Apple has launched Apple Pay in India, with Axis Bank as its first banking partner. India, the world’s most populous country, was one of the few major economies without the service. The launch comes more than a decade after Apple Pay debuted in the US in 2014, following years of rumours and regulatory hurdles.
It works on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with Mac support coming soon. Customers can pay in stores, in apps and on the web at retailers of all sizes, without typing PINs or using OTPs at checkout, and anywhere that accepts NFC payments.
Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said, “Apple Pay makes everyday payments with a card easy, secure, and private”. Reuters, citing three anonymous sources, had earlier said the launch would start in October with Axis Bank credit cards.
Why now?
Reuters reports that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed biometric authentication for card payments last year, letting Apple Pay work with Indian cards via Face ID and Touch ID.
Who gets it?
Only customers with an eligible Axis Bank credit card on Visa or Mastercard can use it. RuPay, India’s domestic network, is not supported. Axis Bank, based in Mumbai, is India’s fourth-largest credit card issuer, with 16.26 million active cards in July, according to RBI data cited by Reuters.
Amitabh Chaudhry, the bank’s MD and CEO, said the launch is “bringing greater choice and flexibility to our Credit Card customers, with support across the Mastercard and Visa networks.”
Users need an iPhone XR or later running iOS 18 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later with watchOS 11 or later, paired with a compatible iPhone. Apple says more issuers will join but has given no timeline.
How to tap
Customers can add a card through the latest Axis Bank app, or via the Wallet app by tapping the plus sign. At a contactless terminal, they double-click the side button, authenticate if required, and hold the phone near the reader. It also works in supported apps and on websites, and card rewards and benefits still apply.
Tap, then fail?
Apple Pay works only at merchants and terminals that have enabled it. One of TechCrunch’s sources said a payment might succeed at an independent provider’s terminal that has switched the service on, yet fail at another whose acquiring bank has not. Acceptance could therefore be uneven at first, though Apple expects it to grow.
Safe to tap?
Apple says the real card number is stored neither on the device nor on its servers, and is not shared with merchants. A unique Device Account Number is used instead, encrypted and held in the device’s Secure Element.
Gautam Aggarwal, Mastercard’s president of India and South Asia, said “every Apple Pay transaction is protected by a unique, cryptographically secured token, ensuring card details are never shared with merchants”.
Suresh Sethi of Visa said the launch gives Indian consumers “a simpler, safer, and more seamless way to pay”.
UPI left out
According to Reuters, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a state-backed system for instant bank-to-bank payments, handles about 84% of India’s digital payment volume. In August 2026, it processed 24.51 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 trillion.
Apple Pay is card-based, so it does not work with UPI, and Apple has not confirmed any UPI support. Business Standard reported in August that Apple would need approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and a sponsor bank to offer it.
UPI also offers tap and pay on NFC-enabled phones, so Apple Pay is not bringing contactless payments to India for the first time.
Fee fight
TechCrunch’s sources said commercial terms have become a sticking point with some of India’s largest banks. Apple wants about 20 basis points (0.2%) per transaction.
The payments layer carries a margin of roughly 40 to 50 basis points, so the fee would take a large share. Business Standard reported that banks pay it, not customers or merchants.
HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank had held talks with Apple but had not agreed on terms when Reuters reported. One TechCrunch source said HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI Card are not expected at launch. Apple plans to add banks through bank-by-bank deals, so the first phase will be narrow.
Why India matters
TechCrunch’s sources said India’s iPhone users tend to be wealthier and more likely to use premium credit cards, which could make Apple Pay hard for banks to ignore.
Apple held 28% of India’s smartphone market by value in 2025, up from 23% a year earlier, according to Counterpoint Research. Counterpoint data cited by Reuters shows its overall share has doubled to 8% since 2022.