Technology
Apple Pay launches in India with Axis Bank cards
The Indian Express··30 Sept
Apple launched Apple Pay in India on September 30 for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, with Mac support coming soon. At launch, only Axis Bank Visa and Mastercard credit cards can be added. Tap-to-pay uses tokenised card details stored on the device. Apple listed merchant partners including Blinkit, Croma, Zomato, and Apple Stores. UPI is not supported at launch.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Eligible Axis Bank Visa or Mastercard credit card holders can add cards in Wallet or the Axis app.
- In-store payments need an iPhone XR or later on iOS 18, or Apple Watch Series 6 on watchOS 11.
- Card numbers are not stored on device or shared with merchants; a Device Account Number is used.
What's Happening
- Greg Joswiak and Jennifer Bailey publicly marked the India launch on September 30.
- Apple worked with PSPs including Paytm, Razorpay, PayU, JusPay, and Pine Labs.
- BusinessLine reported Axis Bank as the first Indian bank offering Apple Pay.
Who can use it today
- UPI accounts for over 84 percent of India's digital payments volume, per the report.
- Apple Pay already runs in more than 90 countries with over 11,000 bank partners worldwide.
- Counterpoint Research figures cited say Apple's India smartphone share doubled to 8 percent since 2022.
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