Comment by albert_e

at least in this respect the now prevalent UPI (unified payments interface) used throughout India fares better.

each merchant -- even a roadside vendor or a mobile hawker of wares -- displays a QR code that has their payment account details / UPI handle.

Customer uses their own phone and UPI payment app to scan that QR code, look at the merchant details displayed, punch in the amount to pay and authorize the payment using their PIN.

(a variation on this is: hand-held POS terminals display a QR code that also encodes the amount to be paid so that the customer doesn't have to punch in the exact amount).

and since this is a unified protocol the users are not stuck with a single payment app or a single payments processor or a single bank network to transact with each other. QR codes are universal - can be scanned by any UPI app.

I have other reservations about the digital trail this leaves for every petty transaction of your life -- and the small risk of a petty vendor being able to harass you later based on the information you leave in their records.

If we don't trust the government -- this makes us jittery about how much they can track you or even cripple your life by disabling a few key things that you need this all to work smoothly.

Those risks aside,this UPI system has been a boon to ease of transactions (without worrying about handling cash and change) across the country. Net positive with some scope for improving privacy protections.