Apple Pay is set to finally arrive in India in October 2026, and the company launched its payments service in the U.S. way back in 2014; since then, we have seen it pop up in plenty of other countries. But for all the buzz around digital payments in India lately, Apple is growing its business here, as it has been pretty slow to bring Apple Pay to the market.
Will Apple Pay support UPI?
As per Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, the biggest thing everyone wants to know is whether Apple Pay will support UPI. That is the backbone of India’s digital payments scene; everybody uses it, and if Apple skips on that, they will have a hard time getting traction. Gurman says Apple is planning UPI support alongside regular card-based payments.
That is a smart move, since UPI makes instant transfers possible, connects dozens of banks, and runs through almost every payments app you can think of.
Apple Pay could initially support cards
Still, there has been a lot of back-and-forth over what features Apple Pay will have when it launches. Reuters just reported that the launch will happen with Axis Bank credit cards; deals with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are not in the bag yet.
There was no mention of UPI in the initial rollout. Earlier reports suggested Apple might go live with just card support and add UPI later on.
Apple in talks with Indian banks
In terms of how it works, Apple Pay lets you save tokenised versions of your credit or debit cards on your iPhone or Apple Watch. When it is time to pay, just tap at a contactless terminal and confirm the transaction with Face ID or Touch ID.
Behind the scenes, Apple's been deep in talks with major banks. They have spoken with Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Visa, and Mastercard, trying to get everyone on board. According to Reuters, Axis Bank is set to be Apple’s first major partner, but HDFC and ICICI are not quite there yet.
What to expect from Apple Pay in India?
If everything goes to plan and Apple Pay actually launches in October, it will find itself up against some tough competition—UPI-based apps are everywhere, and pretty much everyone uses them.
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