Apple has begun rolling out Apple Pay in India, marking the company’s entry into the country’s digital payments market after years of delays.
Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector lender, is the first banking partner for the service.

The launch comes in a market where the state backed Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, dominates digital payments and allows consumers to make instant bank to bank transactions.

The initial rollout is limited to eligible Axis Bank cards on Visa and Mastercard, while India’s homegrown RuPay network is not currently supported.
Apple said Apple Pay will be accepted by millions of merchants across the country, including Blinkit, Croma, Ixigo, Reliance brands, Tata 1mg and Zomato.

The company has also worked with several payment service providers to support the service, although acceptance may vary depending on whether individual payment terminals have been enabled.

Unlike UPI, which allows users to pay directly from their bank accounts, Apple Pay relies on cards and requires banks, card networks and payment infrastructure providers to integrate with the service.

Commercial terms have reportedly been a major issue in discussions with some of India’s largest banks.

Apple is seeking a transaction fee of about 20 basis points, while HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI Card are not supporting the service at launch as negotiations continue.

Despite the dominance of UPI, Apple Pay could attract India’s growing population of iPhone users, particularly customers who use premium credit cards.

At launch, eligible Axis Bank customers can add their credit cards to Apple Wallet and use Apple Pay for online purchases and contactless payments at supported terminals.

The launch also adds to Apple’s expanding presence in India, where the company has been increasing iPhone sales, local manufacturing and its retail operations.

India has become increasingly important to Apple’s global operations. The company accounted for 28 percent of the country’s smartphone market by value in 2025, compared with 23 percent a year earlier.

India also produces a significant share of the world’s iPhones, highlighting the country’s growing importance to Apple both as a manufacturing base and as a consumer market.

Source: TechCrunch