Visa and Mastercard are also part of the card-payment infrastructure supporting the service.
The development puts the focus not just on Apple’s entry into India’s digital payments market, but on how merchants will be able to add Apple Pay to their existing payment acceptance infrastructure.
Payment platforms start enabling merchant acceptance
PayU said Apple Pay is now available across its merchant network, allowing businesses to offer the payment option through its unified checkout.
Razorpay said Apple Pay is live for eligible merchants for online and in-store payments. The company said businesses using its Standard Checkout can enable Apple Pay subject to the applicable enablement requirements.
Cashfree has also enabled Apple Pay for its Indian businesses, covering payments initiated through Apple devices.
Pine Labs has announced support for Apple Pay across its merchant ecosystem, adding the service to its existing payment acceptance infrastructure.
CCAvenue adds Apple Pay to its merchant network
CCAvenue, the flagship payments brand of AvenuesAI, has brought Apple Pay to its merchant network across in-store, in-app and online transactions.
The company’s platform already supports payment methods including cards, net banking, wallets, UPI and EMI options. With Apple Pay, merchants using the platform can add another card-based payment option for customers using compatible Apple devices.
Pankaj Dedhia, Group CBO, CCAvenue Payments Services Division, AvenuesAI, said the company is enabling Apple Pay for its merchant network as part of its efforts to bring new payment technologies to the Indian market.
What role do Visa and Mastercard play?
Apple Pay’s merchant rollout also involves the existing card-payment ecosystem.
Axis Bank has announced that its eligible credit cardholders across Visa and Mastercard networks can add their cards to Apple Wallet and use Apple Pay.
Mastercard said its tokenisation technology supports Apple Pay transactions for eligible Mastercard cardholders, while Visa is also part of the card-network infrastructure supporting the service.
For merchants, this means Apple Pay does not operate as a separate card network. Instead, the payment is routed through the existing card-payment ecosystem, with Apple Pay providing the device-based payment interface.
How will merchants accept Apple Pay?
For online merchants, Apple Pay can appear as a payment option at checkout where the merchant’s payment provider has enabled the service. Payment platforms such as PayU, Razorpay, CCAvenue and Cashfree are integrating Apple Pay into their respective checkout infrastructure.
For physical merchants, Apple Pay can be accepted through compatible contactless payment terminals. Customers can authenticate on their Apple device and tap it at the terminal to complete the transaction.
The precise availability will depend on the merchant’s payment provider, acceptance infrastructure and applicable enablement requirements.
Does every merchant using these platforms automatically get Apple Pay?
Not necessarily.
The announcements from payment platforms indicate that they have enabled or are enabling Apple Pay within their merchant ecosystems, but individual merchant availability can depend on enablement, checkout configuration and terminal/payment infrastructure.
Similarly, merchant acceptance and card eligibility are separate issues. A merchant may have Apple Pay enabled, while a customer’s particular card may not yet be eligible for use with the service.
What does the rollout mean for India’s merchant payments ecosystem?
The launch adds Apple Pay to an already broad payment landscape in India, where merchants can offer options such as UPI, cards, net banking, wallets and EMI-based payments.
The development also highlights the role of payment gateways, acquiring platforms and card networks in bringing new payment methods to merchants. Instead of businesses building separate payment infrastructure for each new method, payment platforms can integrate the option into existing checkout and acceptance systems.
For merchants, the immediate change is therefore the addition of another payment option across eligible online checkouts and compatible physical payment terminals, rather than a replacement for existing payment methods.