffered the pain point you're describing to think big and realize that there is a segment of your audience who is willing to really spend money if you can offer them convenience and time-savings.

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