Apple Pay: Apple is also discussing this plan with payment networks Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. With cheap mobile data and government support, India is one of the world’s fastest-growing digital payments markets. Apple Pay is expected to support card-based payments as well as UPI.
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Apple Pay: Apple Inc. is preparing to launch payment services in India through Apple Pay. To do this, it is in talks with major Indian banks and global card networks. According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter say that Apple is in discussions with ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., and Axis Bank Ltd. The company aims to launch its payment service in India by mid-2026. The timeline is not yet confirmed, but discussions suggest a launch is imminent.
According to the report, Apple is also discussing this plan with payment networks Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. Apple Pay in India is expected to support card-based payments as well as India’s government-run Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI allows Indian customers to instantly transfer money and pay bills. It is a leader in India’s digital payments space. UPI is operated and managed by the National Payments Corporation of India.
Who will compete?
Apple Pay’s competitors in India include Alphabet Inc.’s Google Pay, Paytm, Walmart Inc.-controlled PhonePe, and Amazon Pay. Apple Pay relies on Face ID or Touch ID to approve in-person payments through tap-to-pay, websites, and apps. The Reserve Bank of India issued new rules for digital payments late last year. These allow biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, for digital payments. Previously, the Indian authentication system mostly relied on one-time passwords sent via text messages.
With cheap mobile data and government support, India is one of the fastest-growing digital payment markets in the world. The country has over 750 million smartphone users. Apple also has a share in Apple Pay transactions. Therefore, the launch of Apple Pay in India could increase demand for the company’s hardware. Apple has steadily increased its market share in smartphone sales in India to around 10%. The company is rapidly expanding its retail presence in India. It opened its sixth store in Mumbai this week.
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