I find it amazing that India doesn't have a more digitized form of payment available. I wonder when they will be able to have mobile pay available on their phones.
I'm self-employed and even though I probably make 2x of what a salaried guy makes in my position, I regularly get declined for credit cards.
Some of this is the lack of data. Until a few years ago, there wasn't even a way to check my credit score. Even today, the credit score is an idea very few Indians are familiar with.
This situation isn't going to change any time soon. Indian credit card users actually fell by several million after banks tightened lending norms even further following the 2008 crisis.
For now, cash still rules here.