Apple Pay launches in India with card‑only support across thousands of merchants

Apple Pay has officially launched in India, letting users make tap‑and‑pay purchases with tokenised card details stored on iPhone or Apple Watch. At launch the service is accepted by millions of merchants, including Apple Stores, Blinkit, Chaayos, Comet, Croma, Interflora, Ixigo, Le 15 Patisserie, Reliance brands, Tata 1mg, Zomato and others. Apple worked with payment service providers such as Cashfree, JusPay, Mswipe, Paytm, PayU, Pine Labs, Razorpay and Worldline to bring the service to their merchant networks, with more merchants expected. The rollout follows Apple’s broader push in a market of 1.4 billion people and a fast‑growing middle class. Apple’s share of India’s smartphone market has doubled to 8 percent since 2022, making it one of the company’s fastest‑growing markets, and many iPhones sold worldwide are now assembled in India. Unlike most Indian digital payments, Apple Pay launches with card payments only, not supporting the UPI system that handles more than 84 percent of the country’s digital payment volume. The move comes as the government’s new 0.4 percent UPI merchant fee has sparked debate among businesses. Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s VP of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said the service offers easy, secure and private card payments without needing an extra app, PIN or OTP. Card numbers are never stored on the device; a unique Device Account Number is kept in a Secure Element chip and encrypted. Apple does not retain transaction data that could be traced back to the user, and lost devices can be locked via the Find My app.

Context

Apple Pay’s entry shows the tech giant’s attempt to capture a share of India’s crowded digital‑payments space, where card usage is growing but UPI still dominates.